Sunday, September 21, 2008. We celebrated the first day of Fall in Manhattan. We had theater tickets in hand as we luckily found a parking spot–yes, in Manhattan on a Sunday. To make the city all the more interesting, there was a street fair, and you know what that means; food. And plenty to see and smell.

We explored the street fair a little but decided to have lunch in a more quiet nearby area where we could sit and be served. New York City is the Sunday Brunch capital of the world; you’ll find the thousands of restaurants full of people hitting the Bloody Mary’s and Frozen Daiquiris.

We ended up in “5 Napkin Burger,”–we shared a 10-ouncer–I got a salad. Only in New York: at the table next to us, an Asian girl order matzoh ball soup and a plate of sushi.

I finally found a frozen yogurt store I was looking for nearby, Pinkberry, where I grabbed some fabulous frozen dessert.

Then off to the show, to the first of our five-play season at Manhattan Theater Club, To Be Or Not To Be. I believe this play may have been the original inspiration for Mel Brooks’, The Producers.

After the show, we ventured out back into the crowds to a flea market to benefit actors.

There was a table set up with thousands of Playbills, all the way back to the 1930′s.

I once had a large collection of Playbills, but I discarded them before I moved in 1974. Strange for me, a person who kept everything. In that pile was the 1963 Playbill for Funny Girl with Barbra Streisand.

My first play.

I often thought about the first play I had ever seen, Fiorello! with Tom Bosley. I was in day camp and they took us to the theater. It was probably the summer of 1959.

Whoever donated the Playbill included a large article from the New York Times. Dated November 24, 1959, it is yellowed and crumbling, but what a prize!

The “Little Flower” and I have finally been reunited.

reply ladywolf11 wrote on Sep 21, ’08 sounds like you had a wonderful day, thank you for sharing

reply kathyinozarks wrote on Sep 21, ’08 Great pictures!-sounds like a very fun day in the city

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 21, ’08 kathyinozarks said Great pictures!-sounds like a very fun day in the city Check out the 2 previous picture blogs, just put them up! Thanks, Kath!

reply starfishred wrote on Sep 21, ’08 wonderful ya wunderbar

reply opossumd wrote on Sep 22, ’08, edited on Sep 22, ’08 I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never seen New York. Just lacked the opportunity so far. Certainly you make the city so alive with your words and pictures, I’m just rearing to board a plane and fly there. Did you buy any of those nice frocks? It’s really a cultural melting pot: an ITALIAN wine bar (osteria, vineria, or enoteca) has put up a FRENCH sign in an ENGLISH-speaking environment. Crazy!

reply danceinsilence wrote on Sep 22, ’08 … and to think with all this no less, NY Yankees Stadium bid it’s final farewell Sunday night. 26 world series titles, some of the most well known players in history walked through the doors that Ruth built.The memorobilia there will be priceless as well as the memories.

reply mystied wrote on Sep 22, ’08 Manhattan on a fall day, you’re so lucky to be in the thick of things. Glad to hear your day was so wonderful.

reply hurricanekate wrote on Sep 22, ’08 Absolutely wonderful, I can almost smell the city!

reply dianeoart wrote on Sep 22, ’08 Ha!!! NY city… where all cultures keep growing side by side. 🙂 You did an amazing job taking all those pictures.

reply sweetpotatoqueen wrote on Sep 22, ’08 Ahh..another great NYC tour by my favorite guide !! Sounds like a wonderful way to spend a Sunday!

reply strongwilledwoman wrote on Sep 22, ’08 Thanks for sharing your day with us. I would not miss the crowds but the rest I am sure I would enjoy. I have been to New York, but never entered the city. I am so happy you found a playbill to refresh your memory of the the wonderful days of long ago.

reply strongwilledwoman wrote on Sep 22, ’08 The photo’s were fabulous!

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 22, ’08 opossumd said I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never seen New York. Just lacked the opportunity so far. Certainly you make the city so alive with your words and pictures, I’m just rearing to board a plane and fly there. Did you buy any of those nice frocks? It’s really a cultural melting pot: an ITALIAN wine bar (osteria, vineria, or enoteca) has put up a FRENCH sign in an ENGLISH-speaking environment. Crazy! Yeah–sounds exotic I guess!

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 22, ’08 danceinsilence said … and to think with all this no less, NY Yankees Stadium bid it’s final farewell Sunday night. 26 world series titles, some of the most well known players in history walked through the doors that Ruth built. The memorobilia there will be priceless as well as the memories. I’ll be at Shea Stadium for the last game played there on Sunday. That’s coming down too. We are getting 2 new stadia–I think that’s the spelling!

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 22, ’08 Thank you, all. It’s wonderful to share my photos! I am glad you enjoyed them.

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 22, ’08 Just for a geographical fix, this is the Times Square area/theater district.

reply kwika wrote on Sep 22, ’08 Wonderful blog Sue I felt as if I was there too haha…I once spent 2 hours in a taxi sightseeing in NY in 1972, can’t remember much about it really except the taxi-driver was Irish and all he could talk about was the “home” country:) .

reply teena2 wrote on Sep 23, ’08 OMG, I’d crumble in that throng of people…an Asian girl order matzoh ball soup and a plate of sushi. hahaha

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 23, ’08 teena2 said OMG, I’d crumble in that throng of people… an Asian girl order matzoh ball soup and a plate of sushi. hahaha I thought it was a riot too!!!!!

reply fluffyj wrote on Sep 24, ’08 I’ve only seen one show in NY my whole life. Les Miserables when I was in the Richard Mansfield Players at Mitchell College. I was the only one going on the trip that had never been to one before. I was pregnant with my son, and was amazed at what could be done on a stage. I had seen lots of plays at home, but never anything like this, and even a few shows on TV or on VCR… but wow. I cried my eyes out and Marc and Scott just stared at me like I was a little kid. On the way back to CT, the other students asked me tons of questions about my reactions to the show and they ‘saw it again with me’ on the ride back through my eyes. I look forward to seeing another one again. Frozen Daquiris sound delicious… -janeen

reply welshdoug wrote on Sep 26, ’08 Yes, I agree – Manhattan is a truly cosmopolitan melting pot. We went to one of those fresh food markets, and were literally drooling by the time we left. We’d sampled some strange fruits, cheeses, meats etc – it was wonderful.”5-play season?” sounds great, but I think I’d prefer one play less….lol (sorry about that one!)

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 26, ’08 welshdoug said Yes, I agree – Manhattan is a truly cosmopolitan melting pot. We went to one of those fresh food markets, and were literally drooling by the time we left. We’d sampled some strange fruits, cheeses, meats etc – it was wonderful. “5-play season?” sounds great, but I think I’d prefer one play less….lol (sorry about that one!) Too much, bad boy!!!

reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Sep 27, ’08 it just looks so alive here, a real buzzing town, if you ever get tired of writing try being a tour guide, you would be very good at it…………..thanks for the guided tour, i really enjoyed it

reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Sep 27, ’08 forgetmenot525 said it just looks so alive here, a real buzzing town, if you ever get tired of writing try being a tour guide, you would be very good at it…………..thanks for the guided tour, i really enjoyed it Ha! my husband always wanted to be a tour guide. I love doing photojournalism…as you can see.