Part 5


We entered Harlem on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard. There were several clothing stores on this street. We
turned right, and traveled down Malcolm X Boulevard.

From New York City

We passed a very
large and colorful Mosque.

From New York City

A few minutes later, we ended up back at
Central Park on 5th Avenue. This side of the park had fewer dense
trees than the opposite side on which we came up. We stopped and got
out at The Museum of the City of New York.
This Museum contained displays taken from actual rooms from historic
period homes. It also contained a display of props used for various
Broadway productions. A display featuring the unique architecture of a
recently designed building took up much of the top floor of the
museum. One of my favorite displays was building concept
drawings.

After an hour or so at the museum, we got on another tour bus and
headed back to Times Square. The tour guide on this stretch was very
animated. She especially enjoyed showing us the apartment buildings
where various celebrities reside.

From New York City

From New York City

From New York City

We got off at Times Square and
walked across to the Hudson River to catch a tour boat.

The boat was a very large former Coast Guard ship built in 1913. We
sat at the very front right behind the tour narrator who pointed out
many interesting sites and the stories behind them. When we traveled
over the Holland tunnel, he pointed out the very large fresh air
intake towers. I thought about the hundreds of cars passing 120 feet
below the boat. We passed Chelsie Pier where 4 levels of golfers
were practicing their drives on top of each other. The fence that was
used to keep the golf balls out of the river was several stories high.
On the opposite side of the river was Hoboken, New Jersey, where the
former Colgate Toothpaste factory once operated and where the huge
Colgate clock still tells perfect time. The boat then turned around at
the Statue of Liberty and traveled back to it's slip at midtown.

From New York City

Instead of walking back over to midtown to catch the train, we took a
bus to midtown and took the train down to Canal Street. We scoped out
another piece by NECK FACE.

From New York City

After walking along Canal street for a
while, we took the train back to Times Square to check out Madame
Toussauds Wax Museum of New York. The main Madame Toussauds museum is in
London, but there are several branches in cities around the world.
Going in, I wasn't expecting much, but when we exited the elevator on
the top floor, the ambiance of the first exhibit room gave the feeling
of an exclusive party with sounds of flash bulbs in the distance.

From New York City

As
we filed down through the various themed rooms, I was very impressed
with the surrounding props and sounds used in the displays. The Biggie
Smalls exhibit made me feel like I was at an actual Notorious B.I.G.
show with the figure of Biggie up front performing away. Some people
like Ted Turner and Napoleon Bonaparte were taller than I expected.
Others, like Martin Luther King Jr. and Lou Reed were shorter than I
had imagined. The last figure in the museum was the figure of Simon
Cowell. He was placed in an American Idol stage where visitors sang a
karaoke song and then waited to hear one of his famous critical
wisecracks. Mom suggested I give it a go. So I decided to sing the
song "Wild Thing" by the Troggs. After singing and checking out my
review video, I decided to do myself justice by singing "I Want You
Back" by the Jackson 5. After Simon suggested I "sue my voice
instructor" I thought it was time for me to give it up.

It was fairly late by the time we emerged from the ground floor of
the museum, so we decided to call it a night and headed back to the
hotel in Queens.

Continued in Part 6