The first weekend of November back in '07 saw me headed back to Manhattan to get-together with friend, Jeff. He was flying in from Michigan. This was before Steve and Nancy moved to Manhattan; so we had a room at the hotel at 75th and Broadway on the Upper West Side. Jeff is friends with the manager of the hotel; very cool guy named Tom.
They met many years ago at a wedding in Marquette, MI on the Upper Peninsula. Tom is 'good' to us at the hotel; we are noted on their register as 'VIP's.' It's always nice to stay there; we are treated very well. It's always good to see Tom and his wife, Janelle, too. We often have dinner with them during our stays.
This particular trip saw me taking a half-vacation day from work and jumping on Amtrak here; early on that Friday afternoon. I wanted to get through Penn Station before the worst of the Friday rush-hour 'crush-of-humanity-in-transit.' I got to the hotel a couple hours before Jeff did. I emerged from the subway at 72nd Street and Broadway about 4:20 PM; Jeff's flight was due in around 6PM.
I checked in and went up to the room and it was spectacular. All the 'rooms' there are suites. A living room with small table/chairs...kitchenette and a separate bedroom. The sofa in the living room is a pull-out; that's where I sleep. There was no doubt that Tom had given us the best possible suite available. We were on the 24th floor with a view to the east looking past the Dakota Towers over Central Park to the East Side. We had stayed in the hotel many times before; this was the highest with that eastern, largely unobstructed, view. It was very nice suite. The picture above was taken during the daylight just after noon the following day. On the left side of the picture you can see the American Museum of Natural History; on the right are the towers of The Dakota on Central Park West. If you click-to-enlarge; the Park is clearly visible.
I couldn't wait for Jeff to get there so he could check-it-out. He called when he was in the cab headed in from Laguardia. I told him how cool the view was; told him I would come down in the elevator and greet him on the street. I was there when his cab pulled up; welcomed him and helped him with his stuff. I said, 'Wait until you see the view from the room, it's great.'
We went up in the elevator, went into the suite. I had pulled the curtains shut. It was about 7 PM; at that time in November the sun had already gone down. Jeff walked into the room; set his things down and walked over to the window. He grabbed the 'pull-arms' and opened the curtains to the spectacular city vista.
Within a minute or so; as we 'oooohed-and-aaahhhed,' we saw the first burst of light and heard a low rolling 'thunder.' Then there was another....and another. We were seeing fireworks over Central Park from a 24th-floor vantage point! How cool is that? We had no idea whatsoever any such display was planned; what a great surprise! It was one of those life-moments that seemed like it was 'meant-to-be.'
I immediately grabbed my camera and snapped as many pictures as I could. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events; kind of like having a tornado go through your backyard....wink. I seem to have some strange 'kismet' that puts me in places at the 'right' or 'wrong' time. Hence, I now always have my camera close-by. The pictures you see below are pictures of that fireworks display over the heart of the city.
I'll never forget; the timing was incredible. It was a spiritual moment. I feared for some time that the pictures had been lost in the transition to my new camera and storage media. I was searching for a completely unrelated picture the other night and stumbled onto where these were stored. They were stored on a flash-drive that was a gift from a friend; very cool gift, indeed. It was a nice 'find;' I knew I would not 'toss' them. I'm glad I was able to find them and share.
It was an incredible sight.
Right place, right time, right company.
When the fireworks were over we turned on the TV to try to find out, why?
We quickly learned from NY1. I'll explain tomorrow...wink.
Have a good night.
Me
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