The 39 Steps

Last weekend, I went to NYC with Shawna for her 21st birthday!! Oh the memories, or lack there of, of turning 21!  Just a little different than Shawna's 21st! ;)  Anywho, Shawna's nanny family's grandmother is a Broadway producer and gets Shawna tickets for free.  I just benefit from the whole deal... because Shawna loves me!  :)  Who else would she want to spend the day in NYC with? Now back to the city... we took the train to Penn Station and the subway to 42nd.  I got to see the NYC temple for the first time!! I was excited... if only I would've done baptisms.  I need to get on that... but that's a whole 'nother story.  We ate lunch, by the temple, at Josephina's. It was a cute restaurant.  If you know me, you would be VERY proud!  I ordered it just the way it was on the menu, tomatoes and all!  I'm pretty sure that's a first for me.  I wish I could say I left everything on....  

After lunch, it was time to go to Chinatown.  Say what you wish.  We walked to the subway, first making a few detours.

We took it all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge.  We got out and started our search for someone to say "Gucci, Prada?".  After an hour or so of wondering aimlessly through Chinatown, I saw a lady with a black bag.  I said, "Where did you get that?". She looked worried for a second, so I added, "Is that a purse?  Where did you get it? We've been looking forever!".  She then informed us of Canal St. Where we should've taken the subway in the first place.  Her husband instructed us on how to get there and off we went.  This was our second time in Chinatown, but our first time there at night.  It is definitely a lot different than the day time.  As soon as we got to the area a lady came up to us and we followed her.  The first stop, a purse store.  We went in, there was a door in the back we went through and then another secret door to all of the "other" purses.  There wasn't anything we wanted so we decided to leave.  The lady's sister took us to our next destination.  It was a bamboo store we went into.  We went into the back room, 2' x 3', into the bathroom, 1.5' x 2.5', and into the purse room.  Again, there was nothing there we were thrilled about.  Back to the streets we went.  It wasn't long before a guy asked us the familiar phrase in Chinatown.  So, we followed him.  This time, it was in an apartment building on the third floor.  She found a Findi purse she liked, that I bought for her birthday and I bought my mother a Prada purse.  

Here our my thoughts and feelings on Chinatown.  The first time I went, I said I would NEVER buy one of "those" purses.  What did I do?  Bought one for my Mac Book.  I thought, that would be my only exception.  Well, my mother wanted one and Shawna LOVES purses so... I've bought two more.  Ok, I'm done now.  I do enjoy going to the locations.  I'm REALLY scared when I do.  Not about getting killed or raped... but about getting arrested!  I don't know how often that happens but with my luck it would happen to me.  So, now I'm done.  I would however, love to just pretend I wanted to buy a purse so I could see the different hiding spots these people create.  I'm very interested in that side of Chinatown.  I would also love to talk to some of the people and see how they got into it and why they do it.  Ok, that's the criminology side of me.  

Now, back to our trip.  We were really cutting time close!  We had less than an hour to get to the subway and find where the show was located.  When we got to the subway, Shawna's card didn't let her through the gate, so I swiped mine.  When I swiped it for myself, it said "denied, just swiped", or something like that.  So, the guy that was in front of Shawna handed me his card, but it said the same

thing.  See, there are nice people in NY!  So, I just went under the turntable thing.  Hey, Shawna swiped her card and I swiped mine.  It just didn't let both of us through!  I feel like I'm justifying too much in this entry! :)

Well, we made it to the right place and we just had to find which theater it was in.  We walked down Broadway, which is a site in itself, and asked at an information center.  It was just a little bit farther.  We got there with 10 minutes to spare!  Shawna got our tickets while I waited in line.  Of course, we had great seats!  The play was hilarious!  It's an Alfred Hitchcock spoof.  There were 4 people playing ALL of the characters!  They really did a great job.  

After the show, we walked back to the subway.  Ok, I was the one with the map.  We headed towards the direction I thought we should be going in.  After a few blocks, I said "Um, I think we're going the wrong way."  We turned around and headed back the other way.  We passed where we originally were and went a few more blocks.  Then, I said "Um, I've been leading us to Grand Central instead of Penn Station."  I, of course, was laughing.  I'm not sure how thrilled Shawna was about my direction skills.  We took a little break and ran into a store for a snack.  I bought Bran Pretzels.  They were rather good.  We then continued our journey to Penn Station.  We got there and only had to wait about 15 minutes for the train! We sat on a staircase until they showed us which terminal was to Princeton Junction.  It wasn't long until we sat down on the train,  where Shawna realized she left her new purse on the stairs!  So, we hurried off the train and back to the staircase, where a young male was sitting next to her bag.  I grabbed it and said "Thank you!" and hurried back onto the train.  She was lucky! 

We sat next to some interesting people.  The mother was funny... in a way, or maybe just to me.  They had gone to the Madonna concert.  The mother told her daughter I was from Kansas. Kansas?  What do people from Kansas look like? Shawna went to sleep and I talked on the phone.  We got back to Princeton Junction and drove home.  I always enjoy my trips to the city! They're quite exciting!