Tuesday brought us to Rockefeller Center where we intended to take the guided tour and then go to dinner. Because of their logistical problems, they offered our group the opportunity to go to the Observation Deck as well. The views were spectacular and we took particular joy in seeing and photographing Lauren's apartment building and the Ernst & Young building (as we do for Eric in every city we are in). Here is a picture of the E&Y Building.
And here is a picture that includes Lauren's apartment.
The walking tour was fun and educational. We had no idea that the Rockefeller family got stuck with the property at the height of the Depression and decided to build something. It was explained that they did so to make a statement of optimism and put people to work. In reality we were told that they had to do something with the property because they had very large lease payments due to Columbia University, the land owner. The art deco architecture was beautiful and the individual stories about each piece of art were very interesting. The funny thing is that most New Yorkers are too busy rushing about to see the jewel they have right there. We learned an awful lot about the annual Christmas Tree and Diego Rivera's mural, but it was well worth the time and walking. From their we went to the Carnegie Deli and it was as good as we had been promised. Much better than Katz's Delicatessen in the Lower East Side. The waitress pretty much told us what would be way too much food for us versus what would be just too much food for us. She was acting in a somewhat grandmotherly way to us. In a nice way, of course. We got another subway lesson afterwards as we got on our regular B-Train and after one stop, it all of a sudden became an express train and skipped about 7 stops before finally letting us (and a whole bunch of pissed off riders) off a mile and a half down the line. All we could do was get off at that stop and take a subway train back towards downtown and hope that it didn't become an express. It is clear that you never master the City of New York. The day concluded eating some dessert at home that we had purchased on our walk to the subway. Our total walking was 3 miles and our cumulative walking is around 40 miles for the trip.
Wednesday took us back to the Museum of Natural History to complete the floors we missed and go to the Planetarium. The Museum was less crowded and we moved with more ease, although there were still a lot of folks there. The Planetarium show was about the creation of stars and the galaxies. From their we took another subway and worked our way to Broadway with the sole purpose of another shot at Zabar's, but for a non-Saturday visit. We purchased bread (bagels, flagels and rye bread) at Fairway Market because we found that the best bagel in the world at H & H Bagels was no more due to their closure. Then to Zabar's for some cheese and what is touted as the best babka in the world. We purchased chocolate ruggalah, chocolate babka, chocolate coffee cake and chocolate croissants there for later consumption. (See a trend in our purchases?) Then a cross town bus and a subway trip and we were home. We rested up and then it was back to the subway for a trip on two different lines to Gramercy Park for dinner at a restaurant called, Friend of a Farmer. It was very good American food with good old fashion comfort food and best of all we were joined by Lauren and her co-worker, Andrew, who almost feels like a family member now after there 3 years. Felice, Lauren and I then went to an off-Broadway show called, Now. Here. This, which was set in all places, the Museum of Natural History and seemed to cover a lot of what we saw at the Planetarium and in the Museum. The actors were the same 4 that wrote/performed, Title of Show on Broadway. We had a great time as it was funny and touching all in one. It was all about living in the moment, not regretting one's actions, but correcting them in the future for the better. We went back on two different subway lines and walked a total of 4 1/2 miles today. We are tired and our ankle/knee issues are doing okay.
Thursday was a day to stay in bed for awhile and then we went to midtown for the William S. Paley Museum, formerly the Radio and Television Museum. The Museum was partially closed so all we could do was go to their library of programs and watch programs for and hour and a half. I was in my glory as I got to watch the pilot of Cop Rock, a Steven Bochco cop show where each episode contained 5 musical numbers along with choreography. The show lasted 7 episodes and I thought it was great. This show was back in 1990 long before Glee and Smash. I then watched the news reports on the JFK & RFK assassinations, MLK's march on Washington, the moon landing, the 1st episode of The Twilight Zone and the 1st episode of The Simpson's. From there, we walked to Lincoln Center to look at the buildings. They are spectacular. Then we ran to the bank and post office. Dinner was leftovers from the Carnegie Deli, which demonstrates that we got 2 meals from our visit there. A walk for an hour in Central Park and a quick stop at the grocery store ended our day. We trudged around for about 4 1/2 miles and had 3 different subway trips.
Friday was an early day as Felice and I both had some work stuff to do. Then it was a subway ride and a bus trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is a spectacular place, very cool and immense. We saw so many artists that I love, including Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, George Segal, Andy Warhol and vanGogh. We saw so many Picasso's, Monet's and so much more. I thought about my early visits to large institutions and how hard it was to be engaged and how now it is just so much fun. I have my buddy Mark Rubin to thank for Museum Appreciation. We did another bus trip and subway ride back home for a light dinner. Then we took the subway to a small, hidden theater where one of Lauren's company's musicals is in previews. It is called Fat Camp and it was very cute, in many ways reminding me of the Broadway musical, 13, which I love. The story line, which is aptly described by the title, relates to a camp where fat kids are sent to lose weight and get healthy habits. It will be fun to see how this show grows and if it gets to Broadway. It is so neat that Lauren's company has so much going on not the least of which are about a half dozen companies of Jersey Boys all over the world, including one on Broadway and Jesus Christ Superstar, on Broadway. She is in the middle of so much and we are so proud of how she has progressed so quickly. We walked 3 1/2 miles this day.
Saturday was a very long day. As previously mentioned, Lauren is a volunteer for Our Time, a theater group that works with stuttering kids, the parents had a volunteer and staff appreciation event in the lower west side on Saturday. Lauren asked us to attend, which we were excited to do. Of course, we left the apartment early so we could get there by noon, but again we (mostly I) misunderstood the subway and suffice it to say we had to do some improvising and some very fast walking to get there almost in time. It was great to hear the kids and their parents speak out about how Our Time changed their lives. It was also neat to see Lauren relating to the kids, who just adore her. From there, we walked to the Chelsea Market where we saw all the different food offerings. You really must go there some time as it is not a kind of place you normally see. Every thing from vegan food, cheese, baked goods, seafood and so much more. Where do you see someone go to a food stand and walk away with a whole lobster, for example? We then ate our food on the High Line, an elevated train route that was converted from a freight train track line to a public park. Once done eating, we wandered around. It was unique as there was a mix of tourists and locals. In fact, in one place they had lounge chairs attached to the old track, and some of them moved along the track. Lauren had to go to work for awhile, so Felice and I wandered up 10th Avenue from about 10th Street to 43rd Street, walking into the galleries along the way and stopping at a fair. This was almost more of a swap meet, with higher class stuff. There were some really bizarre galleries and I am not sure who would pay those prices for that, but someone must because they are in business. Felice and I then found the hotel lobby at the Westin where we took a load off and waited to meet up with Lauren. Felice is very practical in NYC and she knows all the hotel lobbies for us to unwind in. After Lauren met us, we out for a fancy dinner at Marseilles and then to the Broadway Show, Don't Dress for Dinner. This was a British-type farce from the same author who did Boeing, Boeing and one of the stars was Jennifer Tilley, who was dressed the way you always picture her. The first act was good, but the second lacked punch and it will be interesting whether this show (also in previews) will last. We parted company with Lauren and headed for the subway, finishing with almost 6 miles logged. My ankle sprain is almost healed and Felice's knee is fairly stable at this point.
Sunday was a cold, rainy, windy day in New York. So while the city of Phoenix was over 100 degrees we were less than half of that. We decided to hang around the apartment and mid afternoon we went to the grocery store to do a major shopping. Now a major shopping for us in Mesa is about 6 to 8 bags, while here is is 3 bags. We forgot to use our scarves and the umbrella was not of much using going to the store, so we abandoned its use coming back and just walked very quickly. One of the things we picked up while we were at the store was a box of electrical fuses. Now while I was born in New York and left at a young age, I know what a fuse is. I will admit that I am much more accustomed to circuit breakers. So when we were making breakfast and the power went out in the kitchen, we looked for the circuit breakers only to find the fuse box. Our first thought was, "Now what?" So Felice went to the doorman and caught up with a maintenance worker who said he would come up and put in a new fuse, which he did. He said he would charge us $5 for the fuse, or he would let us just return a new fuse to him. So for $4.50, plus tax we bought 3 fuses, and now have 2 left. Anyone who needs 20 amp fuses should drop us a line and we will likely have 2 or 3 left at the end of our trip. Lauren and her dog, Ella came over for dinner and we had a splendid evening. Besides dinner, I got to play with Ella, while Felice and Lauren prepared food for the following week. Lauren also helped us with the difficulties we were having loading some music to iTunes and we set up our plans for shows for the next 2 weeks. We are scheduled for about 5 shows in the next 2 weeks, and I feel like a kid in a candy shop with all of the shows to see in New York. There is Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway and there is so much variety that it is easy to want to see everything. I almost feel like a theater critic, watching these shows and immediately comparing them. When Lauren was ready to go, we decided to take the subway with her to 42nd Street to help her get to where she needed to change train lines. It was 11:00 at night, but it might as well have been 11:00 in the daytime as there were a lot of people in the subway. Lauren's has about 3 subway stops to her apartment from 42nd Street while we have about 5 stops, so she even beat us home. We were happy she and Ella were home safe and we had fun with her. We walked about a mile and half on Sunday.
Monday was another New York City lesson. I have learned many life lessons that I live by such as, "Don't eat mystery meat on getaway day," so today's lesson will be equally helpful. You see, we went to the Museum of Modern Art on an overcast, cold and windy Monday. It was packed and in fact, while we were in line, they stopped selling tickets for awhile as they had exceeded their maximum occupancy level. You see, Monday is the day that all major museums in New York City close except for MOMA. The MOMA employee explained that tourists like to do inside things when the weather is inclement and since all of the major museums except MOMA were closed, they all had the great idea to go there. We could have easily found other things to do if we were aware of this phenomenon, but we weren't, so we fought the crowds there. MOMA is a spectacular place. The building is beautiful, with 6 floors of art. They are well sectioned off, so you can go to one floor for one period's work and then another for a different period or genre. There were well known works there that everyone had to see like vanGogh's Starry Night http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starryindex.html, Rousseau's Gypsy Asleep http://www.gallerywalk.org/PM_Rousseau.html and Dali's The Persistence of Memory http://www.allposters.com/-sp/The-Persistence-of-Memory-c-1931-Posters_i7143317_.htm, There was so much more by these well known artists and others that are my personal favorites like Lichtenstein, Segal, Johns and Monet. I have developed a new favorite in Georges Seurat as he paints with dots or dabs and on one hand they are blurry and on the other they create a very clear picture. http://www.georgesseurat.org/. We grabbed a slice on the way home. (Like that, grabbed a slice?), bought some baked goods and then home for a relaxing evening. We walked about 2 3/4 miles today.
This communication comes at the point that we are about 30% through our trip and have walked about 63 miles so perhaps we will walk a couple hundred miles in less than 8 weeks. We are hopeful we will continue to have mostly good weather and are looking forward to our upcoming shows, seeing some of the more obscure sights and Eric and Lindsey coming out for 5 days towards the end of the trip. Hope you are all well.
Gary and Felice
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