MARTHA'S PLACE: Shopping at Macy's in NYC

Paul and I dashed off to NYC for another day of Christmas shopping and sightseeing. It was cold, but not as cold as we have experienced in past there. We always park in Port Authority Bus Terminal just as you come out of the Lincoln Tunnel.

We caught a cab to Macy's on 34th street ...

just a weird side story - while in the cab, Paul noticed that the driver, an Islamic, was eating

something that he had obviously brought from his home in a plastic container. He asked the driver what it was ..and in his broken English said it was fruit. Paul was very curious as to what kind of fruit - the driver did not know. It was nothing I was familiar with...looked like a tomato cut in wedges. He (the driver) then offered a taste to us! I politely declined - but Paul eagerly dove in to the man's snack! He enjoyed it and could not decide what it was either. As we stopped the driver said he thought it started with a "P". I said, "persimmon"?.....Yes....it was persimmon! I just knew Paul was going to get sick.....I still can NOT believe he ate from this man's container!

Continuing......

We went up to see Santa in Macy's....you know it is the REAL Santa! There were LOTS of children...and LOTS of strollers.....I'll save another spot to talk about strollers! After that we grabbed a snack at the Au Bon Pain cafe just across from Santa. I got vanilla yogurt with blackberries....when I took a bite I almost gagged! It was plain yogurt...YUCK...not the McDonald's kind that is yummy - that stuff is gross!

This store is BIG! I mean really BIG..even by New York standards...but I love it. I could spend all day in there and not see half the stuff. I shopped for the $400.00+ Coach purses that I love. It is important that I choose just the right one so....when I go out on the street and buy the exact purse for $30. - $40 dollars..depending on the day and the crowds -
that I am getting the newest style! One of my favorite things about NYC!

Macy's is famous for their Christmas window displays. People wait in line to stroll by the magical animated wonders. They are beautiful as always this year. One side of the building is scenes in miniatures from the movie "Miracle on 34th Street".

We left Macy's and walked down 5th Avenue ...stopping in shops often to thaw out from the cold wind. Paul had been to Justin Timberlake's new restaurant up on the east side - so we decided to get a cab and let me try it. The place is called "Southern Hospitality". We arrived - did not have to wait for a table and got to sit directly under a huge artsy print of Elvis. This was good!

I had the fried chicken -and it honestly tasted homemade - real mashed potatoes, and .....get this COLLARD GREENS! Wonderful - actually did not taste canned. Peach cobbler that would make me slap my mama......actually better than that! We will definitely go back......oh yes..and sweet tea!

After dinner, we got a cab back down to Rockefeller Plaza.....Oh My.....what a crowd! Traffic was gridlocked...everyone going to see the big Christmas tree! We got out and Paul and I decided to split up and do our "own thing". He went north on 5th Avenue - I went south! We both shopped and met back at the car so we could get home before another snow storm hit. It began to snow just as we entered our neighborhood.....
Some of the "sights of the City"....

Cartier on 5th Avenue