After getting very drunk at a bar one night, Holden decided to take a stroll down to Central Park. He was so drunk that he did not know his way around the park. He was also feeling blue as hell and afraid that he would get pneumonia. “I’ve lived in New York all my life, and I know Central Park like the back of my hand, because I used to roller skate there all the time and ride my bike when I was a kid, but I had the most terrific trouble find the lagoon that night. I knew right where it was- it was right near Central Park south and all- but I still couldn’t find it. I must’ve been drunker than I thought.” (P. 154)
Penn Station was demolished in the 1960’s. It was a classical building with high roman arches. It is now a plain place, compared to what it used to look like. It is located between seventh and eighth avenues, between 31st and 33rd street, under Madison Square Garden.
When Ms. Morrow got off at the Newark stop, Holden continued riding on the train. He got off at the Penn Station stop. When he got out, he took all his bags with him and went to the phone booth outside to call someone. He left his bags outside the booth, so he could watch them through the see through glass, while he started making calls. As soon as he stepped inside the booth, he did not know whom to call. “I felt like giving somebody a buzz. I couldn’t think of anyone to call up. My brother, D.B. was in Hollywood. My kid sister Phoebe goes to bed around nine o’clock... Then I thought of giving Jane Gallagher’s mother a buzz, finding out when her vacation is...” (P. 59) After about twenty minutes in the booth, Holden walked over to the taxi tunnel, and go a cab, still not knowing where he could and should go.
As Holden was spending time with Sally, he suddenly had an outburst of thoughts. He could not help but hold them back any more. As he blurted out all his feelings, Sally thought that he had gone crazy. “It’s everything. I hate living in New York and all. Taxicabs, and Madison Avenue buses, with the drivers and all always yelling at you to get out the rear door, and being introduced to phony guys who call The Lunts angels, and going up and down in elevators when you just want to go outside, and guys fitting your pants all the time at Brooks, and people always -” (P. 130)
The American Museum of Natural History is just west of Central Park, on Eighth Avenue, between 77th and 81st streets.
As Holden was in Central Park looking for his younger sister, Phoebe, he ran into a young child who knew her. He said that she would be at some museum for a class trip. Holden quickly figured out that the child mixed up the day of the field trip and that it was the Museum of Natural History. With the museum in mind, he was able to relate to phoebe very well. The two of then have a lot in common. Phoebe is very mature for her age, yet still has a unique innocence about her. She is one of the very few people that Holden could comfortable talk to without feeling judged.