I realized that I made a mistake in the last email. I referred to the Intrepid Museum, but it is really called the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. I also referred to it as a battleship when in fact it is an aircraft carrier. Note that our neighbor Ralph, who has been so helpful during our trip, caught my error as well and let us know by mail on Friday. The Intrepid had a whole bunch of aircraft on display on its deck including a Harrier (the airplane that takes off like a helicopter, but flies like plane), an Israeli fighter jet, various US fighter jets, and various helicopters. They also restored one of the massive elevators that moved the jets from the hangar on to the deck and we had the opportunity to ride on it during our visit. It was really cool.
Now on to this week. While some of our visits are to what could only be described as minor museums and attractions, it is incredible what you will learn at these places. I am still blown away by the Panorama that I described in the last email. So on Monday we went to the New York City Police Museum. It was housed in the original First Precinct Station house, just like you see on television, sergeant's desk at the front and all. This museum hit home because of the anti-terrorism exhibit. Now Felice and I were big fans of Jack Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) and his role on 24 and we replaced it this year with a show called Person of Interest. The premise of this show is that a guy developed a computer system for the government that through surveillance in New York City helps thwarts terrorist activities. It also helps the protagonists prevent non-terrorism future crimes. Well, we like the premise of the show, but figured that the kind of surveillance that they claimed in the show was so much like George Orwell's 1984 that it couldn't be possible. In fact, the New York City Police Department has such technology and the degree that they can follow someone on a real time basis based on facial recognition, what they are wearing or other characteristics is on one hand very appealing as they are protecting us from terrorists, but on the other hand very scary as it could easily be abused. I encourage anyone who is interested to watch the 60 Minutes report on New York City terrorism prevention. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7382308n It is very enlightening. The excitement of this museum caused me to feel it was very appropriate to go to the New York City Fire Department Museum to give it equal time. It was funny because none of the tourist magazines mentioned it, but still we went. We found out why no mentions as there really wasn't that much there. Even its portrayal of 911 was somewhat limited and frankly not as good as the Police Museum's coverage of 911. If you like seeing old fire trucks and equipment, it is the place to go. One thing that was moving was a stained glass window created by kids at an Oklahoma high school to commemorate 911, using different symbols and colors to remind and inspire. There were also a small scale model of downtown New York before 911, after 911 and as it is expected to be rebuilt. We walked 2 3/4 miles on a cool rainy day, but managed to stay drive.
Tuesday was also a rainy day, but when we left, it was not raining. Unfortunately, when we got out of the subway, it was pouring. By the time we walked the 10 blocks to the Morgan Library and Museum, we were sopping wet as we had not taken our umbrella. The Morgan Library and Museum had a very interesting exhibition of Dan Flavin, an artist who is known for his "sculptures" with fluorescent tubes. This exhibition included many of his sketches and letters. What was more impressive was the facility itself. Pierpont Morgan and his son J. Pierpont Morgan accumulated great wealth and had no problem spending it on their house and library. The buildings had spectacular domes with ornate murals and paintings. The multiple library rooms had three stories of books and all of the books collected were leather bound. In one area, they must have had 100 different bibles, not the least of which included not one, but three Gutenberg Bibles. It took us two hours to go through it and also to dry off. Of course, we went out and there was no rain so we got home nice and dry. We did get to see our first taxi cab accident. It was typical as the cabbie cutoff a driver and when she hit him, he came out of his cab screaming and gesticulating. Only in New York can you drive like a maniac and blame someone else. Well, not really; I guess that happens everywhere, but in New York it happens with such flair. After dinner at home, we went back to the subway, this time with umbrella in hand, and went to see Jesus Christ Superstar. This is not a typo, as we did see JCS last week, but Lauren was able to get us tickets so that we could see it again. This time we were front row, center of the mezzanine, which is just about 8 rows back from the stage. We saw a few things we missed the first time like Jesus's clothes being vacuumed off his body right before the whipping scene, the blood appliques showing the affect of his whippings and bagels in the production. The show was just as great as the first time, but our location and ability to watch for nuances and listen more closely to the lyrics, made this a very special evening. Thank you Lauren. After leaving the theater, I was that guy who had to fight the crowd upstream to get back to the seat and retrieve the umbrella (which we never used) and went home. Our total mileage was 3 miles.
Wednesday morning got started with a text from our East Valley friends LaVerne and Kim, who indicated that they were taking a train down from their vacation rental in Connecticut and would love to see us for lunch. We met them at Grand Central Terminal and gave them a quick mini-tour before taking the subway to the Carnegie Deli for Jewish delicacies. We had corned beef or corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, potato knishes and meat knishes. Of course we generated lots of leftovers, but had a great time eating what we could. From there, we walked around the Rockefeller Center area and Felice remembered that the public was allowed to go into Christie's Auction House even if they weren't bidding. So we toured the auction house and then went to their 20th floor museum and saw the work of an artist named Steve Young. From there we stopped at stores including the Lego's Store, a very expensive chocolate store (as in $4.50 for a mini-bar of chocolate) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store. We then ambled down Fifth Avenue (between 57th Street and 42nd Street)and over to Grand Central Terminal to deliver them to their train. Along the way, in front of Emigrant Savings Bank, one block away from GCT we came upon a huge statue and poem dedicated to firefighters. Although commissioned before 911, the Bank and others felt it was important to keep the statue in NYC and it is the only 911 memorial in mid-town Manhattan. We headed home and we had walked 5 1/4 miles on a warm and humid day. Of course we had to finish our leftovers from the Carnegie Deli and a little babka. Well, we didn't have to finish the leftovers, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, but there is something to the concept of too much of a good thing.
On Thursday we took a subway and then a bus across Central Park to go to the Whitney Museum. It is focused on modern-contemporary art for the most part with a biennial celebration of about 50 new artists. I did find my moment of total joy though when we found a Jaspar Johns flag picture just sitting on a wall all alone. It was 3 layer picture with 3 separate/overlapping US flags and it was so accessible. It is called Three Flags. http://whitney.org/Collection/JasperJohns We then walked to the Frick Collection which was the personal collection of an industrialist partner/competitor of Andrew Carnegie. He decided to build a home in New York City which would house his art with the ultimate secret plan to turn it into a museum at the time of his death. The building was built in the early 1900's and is spectacular. Upon his death there were major renovations to add a garden and more gallery space. His collection was anything but modern and included Renoir, Rembrandt (self portrait), Turner (many ocean/boat scenes), Gainsborough (many portraits), Van Dyke, Manet, Monet and Whistler. All of the art is situated on the walls and tables like it was during his life and it is all very accessible. From there we walked up 5th Avenue on what was a glorious day of 70 degrees and a light breeze. We wandered into Central Park near the front of the zoo. We then walked into the Plaza Hotel, where my mother has told me she honeymooned. We looked around and for an instant we considered attending High Tea, but with pricing starting at $50 per person, we quickly made other plans. We walked across 58th Street and Felice found a real diamond in the rough when she spotted a special apartment building amongst the other apartment buildings. It is called Alwyn Court and it is a 12-story building with incredibly detailed finishing on the outside. http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID093.htm We took the subway home and rested up. Then we took the subway to 86th Street and walked over to Amsterdam Avenue looking for Chinese food. We wound up a Flor de Mayo which is a Peruvian, Chinese and Mexican food restaurant and the food was pretty good. After we subwayed and walked back we found we had tallied 5 miles.
On Friday we took the subway up to Harlem to go to the Cloisters Museum. Unfortunately the travel instructions were not clear enough for me and I was not aware that when we arrived at the 190th Street Subway Station, that we were supposed to take an elevator up to the top of a tall hill. Instead, we took a ramp to a street at the base of the hill and wound up climbing it. It was rigorous, and I am lobbying Felice to count that mileage double due to the steep grade we encountered. The Museum is an old monastery built in the style of monasteries from the years 1000 to 1150. The architecture, gardens and views of the Hudson River are spectacular. The art is medieval and religious. There was a lot of stained glass and tapestries. We did not walk back to the subway, but rather took a bus as we were told that the more direct way back to the subway was uphill. From there, we went to NYU and hung out at Washington Square near the arch. It was fun to listen to the various 2 and 3 person groups make music in exchange for tips. We walked to Max Brenner's for a snack as this is a place Lauren introduced us to years ago. The concept is that wherever possible, they use chocolate in their recipes and have lots of chocolate dishes. I think it would be a great franchise idea. Susan and Jim, we need to work on that one. We then walked to Union Square for their open air market, but there were no bagels or foods that we were interested in. It was a beautiful day so we ambled up Fifth Avenue (between 18th Street and 34th Street) and then took 34th Street across to the Empire State Building so we could see it up close and personal. There was no need to go to the observation deck as we have done that before and we did go to the Rockefeller Center Observation Deck this visit. Note that during our stay, the Empire State Building lost its claim as the tallest building in the City as the World Trade Center building surpassed it on its way to 1776 feet. The area around the Empire State Building was a zoo as there was a bunch of tourists. In New York City, where ever there are tourists there are sure to be Tour Hawkers. These tend to be new immigrants who hold a sign in your face and try to get you to take the tour they are selling. Well there were a bunch of them as well. From there we walked to the subway to head home, but not before seeing a female wearing a University of Arizona sweatshirt. That is the 2nd encounter with a person wearing such a shirt in the City during our trip. So there are at least 3 of us running around in UofA attire. While that does not sound like a lot, I have not seen one other non-New York school represented on the streets of New York, so it made me feel good to see another Wildcat. Bear Down! After dinner at home, we took the subway to see another round of Our Time student's shows (this time the pre-teen students), including one performance that Lauren directed. It was great to see the kids perform and develop confidence. We walked 6 1/3 miles today, at least 1 1/2 miles of which were uphill.
So we are up to 167 miles walking and 13 shows with 2 more (Newsies and Jersey Boys) to come.
Have a great weekend.
Felice and Gary
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