Fourth of July Weekend!

We had a nice Fourth of July weekend and we hope that you did too! Amanda had a three day weekend, so on Friday we took the subway (the 23rd street platform and Amanda are pictured above) and explored Times Square a little and went back to Macy's at Herald Square.

There, unfortunately, I took a tumble near an area that was blocked off because a barrier was protruding a couple of inches! Initially I was able to walk, but since then have been hobbling everywhere! Amanda has been patient and protects me as we cross the street, as I limp slowly across the pedestrian crosswalks.


On Saturday, we stayed in most of the day relaxing and eating hot dogs which we had purchased from Whole Foods. Amanda also spent some time on our deck, listening to her iPod--the picture is posted here!

We tried to go out on our balcony (pictured below) after dark to watch the Macy's fireworks that were taking place on the Hudson River for the 400th anniversary of its discovery. We could definitely hear the fireworks, but because of the taller buildings around us, couldn't see them.

So, we decided to go down to the street, me in my slippers and Amanda in her socks and as we stood on the corner of 20th and Broadway, could see some pretty explosions through a narrow viewing window between two buildings! We stood and watched for a little bit and even directed two passerbys in the right direction as they asked where the fireworks were.

As we went back to the apartment, Amanda wisely decided to carry the key as I seemed to scream "victim" with my gimpy walk and she looked more able to protect herself. We watched the rest of the fireworks on television, but felt satisfied at least we had seen a few sparks in person.

On Sunday, we went out for a little while in the morning and later in the day frequented our favorite spot--you guessed it--Pete's Tavern. We are becoming regulars there now and a lot of the employees say hi and wave to us either as we enter or while we are eating our meal. It is a nice restaurant because most of the people eating there seem to be New Yorkers, not tourists, so it has a great local atmosphere. Amanda said yesterday that she thinks it is her all-time favorite restaurant.

We hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful fourth of July weekend and that you are having a fun summer!

Beth and Amanda