Fifty By 50: NYC Trip Day 10 - Transit Museum, Cat Cafe & Brooklyn Bridge (July 5, 2019)

Well, it was bound to happen and today it did, we've arrived at the end of our 10th New York City Trip.

Today will be our last full day in the city as we fly out tomorrow morning at 7:30 am.

It was after 2:00 am when we got back to the room last night so we slept in quite late this morning.

My Honey did get up early and check us into our flight but then he came right back to bed and we slept until almost noon!!!

We didn't really have a set agenda for the day, we figured we'd just wing it and try to fit in a few last minute things.

My Honey really wanted to go to Xi'an Foods and have the spicy lamb noodle dish again so that is where we went first.

I opted to wait and get a bagel.

We walked around LIC for a while before finding a bagel place believe it or not, but we did find one.

It was a cute little cafe - I wasn't sure they even had bagels but they did.

They had this really cool mossy wall - I think it was real too.

It was just exactly what I was craving.

A cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and jam.

It totally hit the spot.

We shared a trail mix cookie too for our dessert.

When we finished eating, we hopped on the G train and headed over to Brooklyn to check out the NY City Transit Museum.

We almost missed it because you had to go down into what looked like a subway station but it was actually the museum.

New York has quite the subway system, it must have been quite the job building it.

I'm sure the conditions weren't the best.

I don't think I would have liked to be a Sandhog.

Kudos to the brave folks that were.

Holy cow wow!

I'd have been done out under an hour, maybe even sooner.

Pushing a wheelbarrow load around and just trying to keep it balanced is no joke, especially one filled with heavy rocks.

Women got involved when the men went off to war.

The artisans.

There really are some beautiful works of art down in the subway stations.

My Honey loves a good museum.

I don't think we've been to this station - we'll have to make a point of checking it out.

This is a picture of the City Hall station we learned about in the Catacombs tour the other day.

It's closed now but there are tours you can take that go there.

Something we'll have to do on another trip.

This little girl was so cute - she was very interested in everything and was asking her dad all kinds of questions.

He was really good too because he was answering them and explaining it all out to her - it was so nice to see.

There was a section dedicated to subway mapping.

I found that very interesting.

The View from Ninth Avenue.

It's interesting to see from the picture how big our own part of the world is to us and how small everything else is.

Great perspective.

I thought all the maps were interesting.

I especially like the ones where the draw the buildings like this.

Gilded Manhattan.

This map is actually gilded with 22 karat gold.

It's in reference to the streets of Manhattan being "paved in gold".

I have to be honest and say that I don't read every single thing when I go to a museum, I kind of browse then read things that kind of stand out to me more.

I love the scale models - somehow they make things that much more realistic than pictures alone.

The Grand St Crosstown Line scale model.

They had life size models tool.

You could get in them and sit in the passenger seats or even the driver seats -

the kids there loved that.

This guy looks professional.

All the kids wanted their turns in the driver seat.

I don't blame them - if they weren't in there, I would have hopped in and tried it out too.

Another model.

Another thing I love, signs.

Wouldn't it be great if the fare was still just a nickel?

Ha ha - cute, bus juice.

Like the depiction!

I liked seeing the blown up pictures of the old coaches and trolley cars.

I couldn't imagine having to still dress like this in heat like we are experiencing out there today.

It must have been brutal.

An old Fire Alarm.

Some examples of poetry that must have been displayed in the rail cars at one time.

I really like this one.

Rosette from 215th Street Station.

It is beautiful.

It's sad how often old artifacts like this are lost in remodels or renovations.

I'd like to save it all.

Fulton Street Station Ceramic

The details in some of the work is really astounding.

Bus Uniform Jacket belonging to James Elders.

What a great initiative.

That is so wonderful - I've often appreciated a service that I've received but I don't think I've felt moved enough to send a letter of appreciation.

Maybe this is a reminder that maybe it's something I should try to make a point of doing.

This is pretty spot on model of a train.

The top is removed and you can see down into the seats.

I love models, especially trains - I can see how people get so into them as a hobby.

My favorite part of the museum was down another level.

It looked just like a subway station but lined up all along the platform were all different versions of subway cars over the years and you could go in and see them.

The seats in this one look like they are covered in a wicker like material.

I had all the loops hanging for people to hang onto if they had to stand.

The old advertisements in them were really cool.

It's amusing to see how they used to pitch a product.

There have been so many versions.

Check out the fans they have mounted - I wonder if they did any good on a hot NYC summer day in a car full of people?

The leather strap kind of hand loops were eventually replaced with metal ones.

Wow, 4 cakes (bars) of Ivory Soap for 19 cents, that's a bargain.

There was subway car after subway car and I wanted to go in and see them all.

I'm pretty sure this wasn't the best use of space for seating capacity.

Another version of a subway car.

Subway Reader - Looks like a series of interesting facts about NYC displayed in the subway cars for passengers to read and pass their commute time.

This stuff is great.

OMG -love it.

I like the round windows on the doors, reminds me of portals on a ship.

Advertising has sure come a long way.

Don't know how appealing the idea of Vicks VapoRub being in the cough drops is to me?

They make it sound so good, not!

I love it.

Lent-Friday-Any Day - that's awesome.

They were only 12 cents each, that's even more awesome!

Another version of hand loops to hold onto.

And another version of the wicker covered seat.

That is a very bare and sparse.

I'm not sure if the conductor would have sat here or who?

I'm betting it was a transit worker of some kind anyway.

You know, I think some of the old signs they used to have are much more fun.

Starting to get modernized, they actually have a tile pattern on the floor.

There was a Miss Subway competition, who knew?

Miss Subway 1974 - Sonia Dominguez.

An older car again - this one actually looks very spacious.

These old ads are so great and I love seeing how much things cost.

Looks like they started making better use of the space for seating but boy do those seats look uncomfortable.

You know I think those handles on the backs of the seats would be a helpful thing to still have.

Sometimes when the subway car gets really full, it's hard to find room on a pole to hold onto.

They still have versions of Subway etiquette signs up in the subway cars today.

I kind of enjoy them and look for all the different versions when I'm on the Subway.

The transition between the subway cars used to be circular - cool.

The rail cars was by far my favorite part of the museum.

I could have spent more time in there as well but it was getting close to closing time so I had to go find My Honey.

We always seem to get separated in museums as the things that interest us aren't always the same so they lead us in different directions.

There is always a gift shop on the way out so if we don't meet up before that, we always meet up there and today that's exactly what happened.

There were examples of old toll booths or gates.

There certainly have been a few different versions.

I guess Subway toll evasion is a big problem

You had to go through a set to leave the museum.

The museum was interesting and I'm so glad we went.

There was so much to see and learn - I'd be open to going back again and having another run through.

We left the museum and we just kind of wandered around that part of town.

My Honey is very fond of just walking around to see what you might happen upon.

I moan & groan sometimes but you know he's right, we've happened upon many an interesting thing that we wouldn't have otherwise.

Today was one of those times because we came across The Brooklyn Cat Cafe.

I love the sign.

We looked in and saw all kinds of kitties lounging around in there.

We decided we wanted to go in but first we wanted to get a bite to eat.

Our intention was just to order dessert.

They had Coconut Tres Leches cake so you know I ordered that.

My Honey ordered the Apple Pie but they brought him out a Brownie - he didn't say a word about it, just ate it anyway.

I also ended up ordering fries because I saw the couple at the next table eating them and they looked delicious.

They DID NOT disappoint!

Then we headed back to the Cat Cafe.

It was $8.00 a person to go in and spend time with the kitties for each half hour.

The money raised all goes back into the care for the cats.

The workers are all volunteers and the idea is to get the cats adopted or at least get them socialized so that they are adoptable.

There were cats curled up in every nook and cranny.

Look how comfy this little guy (or girl) looks.

There were some really tiny kittens, 14 of them all together in this group between 3 moms.

Two of the moms were sick and out of commission so the 3rd was mothering all of them.

We started trying to make some friends immediately.

There was every shape, color, size and age cat you could imagine.

Most were sleeping peacefully.

This one I thought was paralyzed because she was wearing a pink diaper and she was dragging her hind legs behind her.

I felt really bad for her.

One of the workers told us that she was actually born with her legs turned out but not to feel sorry for here because if we asked the other kitties here, they'd let us know that she was just a big bully.

So we dubbed her The Kitty Queen.

They had these benches with cut outs in the shape of kitty heads.

I'm not sure if it was kitty litter boxes inside (sure wouldn't want the job of cleaning out those) or food but either way, what a cute idea.

More peacefully napping kitties.

It was hard to find a surface that wasn't occupied by a cat.

It was definitely their world in there.

They were just letting us be a part of it.

There were some rescued bunnies in the back too.

There were more teeny kitties back there too.

Cuteness overload.

They had them sharing a cage with some rescued rats of all things and according to the staff, they were great friends.

Now there is something you don't see every day.

We saw The Kitty Queen again, she was getting around just fine and helping herself to a snack.

A bowl full of kitties.

This is the little guy I finally settled on sitting by and petting.

My Honey had this one cuddled up to him.

Awww, it looks like he's having sweet dreams with that big old smile on his face.

Time sure went quickly though because before we knew it, a half hour had nearly passed.

What a great idea this shelter is - I'd totally be back all the time if I lived near by (I'd probably end up adopting an unhealthy amount of cats too)!

We really enjoyed it and didn't mind paying at all seeing as the money is going to such a great cause.

After we just continued on walking.

We came across a flowering shrub that I hadn't seen before.

It reminded me of a hydrangea but instead of having a ball of blooms together, it was more of an elongated shape.

We ended up on this walkway with all these benches all along it.

There were great views of the city.

This would have been the perfect spot to watch the fireworks from.

Brooklyn Bridge is right there and the barges would have been down in the river directly in front.

There was also a great view of Miss Liberty again.

We just walked along it and took in the view.

The green spaces really do add so much to the city.

Random graffiti.

These homes were all along the pathway, they would have spectacular views for sure.

We walked all along the length of it just taking it all in.

We passed what looked like a wedding going on in a park.

The ivy growing up the wall is so gorgeous.

The Brooklyn Bridge seemed to be getting closer, sometimes distance can be misleading though so we didn't aim to actually go to it or anything.

It could have been another few hours walk away for all we really knew.

There's the Empire State Building off in the distance.

I liked the color of these blooms.

These flowers were very pretty also.

I liked the shape of this plant and the color as well.

I didn't like the fuzzy things growing on it though.

This guy looked like he could really use a drink.

These blooms looked kind of ombre, starting with a dark pink and fading in shades back to white.

So pretty.

We just kept walking and eventually we did end up right down underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

We actually ended up walking further than the Brooklyn Bridge and came upon this TimeOut Market.

We walked through it and checked it out.

I love all the stone work and I also like how this archway framed the Manhattan skyline.

That is the Manhattan bridge right there.

The new tower is so much taller than all the other buildings.

I love the building and the arched doorways and the giant doors.

It's a really nice area to just wander around.

We could see this glass building so we went over to get a closer look.

There was a working carousel inside.

I guess it's called Jane's Carousel.

We had a nice vantage point for viewing the Brooklyn Bridge.

We've never been down here by the rivers edge before - it's nice.

We went back in the market to get a bit to eat.

Its all stone and wood inside - I love it.

It's like an upscale food market, all kinds of food choices and seating areas.

We ordered some Japanese Fried Chicken at one spot - Karaage.

We also ordered Korean Style Chicken Wings from the place next door - Takas.

Oh and they had Edamame which I couldn't resist.

When we finished eating, we just walked around and explored some more.

I guess this area is called DUMBO which stands for Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass!

That's exactly where we were too, under the Manhattan Bridge overpass.

It's a funky area full of shops and restaurants.

I can't believe we've never been here before.

Pride is still on full display.

No matter how many times we come to this city, we still find new and interesting things every time.

It never gets old.

This restaurant looked like a place I'd love to try but we had just finished eating so weren't ready for another meal.

Next time.

We ended up right back by the Brooklyn Bridge so we figured why not walk across it.

Lots of other folks had the same idea because it was packed with people.

There is a level for vehicles and one for pedestrians.

There was a lot of traffic that time of the day heading to Brooklyn.

My Honey - I think he secretly wanted to walk over the Bridge all along so was happy when I made the suggestion.

It was a nice evening for doing it.

Not too hot, not too cold - just right.

Lady Liberty is out there on her island.

I zoomed in as much as I could.

We've seen her from a few different angles this trip, never gets old though.

We saw a bride and groom on the bridge getting some pictures taken.

Busy spot to take wedding pictures but they were managing.

Great view of the new Freedom Tower.

It really is a magnificent piece of architecture.

I've grown to love this city so much over the years.

I'm going to miss it when we go home but I know we'll be back.

One last picture of the skyline as we made it to the Manhattan side of the bridge.

We hopped on the subway immediately and headed back to Queens.

We got there around 9 pm and instead of heading right to the hotel, went to Baroness to have one last Burger.

I notice last time we were there that the ladies bathroom was just covered with framed pictures of Celine Dion and the words "Our Hearts Will Go On" were painted in huge letters across the wall.

What I didn't notice last time was this sign in there that said that in 2015, Miss Celine Dion herself had her car pull right up to the curb out front and she'd come in and used this very bathroom.

I'm not sure if she had a burger too but she'd have been crazy not to.

I had the Hazel this time.

It had teriyaki, pineapple and fritos on it.

My Honey had their regular burger.

Both burgers were SUPER.

I would eat here again and again.

After filling our bellies, we went back to the room and packed up our suitcases.

It's been a wonderful trip and part of me wishes we could stay longer but the other part of me (mainly the feet part) is happy that we are heading home.

I miss our kitties and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.

There were a few pictures posted of Baby F on social media today.