Michael Phelps' 8 Gold Medals

Gentry rushed back to the room in hopes of watching Michael Phelps compete for his 8th gold medal in this Olympics. We arrived around 11pm - race time! The team was walking on to the platform and we got to watch history being made.

The Lion King

We rushed to the Minske Theater on Broadway for our show since we didn't realize how late it was after dinner. We sat down less than 5 minutes before the curtain rose. All of us wondered how they would perform this animal play with people. It was amazing! Actually, Gentry told me later she wasn't sure if she would really like it since people were acting as animals. Afterward, she said it was one of the coolest shows she has ever seen. We all agreed!

During intermission we could look down on Broadway and see all the people on Times Square. Minske Theater was a great location as you were right in the middle of things, but you didn't have to be on the street.



Another great event for our last night.

Bar Americain

Steve suggested eating at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants. We discovered one a half block from our hotel. It was so cool. Upscale, classy and an absolutely wonderful experience. The waiter suggested a cabernet blend which was robust and full of flavor that lingers. I need to find the name of it so we can enjoy it later.

The basket of bread includes a corn fritter, roll and baguet - all warm from the oven! Yummy!

Gentry said her chicken was the most tender chicken she has ever eaten. We all enjoyed some of her potato chips with bleu cheese dip. Steve had duck with wild rice. Again, it was tender and moist. I had cheese grits with shrimp, bacon and green onions which was great!

We splurged and had dessert. Gentry ordered a Praline Chocolate Cake which was super, super rich! Steve ordered Bourbon Filled Cream Eclairs. I enjoyed both of them. What a fantastic meal to end our trip

Enjoying the City...New York City

We slept late this morning. It sure felt good since we didn't get back to our room until 1am. Off we went to SOHO to eat and shop. This is the type of shopping Steve & I both enjoy. Quaint shops and open-air cafes. Gentry & I had fun going into the boutiques. We got over our sticker price fairly quickly and a little summer dress for $300 wasn't so bad :-) I found a super looking leather jacket, but it was $675. We're not used to paying those prices so we just "looked". What can you expect from DKNY, Armani or Hilfiger.

From a business perspective, it's interesting to see how they greet (or don't greet) you when you walk into their store. After visiting several shops, Armani sales people were the first ones to welcome us into their store. They weren't on our backs to make a sale, but they were friendly. Hilfiger also directed us upstairs to the ladies floor when we walked in. They could tell we weren't looking for mens wear. :-)

We ate lunch at a sidewalk cafe which had wonderful pizza. Gentry chose chicken, goat cheese and pesto. The crust was thin and the taste absolutely delicious. Across the street was a playground with a huge fence around it where kids could play on equipment and adults could play handball. It was so foreign to what we are used to in the suburbs where we have trees & grass in our parks.

We wanted to go back to 5th Avenue shopping area, so we took the subway. Or, so we thought. We took the downtown one and had to turn around to get uptown to the shopping district. Tiffany's was a real experience. Now, I'd like to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's and Sweet Home Alabama again to compare it to the real store. What beautiful jewelry they have!

Coach was down the street and Gentry has been begging her friends to help pay for a Coach bag for her. Next we found Bloomingdale's then headed back towards our hotel. The NBA store was amazing. Gentry kept saying how much Hunter would love this store. NBA products and...tv screens of basketball, basketball hoops, basketball video games, basketball players in life size. You name it, they had it!