Yesterday we went to the Sarasota Blues Festival. I had an awesome time, but was disappointed they wouldn't let me up on stage. This is me chillin' with the boys... Actually, it's not right to say chillin because it was hotter than a Banana dipped in chili peppers...

I gave Paul Thorn my autograph. These celebrities just can't get enough of me...


And this is me staying out of the rain...

HELP ME!!!!!!

The next morning, we got up, waaaayyyy too early again. Again I was stuffed in the backpack and back in the car we went. Off to the airport to finally head home. I had a great time in New York, but I was really starting to miss my daddy and Auntie and even a little bit, the man with the funny face. On the way to the airport, the old lady started to get really worried about someone named Debby. I don't know who Debby was, but the old lady was worried we wouldn't be able to land in Florida because of her. Pretty powerful person, whoever she was. Turns out, she knows how to move planes because our plane jumped all over the place as it was getting ready to land in Tampa. And when we were finally safely on the ground, this Debby person closed the Skyway Bridge, so we had to drive all the way around Tampa to get home. She seemed to be the cause of all kinds of mischeif, even big waves out in the Bay. I am happy to be home, safe and sound and ready to head out on the next adventure.

After some nice refreshments and a yummy lunch (no bananas though; I tried to tell them a nice cold banana daiquiri would hit the spot, but no one was listening, as usual), we got back in the car and headed to the Village of Armonk where the old lady lived when she was a little girl. I don't know what all the excitement was about. I admit it was a cute little town, with lots of lovely trees, but I don't know why she had to see where she grew up so much.

Take for example, the road where she lived for several years of her life. It was called Frog Rock Road, named after this rock that is supposed to, I guess, look like a frog. Some of my best friends are frogs, and I don't see any resemblance between them and this rock!

Right next to this rock was the long driveway down to her childhood home. We took some pictures from the top of the driveway, but the old lady was all worried the current homeowners were going to come storming out of their house and have her arrested. I don't know what she was so worried about. No one is going to arrest someone in the company of such a lovely little monkey! So we went back to M&J's house and had dinner. Again, no bananas! But it was fun playing outside as it got dark. Also, Jacque is Dicken's former mother. Dickens is my close friend, the black bear. He was very happy to see his old mommy (oops, don't tell her I called her old!). I got to meet some of his other siblings too. This one with the wings was very cute.

I've been a very lazy little monkey since we got back from the big city. Florida is just so hot and everything moves a little slower here, and so do little monkeys. Anyway, I'm finally getting around to finishing my blog about my wonderful trip. Saturday morning, after our long night on the town, the old lady got me out of bed way too early and stuffed me in the backpack along with the metro card and the train schedule. She was all excited because we were heading up to Westchester to see her good friend Jacque. I don't know why she was so excited. I was kind of sad to say good bye to our fun little apartment and especially to the wise one... Being wise, he told me that in order for more adventures to begin, the current adventure has to come to a close....

So we triple checked the apartment, grabbed our suitcase, dumped the garbage in the basement, and headed toward the subway. Unfortunately, the old lady wasn't thinking that traveling on a Saturday was going to be slow, so we arrived at Grand Central right after the train we were hoping to catch had pulled out of the station. That was ok though, another one was going to leave in less than an hour and it gave me a chance to look around. Grand Central Station is a very, very big place so I was a little worried I would get lost, but it had lots of interesting stuff to look at!

We finally made it to Westchester after a boring hour on the train. I thought train travel would be fun, but there's just a lot of clickty clack and stuff whizzing by out the window. The old lady wouldn't let me out of the back pack because there was someone sitting next to us. I think she was embarrassed! Jacque and Mike met the train and took us back to their house to dump our suitcase. Then we headed up to a nice little town with cute little stores, called Cold Spring, to find things for little monkeys to buy. Only we ended up not buying ANYTHING for the little monkey! Mike told us that this building across the river was part of West Pointe. I don't know what the big deal was about that, but the old lady seemed to find it interesting

I did get to sit on this really cool gun thing... More to come later. The old lady says she's tired of watching me bounce around on the keyboard and wants to use the computer to get some work done. Hmph!

Good Bye Karen, Safe Trip!

Friday morning, Karen got up early and went to have breakfast with Nicoletta. The old lady and I were really sad that Karen was leaving, but the old lady reminded me that we were heading home ourselves in two days and we would get together with Karen really soon to look at pictures together, Karen came back, we said our good-byes and then the old lady and I took off to meet her friend Margaret Holt. On the way, though, we went back to 5^th Avenue to go to a store to buy some shirts for the man with the fuzzy face. I don't get what was so important about 5^th Avenue, but the old lady said it was very prestigious and it was awesome that she could get nice soft shirts for $12.50 each. Nothing for the monkey, though, of course!! Before we went in the store, the old lady took me into a cool dark place with an awesome window. Everyone talked very softly. She said it was a church. I didn't see any statues of the great monkey... She said it was St. Thomas Cathedral.

When we got down in the subway again, to head to Margaret's, we got to see a band playing, right on the subway platform!

We got down to the East Village, but stopped at a Walgreens to get a print made of Dickens and I with the wise one. Jane, the nice girl who let us stay in her apartment, left an empty frame on the wall, so the old lady decided she needed a picture to go in it.

When we got to Margaret's, we made a plan to go to the pier but had to bring umberellas because it was threatening to rain. I wanted to just stay home, but the old lady said that would be stupid to waste a day in New York just because of a little weather. So this is my new friends Margaret and Dick sitting on Pier 66, trying to ignore the occasional raindrop... I must admit it was fun seeing kayaks on the Hudson river. We made it through lunch without getting wet, so we walked along the river for a little bit and came to this huge sports complex where they actually play GOLF! In the city! Since the old lady works for the Golfer's Guide, she was very fascinated. We took refuge in the Golf Shop just in time as it started to pour down rain and thunder and lightening outside. They had a very nice lounge and no one complained that we were sitting there, so we just kind of hung out for an hour while the rain went away. When we came back outside, the rain had stopped and it had gotten much cooler out.

We walked back across town toward Margaret's when Dick suggested we stop for a coffee. Since the old lady knew she had a show to still go to that evening, she thought it was a good idea. The coffee shop made pretty pictures in the top of the coffee cup.(1717) Dick was a very nice man and wouldn't let us pay for anything. The old lady felt a little guilty but I was happy to be spoiled (1718).

After coffee, we headed back up town to shower (there she goes again), change and head back Downtown to try to meet up with some friends of the old lady's from the days when she used to sing on stage all the time. The group was called the Village Light Opera. I think opera sounds like a bunch of screeching cats so I hoped it wasn't going to be really bad. We found Charlie Wolf on the #1 train platform at Houston Street and continued on to Brooklyn where the Begger's Opera was going to be performed. So I guessed we were going to watch begging, screeching cats... The old lady and Charlie kept making comments during the show, but I thought it was much better than I expected After the show, we met up with some of her old friends and had a late dinner. Then we all hired a car and headed back into the city. I was very happy to take the car instead of trying to deal with the trains because in the way to Brooklyn, we had to switch trains many times because of water on the tracks and delays. The old lady was very happy Charlie was with us so we didn't get totally lost and confused. The car dropped off Charlie, Ned and Royal and then us, and it was still not too expensive.

We dropped into bed at 1:30, really, really, tired!

Thursday morning, we met up with the old lady's friend Carl. He took us on a subway ride down to an area called Chelsea. I was worried there would be water there since it was a sea, but they said not to worry about it.

First we went to an art gallery where Carl's daughter was an intern. I thought interns were only in hospitals, but then the old lady pointed out that Aunt Katie is an intern at our local TV station... The gallery was featuring art work by a 5-year-old. I was skeptical, but they turned out to be really interesting. She paints and then adds various toys and such to the canvas. I was a little worried she might try to glue me on, but they assured me the little girl wasn't around.

Then we left the gallery and went to this place called the High Line.  It used to be a railroad, up in the air, that they've turned into a garden area. We started at 25^th Street and walked all the way down to 17^thStreet but then it got too hot. I made some new friends along the way, right before we headed back down to the street. We had pizza at the bottom of the High Line at a pizza place called Artichoke Basille's Pizza & Bar. The old lady let me have a bite and although it wasn't quite a banana, it was still pretty good! Don't know what happened to this picture. Guess the old lady's fingers were all covered in pizza juice, but you can see how big the slice was compared to me!

Then we walked again (the old lady and Karen were having some trouble walking since they were so full of pizza) and ended up at the Chelsea market. I thought it would look like our Red Barn Flea Market at home, but it was more like a mall.

I got to play Godzilla monkey until the security guard came over to see what I was up to. You can just see the old lady's friend and Karen in the background of the doomed city.

Then we walked some more and went to a place called Vitra. They make all kinds of really neat chairs in just my size. I tried to get the old lady to buy me one, but since the average price was $700, she said NO! I'm going to make Daddy get on the internet when we get back to see if he can find one cheaper.

The old lady stuffed me back in the backpack so I would stop begging, so I didn't get to see these guys doing acrobatics in the hot sun. I personally think they were nuts to even consider it. I was melting just riding around. Finally we stopped in a cool place where Carl, Karen and the old lady ordered something called Margaritas. They were nice and icy cool, but I think they would have tasted better if they had used bananas. The old lady said it would have to be called a daiquiri then. I didn't care what it was called as long as they gave me one, but no such luck. 

So then the old lady and Karen went back to the apartment again to change. Karen went off to see Nicoletta and go see another ballet with her, and the old lady and I went to meet the old lady's cousin Jennifer. She is really, really pretty! And really, really tall!!!  We met her on the top floor of the Peninsula Hotel in their roof top bar. I was afraid they wouldn't let me in, but no one said anything. The place had a great view of 5^th Avenue. So then I was afraid I would fall down. But the old lady said she would never let that happen.

Then we walked up Fifth Avenue and saw the Plaza Hotel and FAO Swartz. I really wanted to go inside, but the old lady wouldn't let me. She was afraid I would get every monkey in the store to follow me out, like the Pied Piper, whoever that was. Then we went down 57^th Street to a famous sushi restaurant called Nobu 57. I don't know what was so impressive about it. What's the big deal about dead fish? The man with the fuzzy face has them all the time... The old lady seemed really happy with her dead fish salad though... We headed back across town and up to the apartment. The old lady said she was too tired to help me write my blog, so that's how we got so far behind.

I've gotten a little behind in my blog. I hope all my millions of fans aren't too disappointed, but it's very hard for a little monkey to walk all over New York City all day and not collapse asleep when he gets home. Let's see, where did I leave off....? Wednesday.... Karen got up early and went to stand in something called a "rush" line... I guess she did kind of rush there, but then she just stood for 2 hours, so I don't know why they call it that. Anyway, we joined her after an hour or so. They were waiting in line for something called Avenue Q. It was a play with puppets, so I was very excited. It turned out not to be all I expected, but more on that later. After they got the tickets, we walked all around Time Square. It was very loud and busy with lots and lots of people, so I mostly hid in the bottom corner of the old lady's back pack. But she took me out in front of this restaurant... Sardi's. She says her daddy used to hang out there.... There is apparently a wall of famous people sketches so we tried to add me, because, of course, I'm famous, but there's too much glare from the street.

I have a new girl friend. Not that I had one before, but there is something about New York girls that made me all tingley inside....

It was horribly hot, so we didn't stay long in Time Square. We came back to the apartment to regroup and met the old lady's friend Tamsin. She took us for pizza at this great little place that was all about ME! Then we headed over to a place called MOMA. I don't know what that stands for, but it was full of all kinds of funky arty stuff. They wouldn't let me touch anything...

One of the rooms had this wall that had the words, “wall pitted by an air rifle shot.” The old lady and Karen looked and looked but could never find the pit...

After the weird MOMA place we went back to the apartment so the old lady and Karen could shower and change. I don't understand why big people feel the need to get wet all the time. I hate getting wet! Then we all went to see a play called Avenue Q. I was really looking forward to seeing it because it starred fuzzy people like me. There was lots of singing and pretty lights but then the old lady started covering my eyes so I couldn't see stuff and then covered my ears so I couldn't hear everything. She kept saying it was inappropriate for an innocent little monkey. I'm not sure what she meant but she and Karen shook there head in disbelief a lot....

Today we took a very long subway ride all the way up to a scary place called the Bronx. I was very happy when we finally got there though, because it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Lots and lots and lots of flowers. The old lady took tons of pictures of all different flowers, but there were too many to post here. On the way back, we rode a bus before we got on the subway. At the first stop 5 or 6 NYPD officers got on. We felt very safe. I wanted my picture taken with them, but the old lady was afraid they would take her off in a white coat if she asked. I don't see why they would give her a pretty coat....

When we got back to the city, I made a new friend....

Another busy day is winding down. I am one tired little monkey! Today the old lady ran out for a few things and forgot me again! But this time she came back in less than an hour. We got on a subway.  That's a big train that travels underground. I have been on a subway before when we all went to Washington. But this time, we got off the subway and got on a bus. That was more fun. I could look out through a hole in the old lady's backpack and watch the city go by. We got to our lunch meet
early, so we walked around, well ok, the old lady walked, I rode, an area the old lady called the Upper East Side. She said she had never been in that part of the city before. There was a big hill and of course, lots of cars. We walked past this really cool mural on the wall of a dry cleaning business. Can you find me in the picture?

We had lunch with a really famous author, Gil King. He wrote a book about someone named Thurgood Marshall. I have no idea who that was, but I acted like I was really impressed. The old lady knows some really cool people. Gil kind of laughed at me when the old lady put me on the table, but he let me have my picture taken with him. The old lady had something called a fish taco for lunch. She said it was delicious. I thought it looked nasty. And there certainly wasn't a single banana anywhere to be found!!!

After lunch, we met up with Karen in Central Park. The old lady says she never spent any time there when she lived here. I don't understand why... It's beautiful!  I came all the way to a big city, only to find the most wonderful trees I've ever seen! And rocks and hills. Lots and lots of hills. The old lady was huffing and puffing all the way across the park.

Finally we made it to the other side of the park. I really don't understand what the big deal was. They should have just swung through the trees and the would have been across the park in seconds! We got back on the subway and headed back to the apartment for a breather. I personally wanted to take a nap, but the girls said we didn't have time. So the old lady stretched a little, washed her face, changed her clothes and we were off again to meet her friend Deanna in the Village. This was the old lady's old neighborhood, so she was excited to see what it looked like now. We made it Downtown faster than she thought so we wandered up to where she used to live. She knew the brownstone had been sold, but wasn't prepared to see it all wrapped in guaze as it's being remodeled. It was really weird for her, seeing it empty and all torn up.  But the front door was still red!

We had dinner at a sushi restaurant (Fish!? Again!? Where are the bananas!!?) with a latin flair. The old lady said it was very different, but really good. The Karen lady said she had a freind who liked to take pictures of food, so this picture of the salad is for Eden.

After dinner we walked around the Village some more. We ended up near the school where the old lady used to take voice lessons. She set me up for a picture, but there were people looking at her very oddly, so she took it fast and took me down. It didn't come out very well, but you can tell where we are. Then it was getting dark so we headed back to the apartment. Tomorrow we are going somewhere called the Bronx to look at flowers... Seems like a long way to go just for some flowers, but I guess they know what they are doing.

I am in New York City! We left early this morning while I was still very sleepy. I snuggled down in the old lady's backpack and went back to sleep. It wasn't until the pressure changed in the plane, that I woke up and realized we were flying!!!

Here I am in the taxi telling the driver how to get to the apartment where we will be staying. I know how to get there, because I helped the old lady make the reservation, and of course, I'm a very smart little monkey. The lady, Jane who is renting us her apartment, is very nice. I would like to meet her in person so I can give her a big kiss, right on the nose!

I hope she doesn't mind that I started playing her piano as soon as we got here. Maybe they will let me play at Lincoln Center tomorrow night.... After the old lady figured out all the locks and buttons and stuff, Karen and Nicoletta came and checked out the place. Then they all left and left me here!!! Dickens and I stared out the window for hours waiting for them to come back.

Apparently, they walked up and down and up and down, getting supplies for Nicoletta's dorrm room after eating a quick salad and sub at the local deli. The old lady couldn't believe how inexpensive everything was. She said the man with the fuzzy face would have been in heaven. A huge salad was less than $4. Of course, I wouldn't know because I was stuck here in the apartment staring out the window with a stupid bear!!!!

After what seemed like forever, they came back and collapsed on the chairs and said they weren't very good at walking so much. They did some bed switching. Karen is letting us have the big bed on account of there are three of us and only one her... Once we got on the big bed, Dickens noticed there was someone in the corner watchng us!!! We will have to ask Jane what his (her?) name is. It doesn't say much. Just sits there.... The old lady and Karen got their "second wind" whatever that means, and headed back out, but this time they took me with them. We found a nice little Mexican restaurant where the old lady could have a Corona. I wanted this drink called, "The Ricky" but the old lady said I was too young.

Then we walked over to Central Park. The old lady and Karen were actually shivering!! I didn't think it was that cold but they are used to all that Florida sunshine I guess. The old lady was all over  the really cool skyline. I was much more interested in the flowers.

After we got back to the apartment and I started to type this, all of a sudden we heard sirens that seemed to stop right outside the apartment. So the old lady looked out the window and sure enough, there were 3 fire trucks and a supervisors truck stopped right in the street, just one building up from us! I guess it turned out to be a false alarm because they walked around for about 15 minutes and then got back in their trucks and drove away. It sure was exciting for awhile there....


This little monkey is very tired after all this excitement, so I'm heading off to bed. Another big day in the big city tomorrow!