Bucket #3 (Shakespeare in the Park)

Bucket #3: Shakespeare in the Park

June, 15, 2014

Temp: 61 degrees (in the am), 70 degrees (in the evening)

We started the day off at 5:30 am…now if you know the Sutton Sisters, this is crazy talk.  We hate waking up early for anything, so the fact that we chose to do that on our day off was quite a big deal.  We left the apartment at 6:00 am for a quick stop at the store…only…our store wasn’t open yet!  This was shocking to us.  We are often at the store at closing time (midnight), but we have NEVER been there too early!  Fortunately, the 24 hour Rite Aid across the street had the snacks we needed to get us through a long day of sitting in line.

We met Maddy on the train and dealt with construction on the N/Q line to finally make it to Central Park shortly after 7:00.  Al met us and we quickly got in line.  (or on line depending on where you are from!)  The days before our outing had been quite hot, so we were not expecting the brisk morning we had.  It really didn’t warm up at all until 11 am, but I guess it’s better than 90 degree weather we will probably have to deal with for the next Shakespeare in the Park in late July.

Time passed quickly with several chats, snacks and games.  The company was outstanding…wonderful people with whom to spend the day!  We were waiting to get tickets for “Much Ado About Nothing.”  Well, midway through our waiting time, I started making Much Ado About Everything from the dog fight we witnessed to the BIG ROCK OF DOOM!  What is this big rock, you ask?  Why yes, I was just about to tell you about it.  For the show, each person on the line is allowed to get two tickets.  They don’t hand out the same amount of tickets each show, so it’s difficult to tell if you’re going to get tickets.  We really didn’t want to wait around all day only to lose out on seeing the show.  My friend, Blair (who I was going to get a ticket for), texted me midway through our waiting time to ask if we were ahead of THE BIG ROCK OF DOOM.  Now let me tell you, there are several rocks in central park, several big rocks, and several on the paths leading up to the theatre.  I started snapping pictures of rocks to send to her to see if we were out of luck.  Apparently if you are after this certain rock, you generally don’t get tickets.  We ended up with tickets as well as tons of people after us, BUT we did later determine by Blair’s confirmation that we were indeed right next to THE BIG ROCK OF DOOM!  Thank goodness our day was not destroyed by the rock this time, but we must heed this warning for King Lear tickets and get there earlier!

THE BIG ROCK OF DOOM!

After hanging out for 5 hours, the time came to hand out tickets!  When our group of four got to the front, we said 4 people, 8 tickets.  The lady said we would be split up and handed us 4 tickets and 6 tickets.  hmm…that one confused us!  So we had ten tickets in our hands, and we didn’t know why!  After deliberating, we decided to ask someone in charge if they were supposed to give us two extra tickets or if that was a mistake. We certainly wanted to give the two extras to friends, but we also know what it’s like to wait in line for hours with the possibility of not getting tickets.  We turned them back in and went on our way back home for a lengthy nap.

We basically slept the afternoon away and headed back to the theatre.  By this time, the weather was absolutely beautiful with no rain forecasted!  (We had a rain adventure the last time we went to Shakespeare in the Park…the rain added to that evening, but I wouldn’t trade this beautiful night for anything!)  Blair, Tony, Eric and Laura joined the original four for the show that evening.

It was THE PERFECT NIGHT!  The show was just amazing!  Lindsay and I agreed it was the best Shakespeare we’d ever seen, and it was simply gorgeous outside.  So far every bucket list adventure has had great weather.  (Hope I didn’t just jinx it!)

http://www.publictheater.org/en/programs–events/shakespeare-in-the-park/?SiteTheme=Shakespeare

Note: I did not take this illegal picture…Lindsay did! hehe!

After the show, 5 of us decided to get a bite to eat.  The show was three hours long, so 11 pm on a Sunday night can be a little difficult to find a place that is still open.  Blair told us about Big Nick’s.  We weren’t sure if we would be able to eat much there, BUT we when we walked in, we saw a sign for gluten free pizza!  How perfect!  We had a fun dinner and a lovely walk to the train where the moon glowed and mesmerized everyone.

We are finding these adventures to be even better than we imagined!  We definitely encourage everyone to try something similar for a period of time.  On to the next bucket! 🙂

Bucket #2 (Coney Island Fun in the Sun)

Alan, Laurie, Maddy, Laura, Randy and Lindsay

BUCKET #2 (Coney Island Fun in the Sun)

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Temp: 82 degrees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coney_Island

http://www.coneyisland.com/tourist-information

Our Coney Island Adventure started off on a beautiful day meeting up with friends in Astoria.  We decided riding the train together would add to the excitement of the day, so Randy, Laura and Maddy met us at our subway stop with a cooler, summery clothes and smiles!  Lindsay and Maddy had never been to Coney Island, so we had plans to experience as much of it as possible!  We enjoyed catching up and anticipating a glorious day on the 1.5 hour train ride that took us from one end of the train to the other!

Once we got to Coney Island, our first stop was to the famous Nathan’s Hot Dog Shop.  Our friend, Alan met up with us there!  With hot dogs and cheesy fries in hand, we took off to find a spot on the beach.  The weather was perfect for lounging in the sun and throwing a frisbee around.  We found the water to be freezing at first but actually quite refreshing to dip our feet into.  There were a few brave souls swimming in it, but I think I’ll save the swims for late July and August.

After our picnic and fun in the sun, we packed up to head over to the Aquarium!  It was packed, but we got to see everything including the penguin feeding time!  Who knew the penguins were actually from a climate similar to ours?  (They were from somewhere in Africa near Nubia.)

Taking this picture reminded us of that scene in the Leo remake of Romeo and Juliet! Haha!

The next stop was to the famous Wonder Wheel that was originally built in the 1920’s.  So much history on Coney Island…we got to see a picture of the 4th of July on Coney Island many many years ago and it’s amazing to be in the same place as that photo was taken.  We all decided on the swinging cars on the ferris wheel.  A couple of us were totally freaked, (cough-Lindsay, Laura, and Randy-cough, cough) but everyone survived!  It was a beautiful view…and a little windy and chilly!

Al looks as cool as a cucumber on this terrifying ride.  (Note- the seat he’s sitting on says DANGER!)  Maddy is pointing to THE original ticket booth for the Wonder Wheel!

Rita’s Frozen Ice was one of our last stops before heading back home.

Gluten free for me and gluten free/lactose free for Linds! Hooray!

But before we left, Randy had to test out his strength at a carnival classic!  He beat all the other guys we saw!

What a stud!

There’s much more to be discovered at Coney Island including many rides and a Freak Show.  Maybe we’ll have to go back?

Overall it was the perfect summer day making lovely memories with great friends!  On the way home, we had that happy, tired feeling from being in the sun all day.  We were able to discuss future adventure ideas and remark on what a blessing it is to experience this amazing city and share it with amazing friends!

The Sisters Sutton!

Last Stop: Coney Island

Check out this article!  It’s about the US getting it’s first roller coaster 130 years ago at Coney Island!  (The anniversary was just this past Monday!)

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/06/16/130-years-ago-monday-first-u-s-roller-coaster-opens-at-coney-island/

If anyone wants to join us for future adventures, please message me!  Who knows, maybe we’ll extend into the fall and winter!

Bucket List Adventure #1 (Bikes, Chelsea Market, High Line)

Lindsay and Laurie Sutton here!  A couple weeks ago we decided to create a NYC Summer Bucket List since we aren’t usually both in the city during the summer.  An added bonus is that our restaurant decided to close on Sundays until October, so we are guaranteed one day off together each week!

This blog is for us to remember and document our adventures as well as to share our adventures with others!  We encourage you to share any bucket list adventures with us as well!

BUCKET LIST ADVENTURE #1

Sunday, June 1st, 2014

Temp: 77 degrees

The PERFECT start to our summer adventures.  Lindsay researched a GROUPON deal for a bike rental company called Bike and Roll.

http://www.bikenewyorkcity.com/

She purchased the deal which was $19 for two people to rent bikes for two hours.  It also came with free helmet rental.  (A necessity in our cases…haha!)  Let me preface the bike adventure by saying that we probably haven’t even been on a bike, other than exercise bikes, for a good 15 years.  (Lindsay had a traumatic experience on a bike many years ago that involved a mailbox and having to be picked up two houses down in our old Cadillac car…and you’re surprised we’re ACTORS?  Yup…pretty dramatic!)

We picked up our bikes after a gorgeous walk from the 57th and 7th street stop to 12th ave.  The company had one small bike and one slightly bigger bike.  I have to say my bike felt HUGE…probably the source of the bum soreness I felt for the next three days, but that’s another story!  Anyway, I insisted that we shouldn’t start our bucket list with a trip to the hospital, so we should stick to a bike path and avoid the streets.  We settled on the Hudson River Park Bikeway.  Lindsay led the way, and we were headed north along the Hudson with smiles plastered to our faces drinking up the sunshine and relishing that active feeling of being alive in a city so full of life and adventure!

We made it to 175th street where the George Washington Bridge is!  What a beautiful sight!  At this point we were rolling…pun intended! 😉  I decided to take over the lead, and that’s when we started to feel the exercise.  Now we walk all over this city, up the 3 flights to our apartment and exercise at the gym regularly, but we noticed this was using different muscle groups.  The wind also picked up, and I’m thinking that path definitely felt more uphill heading back…I’m just saying…

We made it back to the bike rental place right on time.  Phew!  And we were off to our next adventure.

I had never been to Chelsea Market believe it or not!  It is soooo cute!

http://www.chelseamarket.com/

We picked up a gluten free lunch to go at Friedman’s and headed to The High Line.  Linds had told me about The High Line.  I had never been there before.  For those who don’t know, it is a park built along the above ground section of an abandoned railroad.

Home

NYC is just so unique and creative!  It was pretty packed that day due to the nice weather, but we finally found a place to enjoy our lunch.  We walked the rest of the way and decided to call it a day.

What’s next?  We’re not even sure, but we’ve got a list started!  We’re looking forward to friends joining on us some adventures and creating some of their own!