Travel Legs

You need to travel

While you still have legs.

~Terry Hebert*

Balancing Act, 2012**

DH  and I were watching a morning news show the other day and saw that John Lithgow was performing a one-man show called Stories by Heart, his "trunk show." More on that later, but let this explain the unusual, quickly planned, almost spur-of-the-moment trip to NYC.

We gathered up our warm layers of clothing, abandoned the animals to different carers [Hobbes goes to the vet whose team knows him - cranky old cat that he is and Zelda goes to doggy day care where she is allowed to run, dig, play with other dogs (her FAVORITE part), and roll in smells (my LEAST favorite part)] and headed to the airport. We traveled at strange times so that we could get good rates and direct flights.

Pretty good view from my aisle seat (plane was about half full so I had a whole row).

Upon arrival we "Yellow" cabbed into the city as strange people tried to talk us into riding with them. It was ridiculous. Perhaps one might be okay, but this looked a pretty sketchy game. Perhaps we could Uber or Lyft or something or other, but we used the tried and true, knowing what it would cost and that the drive a sure bet. And we won the cabby lottery.

Our cab driver was born in Greece and took us on a little trip back in time - first to his experiences in 70s America and then back home to Greece. He had photos of his home town and its island. He shared with us travel recommendations. "You really need to go to Greece!" We shook hands with him as he left us at the hotel on 32nd.

[Wow! All the omens were right for a great trip - quilts of stacked stones, elbow-room on the plane, and maybe the most entertaining cabby we have had in New York - ever!  What do you think? Will it be a good trip? I know what you are thinking - the rest could be a nightmare or a delight. Well? Did John Lithgow get sick? Did our hotel room have bedbugs? Did we catch the flu? Did we lose our wallets/our subway pass?  Read on!]

Back in the day, when we headed to the city to visit friends and relatives, we would stay at a marvelous and spacious hotel - The Murry Hill East. We could fit the whole family in a suite with two beds, a sofa, and a small kitchen. It wasn't cheap, but we ended up saving on nerves (a pretty quiet neighborhood), hassle (cabs could be caught a block or so away and a subway stop a walkable distance), and money (a grocery store was around the corner so we could save on some meals by bringing Cheerios and snacks and buying milk and a few other items). It was in a good spot for hitting the museums and getting to our uncle"s apartment.***

For this stay we found a chain hotel in a neighborhood called Koreatown. Really. Google it. Koreatown is a two block area bounded by Broadway on the west, Fifth Avenue on the east, 33rd Street on the north and 31st on the south. It was a busy street with a number of restaurants and hotels. DH hates crowds and was...well, that's another story.

The doorway across the street. I love the carved beaver AND the "fallout shelter" sign.

The hotel was modern-ish and the staff was great. Our room was a bit of a closet, but plenty big for the two of us. It was not big enough for a chair, however. So we were in the room for showers, naps, and such. but no more than that. Who goes to the city to stay in the hotel room?

On this first evening we headed to the village to see "community theater." It was an off-off (maybe off-off-off-off) Broadway show called "One Drop." It was opening night. The playwright was hustling around with others finalizing the stage set. People started drinking. Folks were in and out of the theater, but most of us stood and waited. The play started 20 minutes late. A fellow theater-goer was clearly not amused and we were not surprised when he exited before the intermission.

We stayed.

The music was WONDERFUL! The band consisted of players of the following - trumpet, violin, guitar, harmonica, and wide variety of percussion instruments. Some of the actors were pretty good...especially the female lead and a supporting actress who was also the music director. But there was much chewing of the scenery, stereotypical characters, and overuse of idiomatic speech. And we weren't really sure if we were watching a comedy, tragedy, musical, or what.

Still, it was better than "The Line" (that we may have walked out of some years ago). And, it was a good enough way to spend an evening recovering from jet lag.

We had gone looking for "a slice" and found a "build your own pizza" chain. It was okay, but it was NOT a slice. We would watch for PIZZA signs the rest of the trip.

"Designer pizza" at &pizza (we aren't really cool enough for this pizza).

I'm not exactly sure what we did after that. I guess we called it a day and went to bed. We knew the next few days would be busy ones.
 

Miscellaneous photos from first day:

Marble Collegiate Church. There are always ribbons hanging on the fence hear for one reason or another.****

My doctor said to wear a mask on the plane "Then you are on your own!" - so I swiped a couple of masks as I left the clinic and wore them on the plane. DH is fearless (his flu shot was more timely than mine as well). I know it looks like we are traveling first class as there is so much room, but we simply had the rows to ourselves. It was pretty comfy.

Waiting for our luggage - Did I mention our bags were first and fourth off the plane? More good omens. It was only after I snapped this photo that I noticed Violet Crawley, the Dowager Dutchess of Grantham, exchanging miffed "looks" with DH.

The view outside our hotel window. It's pretty typical NYC, tall buildings with old water tanks atop, and everything covered in grime.

Okay. I'm not going to make you wait. The trip was wonderful. There were a few "moments." But there was nothing we couldn't handle and almost everything went well. We made some trips for tradition, visited one of DH's high school buddies, and wandered. Feel free to read or not. This is mostly "our" New York. We only hit one museum. We only went inside one church. That surprised us as we usually visit many. I suppose it was a bit like going to a cafeteria. Sometime you order more than your tummy can hold. We planned more than our days could hold.  We expect there will be other trips.


NOTES:

*We ran into some friends the other day at brunch. They are in their 80s or thereabouts, my parents' generation. They have raised and educated four children and are still living at their home, on the edge of the lake. I met them at Mass about 24 years ago. They are open-hearted people and have always been special to me.

So we hugged and visited. I let them know how all the kids were faring. And told them about recent travels and travel plans. That is when Terry admonished me to "travel while you have legs." And I acknowledged that we were trying to do just that. We will take our adventures as we can, as long as we can.

**Our trips are often seeking art. Sometimes the art finds us. The Austin Airport, in spite of construction everywhere, is full of art. Hidden away inside security is a display case I always check. They currently have a group of quilts  made collaboratively.

This is part of a quilt created by Frances Holliday Alford, Barb Forrister, Connie Hudson, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Sherri Lipman McCauley, Susan Lewis Storey, and Kathy York.

Here is their “Statement”: Group dynamics are complicated. Working together is a balancing act. With our mutual fascination for cairns and balanced rock sculptures, we independently created our rocks and worked on the background together. As a group we were able to form the balanced stacks, and as a group, we balance.

***Unk is the one who first introduced us to the Murry Hill. Our last big stay there was in August 2001, I think. No, DH corrected me. We stayed there for our last "spontaneous" outing - with the children then - in 2005. The family traveled in from all over the country - Texas, California and D.C. - to see The Gates. We needed to be there all together - our first trip since 9/11.  [http://christojeanneclaude.net/projects/the-gates]

****  http://www.marblechurch.org/give/orangeribbons/ [Also note there is a good bit to read about the current president's association with this church. Interesting.]