Lunch in the Park? Yeah, Right....

...the one in which we are but a blip in a sea of yellow....


After our 2-hour adventure through the streets of Wall Street, it was now time for lunch...because, for whatever reason, no one does a Food Tour through Wall Street, so we hadn't eaten. I don't get it, either. I mean, come ON! EVERYTHING should be tied back to food!!! Originally, The Plan had called for us to venture to Shake Shack, but this didn't happen. First, it would have been a bit of a walk...and my feet, averaging 19,000 steps a day on my pedometer, were pretty much on strike at this point. Secondly, Shake Shack is crazy busy pretty much ANY time of the day, and we were going to hit it at NOON. On a work day. In Manhattan. Unless we were willing to wait, oh say, two hours, for lunch - it wasn't happening.

We were now at Zuccotti Park (which was formerly known as Liberty Plaza Park), which sits right in the heart of the financial district. It's a good-sized park, with lots of benches and such to sit upon...however, every bench, every "such", is taken. Apparently, there is a lot of construction going on in the financial district right now - what with the World Trade Center site, as well as other new buildings, go figure, and this means there are hundreds - if not thousands, of construction workers. And apparently, Every. Single. FREAKING Construction Worker. goes to lunch AT THE SAME TIME.

Which is noon. Which is now. Which is crazy.

Who knew?

So...bad planning on my part. Don't plan to go to lunch at noon - on a work day - when every other human being in a 5-mile radius in Manhattan is going to lunch. Gah.

Every restaurant/food truck/cart/diner etc in a 5-mile radius is packed. Every available space in the park is packed. The ground - packed. The benches - packed.

You get the idea.




The park is SWIMMING in humanity, all donned in bright neon-yellow construction vests, and we are but three small peons fighting for space. This, again, is something that takes some getting used to...because back home, when you go to a "park" - you get wide-open spaces, where you can throw a frisbee or walk a dog. Here, you wouldn't even be able to walk a flea.




Surrounding Zuccotti Park are all kinds of places to grab a bite to eat...besides numerous food carts, there are also some little pizza & sandwich shops - as well as a Burger King. However, these every one of these joints have long lines of yellow-clad men, who look to be hungry, and in a hurry to get their food and then get back to work.

After perusing the chaotic scene, we finally opted to head for a little cafe, Koyzina Kafe, located directly across from the park. Lots of family-friendly options here - including made-to-order pasta, and made-to-order salads. There's also sandwiches, quiche, and baked goods. There's some limited indoor seating, which was helpful, since the park was pretty crowded at this time. Also note - there are restrooms. Whenever you can find a public restroom in Manhattan, you need to take advantage of it. Yes. That is so important, I've bolded it. Write that down.

We had a pretty generic lunch - salads and sandwiches - which were fresh and flavorful. For dessert, I had to try some cannoli:


NOM!


After our lunch, we had a little bit of time before our next stop, so we spent some time enjoying beautiful Zuccotti Park. At 1:00 pm, the construction workers had left - in droves - to head back to work, and the park took on a more serene, quiet feel....



Soon, it was time to head down the street to our next stop - the 9/11 Tribute Center....