We took the subway to Greenwich Village and walked all around the Village, Little Italy, and Soho. Most of Washington Square Park was being renovated, but we did get to see the famous arch. We found the historic Stonewall Inn which is where riots broke out in 1969 to protest the repeated arresting and jailing of gay and trans people by the police which had been a constant practice. This started the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi, and trans) rights movement. Across the street, there are some very nice life size statues of a male couple and a female couple; great photo op! Since Cory is gay (and OK'd my saying this on this blog), this was a meaningful stopping point for both of us. The Oscar Wilde book store is no more, but we did enjoy a brief trip to the famous Strand Bookstore which has six floors! We also had egg creams (delicious beverage with milk, chocolate syrup, seltzer water and no eggs or cream!) This was very filling, so we didn't eat at Bobby Flay's Mesa cafe, just gazed.
Evening: We returned to the hotel, changed for the evening, and set out for Ochi's Lounge which "Time Out New York" lists as having an evening of stand-up comedy every Tuesday entitled "Dykes on Mics". Ochi's is underneath Comix comedy club in the West Village. Before we entered the club, we found a great store/deli which had wonderful paninis. Ochi's is the first bar we have been to together (Cory turned 21 last December!) "Dykes on Mics" features comic Amy Beckerman hosting an evening of several comics doing short bits (actually a combination of lesbian and straight women and a gay man). It was very small, with equal numbers of audience members and performers. We enjoyed chatting with some of them after the show and they gave us tips on some gay bars which we checked out later!
Later, near our hotel, we were wanting dessert, so we headed back to the Carnegie Deli where we enjoyed authentic NYC cheesecake with some nutritious strawberries as a counterbalance! The walls are covered with photos of celebrities, though we didn't meet any that night.