Planetarium

Today was all about taking it easy. With no grand plans, we simply headed back to the museum and planetarium to catch the exhibits we missed yesterday. Nothing too eventful, but after all the rushing around, a slower pace was a welcome change. 

Back to the Natural History Museum

Our mission for the day was a return to the magnificent American Museum of Natural History. We caught the same subway line as the previous day, aiming for a direct hit this time. Or so I thought. In a moment of classic "are we there yet?" enthusiasm, I confidently declared we were at our stop, only to realise, just as we emerged onto street level, that we’d actually overshot by one stop. Oops. Still, it was only about three blocks to walk back, and frankly, that seemed like less faff than navigating our way back down into the subway and then up again. Another minor navigational triumph for Team GB!

Despite arriving a little later than planned, thanks to my subway stop miscalculation, we dived straight back into the museum. It was amazing how much we’d managed to miss on our first visit – the place is just so incredibly packed with wonders. We happily spent the entire day there all over again, wandering through halls we hadn't even glanced at previously and re-visiting a few favourites.

Con and Teddy Roosevelt

During our explorations, I even managed to have my photo taken with President Theodore Roosevelt. He sat on a bench rather imposingly, I must say. He didn't have much to say for himself, mind you, but then again, being made of bronze probably makes holding a conversation a bit tricky.

By the time we finally stumbled out of the museum for the second time, it was almost dark. The timing, however, was perfect for a spot of photography. The grand old building itself looked brilliant illuminated against the darkening sky, and the all-glass structure of the Hayden Planetarium next door was a real spectacle, glowing invitingly and reflecting the city lights around it. It was a cracking end to another fascinating day.

Evening walk

Columbus Circle Neon

As I mentioned, it had been a pretty full-on day revisiting the museum, so we kept things low-key once we were done. We just grabbed something to eat on the way back to the hotel – nothing fancy – and then settled in to watch a bit of telly for the evening. Jane decided to call it a night fairly early, but I still had a bit of energy left, or perhaps just a touch of restlessness.

I initially popped out just for a bit of a walk around our local area, but then I got the idea to hop on the subway. I ended up taking a trip back uptown to Columbus Circle, fancying my chances at getting some decent photographs of it all lit up in the dark. I had this vision of how it might look, all dramatic and glowing. In reality, though, it wasn't quite the photographic goldmine I'd imagined. It was lit up, sure, but it just didn't have that 'wow' factor I was hoping for through the lens. Oh well, you can't win them all, can you? Some things look better in your head, or just to the naked eye, rather than on camera.

Late night pub drinking

After the slightly underwhelming photography session at Columbus Circle, I had a classic "sod it" moment. There was no point heading back to the hotel just yet. Instead, I hopped back on the next subway train, making a beeline for 47th Street and that friendly Irish pub, Langans, where we’d had a decent meal the other day. By the time I strolled in, it was already 11:30 p.m.

I knew pubs and bars kept late hours around here, but when I first walked in, it looked like they were just about ready to call it a night. There were only about five or six people dotted along the bar, nursing their drinks. I found myself a vacant bar stool, ordered a beer – which arrived complete with a little napkin underneath it, a nice touch – and settled in, feeling quite relaxed. Fast forward to about 1:30 a.m., and after my second beer (or was it my fourth? Things were getting a little pleasantly hazy), the place suddenly started to fill up. Streams of people started piling in. I leaned over to the bloke sat next to me and asked if this sudden rush was normal. "Yup," he said, "all the theatres start kicking out around one o'clock, and everyone heads for a beer afterwards." Another New York mystery solved, Scooby!

This particular pub, I learned, didn’t actually close its doors until around 4:30 in the morning. By now, it was probably somewhere between two and half-past two – as I said, that bit’s a tad fuzzy. Given that a beer was setting me back $7 (a fairly hefty £4.40 for just over a pint), I wasn’t in any mad rush to be ordering them by the dozen, but equally, I wasn’t in any hurry to leave the lively atmosphere. Eventually, though, leave I must. Sigh.

It was actually lovely strolling back through Times Square at that time of night. Although it was still buzzing with light and a surprising number of people compared to, say, a British city centre at that hour, it felt practically deserted compared to its usual daytime or early evening chaos. The sheer volume of people had thinned out enough that you could actually appreciate the scale of the place. I took some time to sit on those big red TKTS steps, just soaking in the atmosphere, watching the giant billboards playing their endless, silent adverts to the quietened streets. It was a perfect, peaceful end to a long and varied day.