Daily Narrative    A pretty amazing day to end up in New York City.  The Fourth of July celebration New York arranged for itself involved both a parade of "Tall Ships" and a colossal fireworks show.  The day began about 9:00 and we headed to an outdoor cafe for brunch.  Competition for "brunch" customers in New York is apparently very competitive, and our brunch experience involved very tattooed waitresses, edgy customers and the smell of subterranean New York wafting through the air.  It was hard to know which of these elements was part of the competition.  We headed from there to the West Village rooftop of an acquaintance of Michael's who may soon be the next Jerry Seinfeld (this may actually be the case...we'll let you know) to watch the "Tall Ships".  "Tall Ships", it turns out, are very large sailboats, generally old and and generally military-related from all over the world.  It was a very big deal and President Clinton was flitting about.  There were somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred of these ships parading back and forth in the Hudson River, a pretty awesome thing to look at.  Like good Alaskans, however, Brian and Theresa kept looking the wrong way, at the New York skyline.  After the regatta (well maybe it wasn't really, but it seemed like a "regatta" to Brian), we had a little upscale West Village lunch and began our way to the less upscale neighborhood of Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, to watch the evening's fireworks.  On the way, we stopped and looked at Michael and Cody's new pet, a bird called a caique.  Michael and Cody, being well adjusted New Yorkers, have appropriately sized pets in their apartment, two birds and one rabbit.  We took a train under the East River and popped up in Williamsburg, meeting another slew of friendly New Yorkers, this time waiter/waitresses (actor/actresses), musicians, and a few who do "computer stuff".  The actual definition of "computer stuff" by Michael (who also pays his rent this way) and his friends is kept purposefully vague, but seems to involve web design, troubleshooting and networking.  We eventually wedged ourselves onto a rooftop with about three hundred other New Yorkers and watched the most amazing fireworks we are likely to ever see.  Even more amazing is that the exact same show was taking place simultaneously on six or seven barges around Manhattan.  Completely over-stimulated for a couple of country folk, we finally caught the train back to the East Village with Michael and Cody and called it a very long day.  Too cool.

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Daily Pictures

The bus wakes up in front of the Autohaus in Ellsworth, Maine	Brian & Theresa wake in Michael and Cody's apartment on the second floor of this East Village apartment building
Back in Thompkins Square, we spot a New York cow	Iggy Pop used to live here, before the Village became gentrified and he moved to Florida
Michael coaches Brian and Theresa on looking like a New Yorker at an outdoor cafe	After brunch we caught an authentic New York cab to West Greenwich Village to see the "Tall Ships"
Two tall ships pass in the day	An authentic New York street
New York seems to be all about filling the space.  In this case, the block grew up around the church	Theresa was very excited at the bovine activity in the city
Michael's new bird, he a Cody's second, a caique	Fireworks and New Yorkers, does it get any better than this?
The New York millennium fireworks display...	...was absolutely amazing!

A New York vista, from the rooftop where we watched the tall ships

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