We're home

 Okay, so we have been home for a few days. Unfortunately I caught a cold in New York which I fought on the flight back and it turned into a respiratory tract infection that knocked me down.

Thursday was our last day in New Yorand it was mostly filled with laundry, packing, cleaning and getting to the airport. Of course, during that time we had the opportunity to reflect on our trip. We were picked up at 3:00 by our livery vehicle, which this time unfortunately was a small, compact car as we had 3 large bags (46 pounds each), 4 carryons (including our two computers), and three full bags and a box fan to bring to Lauren. Well, we stuffed every corner of the car and we were off to JFK, with a stop at Lauren's apartment. Surely the 3 1/2 hours set aside would get us to the airport early? We forgot about New York traffic. One of the things you quickly learn when trying to drive somewhere is that there are multiple routes to get there with one taking longer than the next. There is no such thing as a short cut. Also, to get out of Manhattan, you have to know which streets go one way in the direction you want and how to gain access to the bridge/tunnel you have chosen. Our route to Lauren's was over the Edward Koch Tri-Borough Bridge. While it certainly seemed like the driver did quite a bit of back tracking, I know that he took the most efficient route. I would estimate that from the apartment to the bridge, the distance is about 4 or 5 miles and the trip took 40 minutes. It felt like a 15 round, heavyweight fight with our driver ducking in here and there and holding position from other drivers. Once over the bridge, the 3 or 4 miles to Lauren's apartment took a mere 25 minutes. So our average was about 8 miles per hour and it was a gut wrenching 8 miles per hour at that. We dropped the stuff off at Lauren's apartment and it was on to the Long Island Expressway. "Expressway" right? I figured that at 4:00 or so, the traffic on a Thursday couldn't be too bad. Well, it was the same rush hour, bumper to bumper, hold your position and inch forward traffic we had been experiencing. I opened up Google Maps and saw that the driver really only had two choices and while the LIE was the first, it was quickly (20 minutes quickly) on to choice number two which was to get on to Queen Boulevard. Suffice it to say that at 4:35 (less than two hours before our flight) when Felice asked me, "Do you think we will get there in time for our flight?" I will now admit that there was some small level of concern. Traffic finally cleared, uh opened up, uh moved along sufficiently so that we got to the airport about an hour before flight time. That was one very nerve wracking trip to the airport.

The flight home was actually early, like our flight out and we arrived at our house an hour earlier than expected. We welcomed the dryness of the night and it was only in the high 90's when we got home at 10:00. We will take high temperatures over humidity every time. Of course, it did take over an hour to cool the house down, but little time to get the water heaters up to a warm temperature. It is an interesting phenomenon to have to relearn where all of your light switches are in the house you have lived in for 30 years after being away from the house only two months. It was also difficult to arrive home and out of habit keep looking for our Rocky who is no longer with us.

We walked over 220 miles during our 53 actual days of touring which results in an average of 4 1/6 miles per day. Felice has used our walking experience to initiate a walking program and has started at about 3 miles a day for now. She is dealing with the fact that the sights aren't as interesting, but at least she doesn't have to spend as much time avoiding others. We both came back with less weight than what we started with which is surprising given the food we ate during the trip.

A few family members have asked us if we will do a 2 month trip like this again and if so where. Though I can't say with total certainty, I don't think we will as I am not sure that there is a city like New York that could hold our interest for a full 2 months. New York has so much to do by day and great food and entertainment by night, that I doubt there are other cities that could keep us so occupied. I could see a 1 month trip to cities like Chicago, DC, Boston, Seattle/Portland, San Francisco, etc. I could also see an extended trip back to New York City at some point in the future as the city changes so quickly. Exhibits at museums change, Broadway shows change and new restaurants come on the scene. I don't know that we would go to NYC to 2 months, but we will see. Having Lauren there made it so much easier for us.

It was so great being in the same city with our adult offspring. We had that pleasure during Eric's early years at Ernst & Young in Phoenix and now got the same opportunity with Lauren. It is so wonderful to see your kid to be grown, self-sufficient, thriving and professional in their actions. It is nice to have the luxury to, in the spur of the moment, meet up for dinner or a little shopping. It is very nice to be able to look them in the eye and give them a hug. We so enjoyed doing every day things with Lauren that you just don't get to do when you only are together for short periods.That is certainly something that we will cherish from this trip. We will miss things like being in the city this coming Sunday on Tony Awards night. I am sure the city will be electric and Lauren will be on cloud nine as she gets to attend her first Tony Awards and be there waiting to see if her show, Jesus Christ Superstar or its lead actor, Josh Young, win the award. Keep your fingers crossed for JCS on Sunday.

As this is the last email, I thought I would list the places we have seen, people we have seen and tours attended. Previous emails had lists of shows, museums and restaurants. There is also a list of what I will call memorable sights.


Places
1964/1965 World's Fair Site
Alwyn Court (unique edifice)
Battery Park
Brooklyn Bridge (walk across) 
Bryant Park
Canal Street (shoppers/hawkers haven)
Carnegie Hall (from outside and the lobby)
Central Park (upper west side, upper east side, including in front of the zoo)
Chinatown
Dachshund Friendship Club Dachshund Days at Washington Square
Ellis Island (from a distance)
Empire State Building (will always be my favorite)
Essex Street Market
FAO Schwartz (brings out the kid in you)
Fifth Avenue (between 18th to 34th Street, 42nd Street to 98th Street)
Fifty Seventh Street galleries
Firefighters statue and poem in front of Emigrant Savings Bank
Frieze Art Fair on Randall's Island
Gramercy Park
Greenwich Village
High Line Park (unique, but so crowded)
Lego's Store, American Girl Store and the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store
Little Italy
NYU Washington Square and arch
Plaza Hotel (Starting at $50 a person for tea, I'll say)
Statue of Liberty (from a distance) (still brings tears to my eyes)
Soho cool art galleries
Riverside Park
South Street Seaport (tourist trap)
Strawberry Fields in Central Park and The Dakota Building (what an honor to John Lennon)
Tenth Avenue galleries
Wall Street with views of the New York Stock Exchange, the NYSE bull, and a statue of of George Washington 
West Chelsea Artists festival
Westin Hotel Lobby  (our sanctuary)
World Trade Center Preview Center and World Trade Center Memorial (can't wait until its finished)

 

People
The two leads of Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesus and Mary Magdalene) at dinner
Keith Richards in Soho
Richard Kind, Ron Rifkin, Victor Garber, Rachel Dratch and Jesse L. Martin, and cast members of The Book of Mormon at Our Time Gala
John Lithgow and Stephanie J. Block in the audience at Peter and the Starcatcher
Seth Rudetsky of SiriusXM record his interview show called Chatterbox. His guest was Tony Award Nominee Laura Osnes
East Valley friends LaVerne and Kim
Lennie Benson
Susan Wells
Two different females wearing University of Arizona attire and a male saying, "Go Arizona!" upon seeing my UofA shirt
Andrew and Katie Ullman

Tours
Grand Central Terminal one-hour audio tour (really cool)
Lincoln Center facility tour
Rockefeller Center Tour and Observation Deck (the art deco is incredible)
Staten Island Ferry with views of downtown Ellis Island, Governor's Island and the Statue of Liberty (and its free)
Stage Tour at Radio City with a Radio City Rockette
United Nations

Memorable Sights
Husband and his drunk wife leave subway and she immediately falls to the ground
Naked female subway rider with painted on mustache
Older beggar lady that verbally abused us twice and Felice told off
Rats in the subway and street
Spot on subway platform where it is written in yellow nail polish, "On this spot, I lost my virginity."
Taxi cab accident with cabbie screaming and gesticulating
Undercover police car painted like a Prius yellow taxi cab
Woman throwing her coffee on a man who bumped into her on the street
Outdoor Markets
Amsterdam Avenue (Upper West Side)
Chelsea Market
Columbus Avenue Fair
Columbus Avenue Green Market
Fair on 43rd Street
Greenwich Village
Hell's Kitchen fair
Hester Street Fair 
Union Square green market

In closing, I want to thank you for reading this travelogue. It was fun to prepare and I especially appreciate the feedback. I am not sure I have a professional writing career in front of me, even though some of you have suggested that I should consider it, but it was very therapeutic to write during the trip. New York is a great topic and it is a great city. We thoroughly enjoyed it and feel while we are likely 4 years short of the residency requirement to call ourselves New Yorkers now, we do have some feel of what it is like to be a New Yorker. You have to be tough as it is a tough, unforgiving city. That being said, New Yorkers are actually really great people. We have seen them warn others when they are about to lose a cell phone, offer their seat, help foreigners and actually be very polite. That being said, they do push the envelope and if there is a second for them to scoot across an intersection against the light they will do it. When a light turns green, if a driver doesn't move instantaneously, the horns will blare and if you stop suddenly as you are walking up the street, you will know that your actions are not acceptable. It is a safe city, but one where you are always on edge. There is always construction and the resulting noise. Lots of scaffolding and traffic congestion and noise. Subways and taxi's are great ways to travel, but they are very herky jerky in New York. You can never just hop over somewhere and even New Yorkers don't know what is exactly going on with the subways on the weekends. Space is at a premium there and you fight for your territory. The famous New Yorker Magazine cover that shows the New Yorker's map of the world from 9th Avenue and is so New York-centric is so apropos.  http://bigthink.com/ideas/21121

Thanks again and be well.

Gary and Felice