New York: Day 4 Better late then ne'er

On the fourth day of New York, Eric and I made it a point to relax.

Which meant a two-hour walking tour of South Brooklyn Heights. But it was more of a stroll, really. REALLY.

We took the tour from Gotham SideWalks, and it was absolutely perfect. We were lucky to take part in Open House New York, which is the absolute, hands down, best time to visit the city. They open up all the historic buildings, and give tours of just about every possible area of interest. In the particular tour we took, we saw, among other things, where Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, where Truman Capote wrote In Cold Blood, and where Cormac McCarthy tried in vain to block out the sounds of "ladies" "entertaining" for the "night" in the bar below him. I highly recommend taking any tour from Rich Garr, if you get the chance. Nicest New Yorker ever. I'm determined to go back and take the Folk to Punk tour of Greenwich Village, and Eric wants to Bike Brooklyn Baseball. If you live there and are NOT taking these tours, I feel sorry for you.

Okay, commercial for the tours are over. I was not comp'd for saying any of it.

After the tour, we got back on the subway and headed for Avenue J for the best pizza (no really) New York has to offer. My friend told me about DiFara's, and insisted we make the trek for it. We walked in, and got confused, because it seemed like absolutely nobody was ordering anything or even eating. Just a bunch of people standing around, waiting. So then, some guy says to me, "Did you already order?" and I say no, and he's like, "You better get up there." And he wasn't kidding. We literally got the last two slices this guy was going to be making for the day. And he wasn't even kind of messing around with it. We didn't notice, but as soon as we walked in, they barricaded the door with signs that said, "Come Back When We're Open." People were being turned away in droves. How we walked in and got two slices of this heavenly pizza is beyond me. We didn't even know what time it closed. Just went on faith that it would be there, and it would be good. It was truly a case of Right Place, Right Time.

So I kept the soda cap from that lunch, to remind myself that sometimes, you can get exactly what you wanted, when everything else aligns perfectly. Sometimes it's just about getting yourself there, and if it's meant to be, you'll know it.

We walked around a little more in the city, and ended up at FAO Schwartz to find Lennon and Harrison a "Real New York Teddy Bear" like she had asked us to find.

There was no eventful, or even tearful, kiss goodbye to New York. We went home via New Jersey, and we were glad to be back. The first thing we did was buy a chain store bagel for breakfast, without a hint of irony.

I will never regret making that trip, even if it meant we had to have a Dollar Store Christmas. I insist we go back one day with the kids. When I do, I'll be sure to tell you all about it.