I cannot begin to express to you HOW much I didn’t know about Central Park. I know you may be thinking “well why would you?” but I am here to tell you that I thought I knew a little something about it. I’d been to it before several times, seen it in movies, and heard other people tell about it – but in no way did I have even an inkling about it. The Central Park Conservancy (linked) is a good place to start in terms of learning more. Their website lists out things to do, a map, and where to find restrooms among other helpful resources.

• Side note – one of the things we’d planned to do here was to spend time trying to locate Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle Owl who has escaped from the Central Park Zoo, (https://www.audubon.org/news/what-should-be-done-about-flaco-eurasian-eagle-owl-loose-new-york) The first paragraph of that article reads :” All eyes are on New York City’s latest avian celebrity: Flaco the Owl. In February, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl, a large species native to Europe and Asia, escaped his enclosure in the Central Park Zoo after an act of vandalism. News of his escape quickly spread, and almost immediately Flaco became a star of the local birding scene, attracting crowds of birders wherever he has been spotted. Despite initial concerns that he would not be able to feed himself, the owl has been hunting and living alongside native wildlife in Manhattan’s Central Park for more than a month. This success has led a cohort of Flaco fans to argue that he should be allowed to continue to live freely. “and now likes to hang out in various elusive spots where the rats are plentiful. Shannon had been tracking Flaco in the 6 weeks leading up to our trip, and we planned to spend the morning sightseeing, and the afternoon hunting for Flaco.

We began our walking tour, on the southernmost end of the park, where 7th Avenue dead ends into the entrance. It was a short 3 blocks from our hotel, and we got an early start.

Next we headed to the area known as “The Mall and Literary Walk” . Not only is it entirely familiar from numerous movies and Television shows, but it also held a million things I didn’t know about. The south section of the Mall is known as the Literary Walk because of the numerous statues of writers added there in the 19th century; Thomas Moore, Daniel Webster, Robert Burns, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Mother Goose to name a few.

Leaving the mall, we were stopped for about 30 minutes by a Saturday morning road race. After a quick google search, we found out that it was the “Girl’s Run at the Mastercard New York Mini” and there was both a 6K and a 10K. Here’s a Video of what we saw: (reminder that you cannot view the videos in email – they’ll only work on the website)

We eventually ducked and ran across in zig-zags through runners as it was the only way we could get across. Our next destination, was Strawberry Fields, which is a memorial to John Lennon. It consists of a five-acre landscape near the West 72nd street entrance and includes the Imagine mosaic below. Many people come here to pay tribute to the late member of The Beatles. The memorial is a tribute to the song Lennon wrote in 1967, “Strawberry Fields Forever” . It is also near to The Dakota, which is the building where John Lennon was Shot

Next, we headed for the Bethesda Fountain . Touted as central parks most beloved works of art, angel of the waters adorns the fountain itself, which is situated in the middle of Bethesda terrace.

Honestly, I was much more excited about the Alice in Wonderland statue, which is a newer, and equally popular statue. Situated at the north end of the conservatory water, “Alice in Wonderland was a gift from the philanthropist and publisher George Delacorte. He intended the donation as a gift to the children of the City and a memorial for his recently deceased wife Margarita (1891–1956), an enthusiastic linguist and reader who helped him to establish his publishing empire. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was her favorite book to read to her children.”

We timed this stop to overlap with the Saturday model sailboat races that are held at the Conservatory waters each Saturday.

From March to November, model sailboat enthusiasts launch and race their wind-powered boats, using remote controls to trim the sails and direct the rudders. The Saturday yacht club racers build and maintain their own boats (and they’re beautiful), but there are also model sailboats available to rent and sail here the rest of the time.

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and cup of coffee at Le Pain Quotidien, which is located directly behind Conservatory waters and provides an excellent view of the model sailboats .

There were a few things we wanted to see just outside the park, and as we were now adjacent to it, we walked 1 block outside of the park to visit the Albertine French bookstore. Having taken 2-3 years of french in HS and 2 years in college, and being somewhat of a Francophile, I was excited to visit.

Next, we headed over to visit Cleopatra’s Needle (the obelisk). This is one of the most interesting places, and also one of the oldest. It was moved from the ruins of Caesareum of Alexandria, Egypt, around 1881. The Needle, which is dated from 15th century BC, was given as a gift to the US by Egypt, in gratitude for remaining friendly and neutral as France and Britain tried to gain control over the Egyptian government. From the link above: “Central Park is the third location for this 220-ton monolith, a single piece of stone carved out of granite at the quarries of Aswan, a major source of stone for Egyptian antiquities. It was one of two obelisks commissioned by Pharaoh Thutmose III for the Temple of the Sun in Heliopolis, near modern-day Cairo. Scholars believe that obelisks represented eternity and immortality, and their long, tapering form functioned to connect the heavens and the earth. Their pinnacles were typically covered in gold to reflect the sunlight.” The Wikipedia link has a lot of great and interesting info about how it was moved here from Egypt, worth the read in our opinion.

Next, we were off to find Flaco! Shannon had pinpointed an approximate location, based on google map satellite view of a construction site he seemed to like. His facebook page speculated it being likely due to the large dumpsters which likely harbored his dinner. We had planned to spend several hours scouring trees and hunting for the elusive bird. Imagine our surprise when we walked right up to him in about 5 minutes, as he was sitting in a tree at the construction site!

He is indeed a beautiful bird, and was nice enough to make himself visible for us and one other couple who were searching for him as well, and the lady who pointed him out to us when we walked up to find him.

As we’d expected to spend much more time looking for him, we now had several free hours to occupy. We decided to try out navigating/riding the subway as we planned to use it to go to the baseball game later that evening. We walked out of the park, and through what we found out later was East Harlem, and jumped on the subway back to Chinatown.

We ate some fantastic lunch in Chinatown and walked up and down the streets and in and out of shops. Saw a lot we missed the first day, including a walk through one of the markets. Shannon noted that it is a much different place on the weekend than it had been previously on a Thursday. Vibrant and alive with color, it is an absolute feast for the senses.

After a quick stop at Figo Gelato, which had been recommended by the facebook group, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for some baseball!

In case you didn’t know, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox have a long standing and intense rivalry. Known as one of the fiercest rivalries in all of American Sports, we were absolutely thrilled to be attending this game. We rooted for the Yankees this time, having been in NYC for the past 3 days and feeling very happy with New York in general. This turned out to be a great idea!

The best way to explain how much fun this game was – is to show you a few videos from the game. ( A reminder that the videos will only play on the website, and not in email.)

• side note – we took the subway back to our hotel, along with most of NYC. On the Subway, packed in like sardines, I heard a woman speaking to her children in an unmistakable Southern accent. As she was right in front of me (ie face to face) I asked where she was from and wouldn’t you. know it? She’s from Birmingham, Al. Turns out her son plays baseball in the same league as Shannon’s nephew, and knows him. The dad recognized Cooper’s dad in a photo. It is truly, such a small world!

An incredibly exciting end to a fantastic trip!! We can’t wait to go back!