Around here, famous landmarks make for great meeting points.
For example, any cyclist who has joined up for a ride that goes across the George Washington Bridge to the Palisades/Nyack area knows where to find the rally point at Grant’s Tomb. (They also know The Runcible Spoon bakery in Nyack, but that’s beside the point).
So today, after my run, I found myself stretching at the Daniel Webster statue on the west side of the 72nd street transverse of Central Park. (thank you,Nike Watch for the “Way to go. All time best!” encouragement, that’s exactly when I expect a nice comment).
The pedestal of the statue reads, “Liberty and Union. Now and Forever. One and Inseparable. DANIEL WEBSTER”
Two twenty-somethings walked up wearing their iPods, both in the real-deal USA 2014 World Cup jerseys. Walking up, they took out their earbuds.
#1: “Daniel Webster. This is the one”
#2: “When was he president, anyway?”
#1: “I think he was right before Abraham Lincoln. He also wrote the dictionary”
#3: [walking up to meet them] “Hey.”
#1 & #2: “Hey. Do you know which president Daniel Webster was?”
#3: “He wasn’t a president. He wrote the constitution.”
#2: “Oh. I just assume any time there’s a statue of an old guy, he was a president” [they all laugh]
If by some miracle the US goes all the way in this year’s World Cup, I suppose in the future we’ll be meeting at a bronze statue of President Dempsey.
