Some of the highlights of a weekend trip to NYC a few days ago before vacating the East Coast.
1. Naked people in Times Square
2. Men putting on makeup in the middle of church services
3. The smell of chocolate thick on your skin
4. Walking with the masses across the Brooklyn Bridge
5. Maple, cream cheese, and bacon macarons
6. Laughing uproariously in this play
7. Making new friends
8. Thick hot chocolate and a summer fruits tart for breakfast
9. Singing along with the tunes in this show
10. Breakfast eaten while strolling along the Highline
11. Banjo/spoons performances in the subway
12. Random street art
13. Finding out who is buried in Grant's Tomb
The final leg of our journey took us NYC. We'd both been there before so we skipped the majority of the touristy attractions. We tried our luck for show tickets the night we got into town and spent the evening singing along with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. (Actually, we spent the majority of the time laughing at the woman next to us who thought she was at a concert. She stood up and clapped and sang along -out loud- several times in the middle of the performance. It was quite the bonus show.)
We also spent some time wandering around Central Park, eating, people watching, eating and soaking up the energy of the crazy, non-stop town.
Several friends had suggested we visit The Cloisters and we were game. However, we were staying in Queens and didn't want to drive into the city if possible so we got information at the concierge's desk and he gave us some (slightly faulty) directions to northern Manhattan via subway which would have been fine if we'd had the right stop to begin with. Instead we spent a good hour and a half wandering the tip of the island before we finally found it. It was worth the effort though, a beautiful museum built specifically to house and highlight the art and architecture of medieval Europe. They have some amazing gardens as well.
For our final evening on the road we took in the men's quarterfinals of the US Open. I'm not a huge tennis fan (I enjoy it but by no means follow) but my sister is and she was in seventh heaven. There was an exhibition before the actual match pitting John McEnroe and Adam Sandler against Jim Courier and Kevin James which was quite entertaining. And then we watched Novak Djokovic beat Juan Martin del Potro in just three sets. There were enough crazy moments to keep me interested and enough pauses between plays to allow for some fabulous people watching. Even at a relatively high brow event like this there was still plenty of fodder for head shaking and 'oh my gosh did you see that' conversations on the subway ride home!
And then it was back to our super sketchy hotel (that's what you get when you stay in Queens!) for one last morning of sleeping in before getting in the car and making the trek back home and back to real life.
It's only been one week but I'm already ready for another vacation. I keep thinking the craziness and busy-ness will abate but I think I just need to suck it up and admit that life is just crazy busy and always will be. *sigh* I guess that just makes me appreciate these little trips and breaks all the more. Now, time to start planning another one. Where should I go next?!
Once upon a time there was a young girl who fell in love with a singin' and hoofin' Christian Bale. So much so that she watched his movie nearly 100 times (in the theater), joined the fan club, wrote to the Disney studios, followed the careers of his fellow troubadours, and has every song and many of the dance moves memorized to this day.
So, when said girl finds out that there is a stage production of her beloved Newsies, she does the only thing she can do...ropes a group of friends into taking a road trip with her to New Jersey (nope, it doesn't quite rate Broadway yet) to see it.
We spent Saturday in the city visiting the Tenement Museum (highly educational, enjoyable and worth every penny), devouring the heavenly chocolate at Max Brenner's, perusing the 18 miles of books at The Strand, indulging in tasty fries and sandwiches at Schnipper's and driving past The Highline before heading back to NJ and trying our luck at Carlos' Bakery (but the line was wayyyyy too long!)
Then it was off to Millburn and the Papermill Playhouse where we found out that we'd bought tickets for the wrong day! There was a bit of panic and disappointment and trying to appease the person who'd been in charge of ticket buying while cajoling the agent at the window to exchange our tickets...success! We now had tickets for the Sunday matinee but we were also in NJ, all dressed up with no place to go.
So we made the only logical choice; drove to a neighboring small town, found a tiny movie theater and watched the remake of Footloose. We all had very low expectations and thus were highly entertained. It went a long way to soothing the disappointments of missing our intended show.
Sunday we found a random church building in Jersey City where we crashed a sacrament meeting and then tried Carlos' Bakery again (man, that guy is popular!) We voted to find some lunch instead of standing in line in the hopes of getting a baked good. So we found a charming little Italian restaurant, seated ourselves at a sidewalk table in the gorgeous fall sunshine and ate some mighty delicious food while listening to Frank Sinatra over the speakers. Sinatra, Italian, Hoboken, it was all very apropos and a lovely way to spend a morning.
As a wise person once said, it's Frank's world we just live in it. Amen to that. (Long live the Chairman of the Board!)
Following our tasty lunch we ventured back to Millburn where we were finally treated to the musical amazingness of the story of the newsboys strike. There were some adjustments and changes made from the movie but they stayed true to the spirit of the material and it was all just plain old fun. There are few pleasures in life greater than watching a bunch of guys sing and dance. The choreography leaned heavily on the athletic ballet that Gene Kelly made famous, looking masculine, graceful and effortless all at the same time.
Here's a little taste of the show complete with some dancing and the fabulous set/scenery.
Not too shabby, eh?
And for all you die-hard purists out there here's a snippet of the original.
*sigh* I'm still hoping one of these days Christian Bale will convert and decide to marry me. My 15 year old self would be the happiest girl alive!
Do you have any childhood obsessions you'd care to confess? Anything that has stayed with you through to adulthood in some form or other? Any obsessions you've acquired since growing up? What is it that can make you smile or feel like a kid again no matter how many times you've seen it/done it/heard it? I'd love to know!
My roommate is moving back to the west coast in a month or so and decided she could not leave without having been to New York City. So, this past weekend we hopped on the Chinatown Bus (cuz it's cheap) and spent a few days wandering around the city that never sleeps. It's a wonderful town!
Here are some of the highlights:
The view from the Top of the Rock
MOMA amazingness
Mmmm, cheesecake!
Our fun show
Our ultra fabulous hotel (cuz it was cheap!)
Lady Liberty
Washington Square Park
Devouring a Gray's Papaya hot dog
The original Winnie the Pooh animals at the NYPL
scrumptious hot chocolate at Serendipity
Times Square
Central Park
More Central Park
Bethesda Fountain
Saturday our weather was horrible and we spent the day drenched and running from place to place trying to avoid the worst of the storm and the puddles. The rest of the weekend was lovely, perfect for walking uptown and downtown and all around town. And the walking made it perfect for working off all the calories from the food we were constantly eating (food trucks have got to be one of man's greatest inventions.)
I love the hustle and bustle, the manic busyness of city. I love the energy and excitement and air of possibility. However, it also exhausts me. It's a place I love to visit for short amounts of time but have no desire to stay for any extended period. The longer I live in a place that is constantly on the move the more I realize just how much I don't fit into that lifestyle. Give me open spaces and slow paces. Not in a city, but close enough to be able to get to museums and concerts and ballets and restaurants when the mood strikes me. But until that happens, I'm happy to take advantage of all the great places and opportunities so close by.
What places make you happy? Where do you recharge, find your energy, get away from it all, experience new/different things?
