NYC 2026 Day 1 – A Walk in the Park + Jazz in the Dark

Our first full day in New York City was rainy and gray, but that didn’t stop us! We did have to re-book our Top of the Rock timed entry to tomorrow, since there was zero visibility when we showed up for our 9am slot. So, that’ll have to wait until tomorrow. On our walk to 30 Rock, we saw these two fun statues:

John Lennon

Our first top of the morning, after re-booking Top of the Rock, was to The Dakota – the building where John and Yoko Lennon lived, and where a deranged asshole took John’s life as he arrived home. The building is steps away from Central Park, and there’s a lovely Imagine mosaic just near the entrance, as well as a Strawberry Fields plaque.

A Walk Through Central Park

The rain may have been a blessing, as Central Park was mostly empty, save for a handful of dedicated joggers and a few dog walkers. I had made a walking route in Apple Maps, but it turns out that’s a feature that could use a bit more work. I picked a path that would take us to a handful of sights we wanted to see, but Maps kept re-routing us to a different path that was more directly towards the last point on the route – which ignores the entire point of making a custom route. We made it through OK, but did miss a couple of spots we wanted to see (Bow Bridge, for example).

Lunch at Lexington Candy Shop

After a few hours of walking through the park, we were wet and hungry. We had a 2:30 timed entry at The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art), so we chose a spot only a few blocks away – Lexington Candy Shop, which is New York City’s oldest family-owned luncheonette. In addition to our delicious food, we also had to try an egg cream (which contains neither egg nor cream). The egg cream was ok, but would have been better (more refreshing) on a hot day.

The Met

After lunch we walked to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for our 2-hour guided small-group tour. We found the tour on Viator, and chose it because it was limited to 8 people. Our guide, Jett, let us know right from the start that this would be a fairly active tour – meaning, he was going to move quickly from place to place so that we’d have more time to spend at individual pieces of art. He was very knowledgeable, and spoke in an entertaining way that wasn’t monotonous or boring.

Ancient Models from the Tomb of Meketre

One of the coolest things we saw on the tour is one of the most overlooked by visitors: a series of ancient models from the tomb of Meketre that were discovered in 1920 in a hidden chamber of the tomb, which was thought to have been completely looted and empty until the chamber was discovered.

The models were found almost entirely intact, with little to no restoration work required. The miniature granary even contains some ancient grains! There’s a photo on the wall of the models as they were discovered. If you’re visiting The Met, don’t skip this room!

The Temple of Dendur

The Temple of Dendur was actually built by the Romans in the style of Egypt, because Rome had conquered Egypt, and Augustus was the ruler at the time. Egypt gifted the temple to the United States to help preserve it, and it’s believed they were fine letting it go because it wasn’t “real” Egyptian. The entire area was roped off while we were there because there had been a private event for an online gambling site there the night before, and it was still being cleaned.

Washington Crossing the Delaware

Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware is the most famous depiction of the event, renowned for its dramatic composition and symbolism rather than historical accuracy. Painted in Germany, it depicts General George Washington standing upright in a rowboat during the ice-choked crossing on the night of December 25–26, 1776, leading to the Battle of Trenton. The original 1849 version was destroyed in a WWII bombing raid; the current version in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a replica completed in 1850–1851.

The inaccuracies in the painting, though, are fun to look for:

• Washington’s sword is on backwards.
• There are 3 horses in the second rowboat (how did it not capcise?)
• There are large chunks of ice floating in the river (the Delaware River doesn’t have chunks of ice – at most, there may be a few spots of thin ice formed on the surface).
• The flag depicted is the Stars and Stripes, which was not adopted until 1777, although the crossing took place in 1776.
• The crossing appears to be taking place during the day, when in fact it was around midnight, during a fierce storm with near zero visibility.
• The troops did not cross in rowboats – they used larger flat-bottomed Durham boats (40–60 feet long) capable of carrying artillery and horses.
• The river is depicted as much wider than it actually is.
• Washington is depicted as older than he would have been at the time.

Madame X (Virginie Avegno Gautreau)

This painting, by John Singer Sargent, created quite a stir in Paris when it was unveiled. The controversy nearly ended Sargent’s career. The painting was thought to be overly sexualized (even for Paris!), due to the plunging neckline and one of the straps falling off-shoulder. After the initial exhibit, Sargent retouched the paintint to “fix” the strap, but by then the damage was done. Sargent left Paris for London, where he eventually rebuilt his reputation.

Van Gogh, Old and New

The first painting was one of Van Gogh’s early works, before he had found his own style. (Sorry for the poor photo – there were a lot of people directly in front, and I managed to get quite a bit of glare when taking the photo from the side.) It’s a notable painting not only because it’s in a different style, but also because Van Gogh re-used the canvas by painting his famous self-portrait on the other side!

The Young Archer (or Cupid)

This sculpture, now officially attributed to Michelangelo, had been hiding in plain site just a few blocks away from where it now sits (on loan to The Met). The statue was acquired in the early 20th century for the Payne Whitney mansion on Fifth Avenue. It remained in the mansion after it became the Cultural Services Building of the French Embassy. In the late 1990’s, Kathleen Weil-Garris Brandt, a professor at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and College of Arts and Science, saw the statue at a reception and believed it could be by Michelangelo. After returning to photograph the statue from every angle, she published her thesis. The piece was listed as “attributed to” Michelangelo until 2012, when “attributed to” was dropped and it’s now officially listed as a Michelangelo work. It’s believed he sculpted the piece when he was 15 or 16 years old.

Miscellaneous Met

NY Pizza

Our fist taste of NY pizza was at John’s of Bleeker Street, and it didn’t disappoint. Unfortunately, I was so hungry I forgot to get a pic of the pizza! It was delicious.

The Village Vanguard

Our friend Josh, who teaches Jazz at a high school in Sacramento, suggested we see a show at the Village Vanguard – a legendary jazz club that’s also the oldest jazz club in NYC. All the greats have played there, and many have recorded albums in the club. The Vanguard gave Thelonious Monk his start, booking him for an extended engagement before he was known.

Since it was a Monday night, we got to see the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, which has been playing Monday nights at the club since 1966. Originally founded by trumpeter Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis as the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, the group adopted its current name in 1990 following Lewis’s death. The orchestra is renowned for its swinging style, complex arrangements, and two Grammy Awards for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album (1979 and 2009).

Here are a few “before” photos, since photos/video are not allowed during the performance.

Friends Building

Close to the Vanguard is the building that was used for exterior shots of the apartment in the TV show Friends. (I’m willing to bet the actual apartments aren’t even close to the size of the giant apartments depicted in the show…)

Daily Steps

It was a big day. We walked 25,797 steps (which is 12.6 miles!)