I am thinking that you my blogger friends, even if you have been to NYC, have never seen the places I visited yesterday!  It was for a belated celebration for Alice who was 7 years old last March, when we were in Ahemedabad.  The bus dropped us off at 7th Avenue and 28th Street and walked most of the way up to Third and 60th to our first stop.

This  is  fun place for adults and children. Who doesn’t have a sweet tooth?  This store was the fulfillment of a dream of  Dylan Lauren, Ralph’s daughter,the entrepreneur who opened this her  flag ship store. My daughter and I decided after seeing her picture , that it was Dylan’s dream , but not a piece of the candy has ever passed her lips!

This is the sight you are greeted with as you enter.  The sales clerks are especially sweet to all their visitors!

In the lower level, there are all sorts of candies arranged by colors. My daughter was looking for camouflage colors for Henry’s 10th birthday. It is a theme of Duck Dynasty and we found gummy things and licorice sticks we had never seen anywhere else. Success on our first stop!

We headed back downtown with individual bags of candy to  munch on to keep our strength up!  I had Jordan Almonds and Sour Patch Cherries.  Both hit the spot!  We walked and experienced the sounds and sights…people and languages from places we couldn’t imagine, street vendors of food and scarves and purses, and the tall buildings.

Here we are at the American Girl Place just past St. Patrick’s Cathedral. This is either capitalism at its best or worst. You must decide, but Alice was as happy as she could be!

Three floors filled with dolls, both contemporary or historical, books , videos, and accessories.

This is a salon where dolls can have their hair done, though there is not a place for “mani/pedis!”  There is a hospital where the dolls can get a new head or whatever part is  in need of repair. Alice’s big sister Grace loved her Molly too much and she is in need of a new head.  She will receive  one in the hospital and be mailed home complete with a hospital gown for a mere $40.00!

Alice finally decided on Saige, the doll of the year.  She is from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Alice asked her mother, “Is Saige a real name?”  We had a big laugh over her astute question.   We purchased Saige’s book, and a change of outfits plus her pet,an adorable Border Collie.

We took Saige out of her box and walked around the store waiting for our lunch seating at 2:30. We had done our shopping and had the giant red bag to prove it.

We finally found some chairs in a corner where we waited to be “ladies who lunch!”

Right on time, we were lead into the pink and black dining room.  The dolls all have a pink highchair connected to the the tables to sit next to their new mommy.

Finally after lunch, we are ready to walk to our bus stop.

One last picture.

And then I saw bike rickshaws!  Katie said, “Mom, please don’t engage!”  But of course I ignored her because engaging is my favorite thing to do!  The driver was from Istanbul. This is New York, the “mixed salad”,  where people come from all over the world…a microcosm of the universe!   He said that the motorized rickshaws, we used in India, are outlawed  in “the city.” I think he was relieved we were not having him bike us , but were walking. I was amazed at the price which was $3.99 per minute. You can sit at a traffic light for more than that!   In Ahmedabad, we could ride 30 minutes to the mall for 50 rupees or $1.00!

We walked for an hour even passing through Times Square towards the bus. We did see thousands of young attorneys leaving the Jacob Javit’s Center after sitting for for the New York Bar  Exam.

Katie and I talked on the ride back to Albany that, though expensive, the dolls are high quality, will last for generations, are good clean fun, and not technology. Were we rationalizing?  Probably, but it was heart warming to see Alice, with Saige nestled  in her arms, dreaming of  the fun times they will have together.