Candy! Toys! Dolls! Poor Rob.....

We got out late today. This is a working vacation for us, and we had a lot of things to take care of.

When we did get out, though, we went to,,,,,,,

The WORLD'S LARGEST CANDY STORE!!!!

I heard of Dylan's Candy Bar several years ago in a travel magazine. It is a candy store started by Dylan Lauren - the daughter of Ralph Lauren. It is three stories tall, and it is, in fact, the largest candy store in the world. The girls were very excited.

We walked in to a world of color, music, and sugar! We saw all sorts of candy that we'd never seen before. One of my favorites was gummie pizza - gummie bread, gummie peppers, gummie pepperoni, etc. Then, you get the fun of assembling it.

Rob and I particularly enjoyed the nostalgic section, where they had candy that we hadn't seen since we were kids. They even had candy cigarettes - so out of fashion today - but delicious, nonetheless.

The stairs in Dylan's Candy Bar were made out of see-through plexiglass, and embedded into them were all sorts of candy. At one landing, the words "Stairway to Candy Heaven" were spelled out. There was also a large mosaic portrait of Dylan Lauren - made entirely out of Jelly Bellies.

We left the store and walked towards 5th Ave. Several blocks away, someone local saw our shopping bag and asked us for directions to the store. That was the first time that we'd ever been asked directions by a New Yorker!

Our next stop was FAO Schwartz. When we were here in 2004, it was closed for renovations, so the kids never got a chance to go. It is located on the same square as the Plaza Hotel (now condos instead of a hotel), and Bergdorf Goodman's.

A doorman dressed as a toy soldier greets you at the entryway, and opens the door to the world's best toystore.

The girls were ENCHANTED immediately. To our immediate left was the Lego store, where there were lifesized Lego replicas of Chewbaca, Batman, a dolphin, and Harry Potter, Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid. They wanted photographs with all of them.

To our right was a jungle of stuffed animals, also known as "Gina Heaven". She had to hug nearly every one of them. She was particularly drawn to a giant tree frog, which cost $50. She had saved $100 for the trip. During our whole time at FAO, she carefully weighed her options, and decided that she didn't want to spend half of her savings on one items. She ended up choosing a stuffed lemur instead.

Further on was a babydoll section with a woman dressed as a nurse helping you with your "adoption". She lit up when she saw Vincent. She took one of the babydolls and put her foot next to Vincent's - they were the same size, and she got such a kick out of that.

We passed a Make-Your-Own-Muppet area, a huge candy section, and a Snoopy Store. We didn't even got downstairs, which was devoted to baby and toddler items. We did head upstairs to Barbie World.

Vincent started crying in Barbie World, and Rob sympathized. They had replica Barbies from decades past that you could buy - I'd never seen most of these. They had Design-Your-Own-Barbie where you design one on the computer, they make it, and then you bring her home. Mary Teresa selected a Thumbalina Barbie to buy with her spending money.

My favorite part of the store was seeing the giant piano from the movie "Big". Similar pianos were available for purchase, for $250,000. In previous trips, the piano was roped off, and was only available for viewing. This time, though, they let you go on it! I had always wanted to do that. I pulled off my shoes and enthusiastically started dancing on the piano. Claire, Gina, and Mary Teresa joined me. As you step on a key, it lights up. They had a lot of fun with that.

Fulfilled, we left the store and walked on.

It was drizzling inside, and as we walked, it got a little heavier. We decided to stop in whichever building we were next to, and it happened to be Trump Towers. This was fun to go to since we have watched a few seasons of "The Apprentice". We saw a Starbucks inside, and grabbed three sandwiches.

We walked on, still in drizzle, but we weren't too many blocks away from our next destination, the American Girl Store.

We gave the girls a 45 minute time limit there because we had somewhere we had to be, but promised that we could come back for a little more time. Like the store in Dallas that we visited in November, we thought that they must pump estrogen through the pipes. I suggested to Rob that he leave me with the girls and go walk around outside, which he happily did.

He showed up about 10 minutes later though, saying that there is nothing manly to do on 5th Avenue. He was a good sport as we browsed the store.

We told the girls that they could each pick out an outfit for them that matches their dolls, and they had fun trying to decide. Claire and Gina were so meticulous in their decision making that they hadn't chosen something by the time we left. They are going to think about it and make a selection when we get back.

Mary Teresa suffered from no such indecision. She wanted a Bitty Baby. It was of similar value to the clothes, so we let her pick that instead. She knew exactly what she wanted - a blonde haired, blue-eyed baby, just like her. She also wanted the stroller, the crib, and every other accessory that came with it, but we had to tell her that the airplane couldn't hold all of that.

We walked to the elevator, and Vincent started wailing. Rob told him that he sympathized, and the people in the elevator - especially the men - got a good chuckle out of that.

Our next stop was the Palace Theater on Broadway, where the hard-to-get-tickets-for "West Side Story" is playing. That is one of my all-time favorite musicals, and I was thrilled that it was being revived! Rob had suggested that we get tickets for Cathy and Brennan to thank them for housing us in NYC, and for me, since I was doing a lot of work from here. Rob is our hero!

We had to be at the Palace Theater at 5:30 because there is a lottery for unused front-row seats for $26. We thought that if we could get those, that would be great! You have to show up at the box office 2 1/2 hours before curtain, submit your name, and wait half an hour to see who gets called.

We got there too early - 4:50, so we hung around Times Square. This time, there was room on the lawn chairs. It was absolutely surreal, and absolutely marvelous! I totally love people-watching, and there is no better crossroad of people than Times Square. However, in times past, it was so hustle and bustle, and go go go, that you couldn't loiter around. Now, with the lawn chairs, you feel like you have your own patio seating on the window to the world. It was MARVELOUS! It ranked up there as one of the best moments of my life.

We walked back to the theater and lined up for the lottery. We were happy that there were only about 20 people ahead of us. However, by the time the lottery had finished, well over one hundred people had put their names in, and only 18 seats were available. Alas, we did not win. So, we went to the box office and purchased three seats for Saturday night. It was nearly sold out - the best we could get was three single seats on the far, far right of the mezzanine. Who cares? Cathy, Brennan, and I are all so excited.

After that adventure, we walked across the street to Junior's, where Rob and I decided that we MUST have another steakburger, and this time, with the girls. The waiting area was a madhouse, and the 15 minute wait that the hostess promised turned in to close to an hour. A waiter came over and brought the girls some French Fries while they were waiting. It was a good thing that we had to wait because it gave Cathy time to get off of work and meet us.

We were finally seated, and Rob and I shared a steakburger and a giant pastrami and corned beef on rye. It was fabulous! Yes! We are in New York!!! Instead of bread, or chips as we are used to in San Antonio, the food items on the table were pickled beets and pickles. Cathy ad I devoured the beets.

For dessert, we had more cheesecake. The girls love it. And Gina, who declared that she doesn't like cheesecake, loved this one.

We took the A train home, particularly crowded for some reason, and headed back to Washington Heights.

I don't know what our plans are for today, but I do know that we are going to stay at the Marriott Marquis tonight. We decided to cash in some Marriott points, and make Times Square our home base for two nights. And, we might just go downstairs to Junior's and bring some cheesecake up to our room. So much for losing weight by walking a lot here.

And now, for your reading pleasure, Rob's addition to the blog:

By the end of the day, Rob was yearning for anything involving cars, guns, football or anything else masculine. Luckily, we decided to eat at Juniors, a wonderful throw back restaurant, where the burgers are huge, the calories bigger and it harkens back to era long gone. Thus fortified by a steakburger, and the largest onion rings he has ever seen, Rob's morale was restored and he was recharged, ready to face another day at the whim of three young girls who are determined to make yet another foray to the American girls store.

Camille decided to try to give Rob a break when we entered the American girls store. She offered to watch he girls and suggested that Rob try to find some guy stores to check out on Fifth Ave. Rob tried in vain to find a sports store, newsstand, bookstore, etc. No dice. There are no refuges for real men on Fifth Avenue. It's kind of like trying to find some place masculine in San Francisco, or like finding water in the Sahara in summer,