Just Jul Lee

E.S.B., BABW and Lost Pizza

Empire State Building, Build a Bear Workshop and Lost Pizza
DATE: July 27, 2005

We went to the Empire State Building today. The wait was quite long. We had to wait in two different lines in order to take the elevators to the top. It was about an hour total to wait. Once the elevator was going up, I believe my ears popped twice but I can’t recall them popping on the way down.

At the top, on the observation deck, I sought out the Statue of Liberty while pausing here and there to take pictures of the buildings and cabs below. I found the Statue of Liberty and fed the viewer fifty cents to spend a couple of minutes looking at the Statue before allowing the people around me to use up my remaining time as I faded into the crowd.

I had left Mom and PJ behind at the Chrysler building and before I knew it, I was back where I began. It was a marvelous view and I was quite impressed with all I saw, after I got over my fear of heights, of course.

Mom met up with me and we hit the souvenir shop. I bought a gorilla with a red apple in its hand that says ‘New York City’ and has a drawing of the skyline, it clips onto zippers and makes monkey sounds. I also purchased two pop-up postcards for my scrapbook that normally cost five dollars but were on sail for a dollar and twenty-five cents each.

While in line to get to the elevators, Mom spotted a bag that said ‘NYC’ with Mickey Mouse making the ‘Y’. Finding out it was a Disney store located on 5th Ave and 55th street made her determined to visit it.

We walked down 5th Ave toward 55th street, which was 20 or so blocks down…or up from the Empire State Building. Unfortunately for my credit card, we discovered a Build-A-Bear store on 45th street.

I discovered that you can now design a tee shirt for your new friend and after much deliberation, I sat down and made Stephen (my friend Jennie’s hubby) a shirt. It said, “I asked Julie for a NYC pretzel but all I got was this T-shirt!” I drew a pretzel freehand and wrote “2005” beneath it.

Then, we decided we could do so much more! I bought a bear (I already have a cat and a monkey so a bear was the next logical move) and it was only $10. Yet, somehow, I ended up charging just shy of a hundred dollars on my card and the hand-designed tee shirt was already paid for! I got a NYPD uniform and had my name sewn on it. Then, I bought an oriental outfit for my monkey, Mom got a different oriental outfit (hers was pink and orange and red and Japanese while mine was blue and gold and green and Chinese) and she got a white bear with a pink nose that went really well with the outfit. She also got a Marlin’s outfit for my brother’s bear at home.

PJ had gotten bored (can’t imagine why) and gone ahead to the Disney store. To my chagrin, we had been in the BABW for nearly an hour! We hurried along to the Disney store.

The Disney store turned out to be a three story tall building that had so much wonderful stuff I had to seem disinterested in order to leave with money in my pocket. I got a picture with a Cruella DeVil statue and I purchased LIFE: Pirates of the Caribbean, a Maleficent Dragon windup thingie, a package of postcards for my scrapbook and four Disney patches. I got off relatively easy, I’d say.

We took the subway, I believe, back to our hotel where we ordered pizza and waited for Lost to come on. Then I zonked out. Honestly, I have no idea why I’ve been so tired lately…ahem! LOL…