4. CENTRAL PARK CAROUSEL. (within Central Park, near the center of the park; going from west to east; enter the park at W. 65th Street, cross the bridle path and roadway, and follow the incline, then take the path that wends its way by the baseball fields. Keep them on your right. You'll pass the quaint little snack cottage where Kitty and Bear pause for lemonade, and by then you should be hearing the sweet strains of the carousel's calliope.)

A couple of scenes in MISS MATCH take place at or near (or on) the Carousel, perhaps my favorite place in all of New York City. It's certainly in my top five. Not only is the 1908 carousel beautiful, but it's very nostalgic. For example, the calliope plays the same tunes from the 1960s that I heard when I was a little girl and my grandmother and first cousins took me there. Kitty and Bear hear "Georgy Girl" and "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head." I think they still play a couple of Beatles' classics as well. For some reason I remember hearing "Ob La Di, Ob La Da." I have always visited the carousel when I need to clear my head from life's multiple stresses, and when I truly want to put a song in my heart. I try to go there on the day of the Kentucky Derby, just so I can ride a horse then. Then, if I'm in a betting mood, later in the day I'll put two dollars on whatever horse is the same color I rode that morning. A couple of years ago I instinctively chose to ride a dapple gray. Too bad I didn't place a bet that afternoon.