Yesterday was an "I Heart New York" Day

There is nothing better than waking up at noon on a Saturday morning- well... I guess that would be afternoon, with nothing in particular to do. That is how my day started out yesterday. I hadn't slept that late in years but this week was exhausting with the move and the craziness of the end of the year on top of a four week grad class.

Kevin and Paul had wanted to see the first free concert of the summer in Central Park so we decided to go for a late breakfast/lunch and then head over to the amphitheater in the park for the show. 

Lunch was great- it was at one of our favorite places- Manhattan Diner. 

After lunch we walked across the park in the mildly humid, sunny weather, enjoying the huge crowds and festivals going on. Everything from rock climbing the park to the usual roller-bladers. As we were walking there came a drop from the sky. It landed right in my part on my head. I am no Chicken Little, so I knew this was no "Sky is falling" event. This was simply an ominous sign of a quick-moving summer thunderstorm. The four of us continued on our way and ignored the ever increasing signs of danger in the form of wet beads from the sky. I think it was wishful thinking.

We got to the amphitheater and learned that it was already full when we saw crowds of people outside of the theater on blankets, ready to listen. Although this discovery was not a shock to us, Andrea and I encountered a girl who did not believe us when we told her they weren't letting anyone else in. She kept repeating, "Are you serious?" I think she was expecting us to say we were kidding. It was quite uncomfortable.

The four of us ended up finding a bench to sit on near the amphitheater where we could hear the music. While sitting there the sky began to fall even more. We brought out the umbrellas and hunkered down to wait out the drizzle. We had no idea what we were in for. The rain did not stop. In fact, it began raining harder approx. every five minutes. Just when we thought the rain could not get stronger, it did. The concertgoers were unfaltering. They waited in the rain, listening to the music. 

After about 30 minutes people started running around and playing in the rain- some with all of their clothes on and some with less. Andrea and I managed to stay dry up to this point under our umbrellas with her coat over our legs. The guys didn't quite fit under the umbrellas so each had a soaked leg and arm. 

As more and more people began surrendering to the rain, the four of us stood our ground on the bench- it was the Boerem's last stand. We were determined to wait it out.

After one hour passed we waved our white flag in surrender. We headed out into the rain toward the subway. We were dripping wet and cold on the subway but feeling confident that we had put up a good fight.