Vacation Diary, Part One

We drove from our home to Harrisburg, PA last Thursday afternoon and evening (June 12), and then on to New York City Friday morning for a week of vacation in the Big Apple and the Philadelphia area, accompanied by lifelong friends Katie and Byron Cartwright and led by the ever-faithful and patient Siri. As I posted to Facebook: 

1536 miles. 2 lifelong friends. 2 wonderful kids & their 2 remarkable spouses. Miles of sights & sounds in 2 big cities. What a vacation!

Here's a rundown:

Friday, June 13

Katie and Byron had invited us to stay with them at the newly refurbished Wyndham timeshare in the heart of Manhattan, on 45th between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. We got there about 20 minutes after they did, unloaded the luggage, found the place to park the car, and ate lunch from the sumptuous food bar at the deli on the corner. I used my trusty Streetwise Manhattan to guide us for a walk to see some of the sites: St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Plaza, Radio City Music Hall. It was muggy, and we were ready to rest. Thankfully, the room (apartment!) was ready for us after 2:00, and we could settle in, cool off, and wait for Jennifer who trained in from PA. She arrived a little after 3:00, and we left for Long Island by 3:30.

This is one of three groups Geoff led during the program.

The catalyst for our trip was Geoff's annual Jazz Night at Herricks, where all of his jazz bands perform for parents and friends while students serve up ice cream sundaes and other snacks. The traffic for the drive out of the city was terrible, and we didn't get to his school till after 5:00. He picked up Lisa at the train station and brought her and two huge pizzas for our supper before the program started at 7:00.

It was so good! And, as usual, we were impressed with the quality of Geoff's groups, the rapport he has with his students, and the command he had of the whole situation. He had decided at 4:30 to have it in the gym instead of outside, on the school's courtyard, because of threatening weather. The sky opened amid lightning flashes and rumbling thunder, just as the program began. Good decision, Geoff!

We drove back to Geoff and Lisa's neighborhood after the concert and enjoyed dessert on their beautiful terrace before taking the subway back to Manhattan by 10:00. (We parked the car in front of Geoff's apartment building Friday and Saturday nights, thus avoiding about $100 in parking charges.)

Saturday, June 14

We took the subway back to Long Island City and met the three Taylors at Geoff and Lisa's favorite breakfast spot, Cafe Henri. We enjoyed the wonderful Benedicts and omelets and other delights before stopping by Geoff and Lisa's apartment to pick up Frankie and take a walk through the parks lining the East River not far away. It was a marvelous day; the storm the night before had ushered in a cold front. The Manhattan vistas were striking, as always, and we enjoyed walking and chatting. We adjourned back to Geoff and Lisa's terrace for ice tea and cookies before taking the subway back to the city and our main event of the day.

Thanks to Lisa and Geoff and their tripod and excellent camera for this shot and the one above.

We had tickets for the 2:00 matinee of Newsies, which provided us an afternoon of energy and enjoyment. The production numbers, with their acrobatic dancing, were virtually spellbinding, and we had wonderful seats in the mezzanine to give us a perfect view of the show. It was wonderful.

Afterwards we walked back to Grand Central Station and caught the subway to meet Geoff and Lisa and Jennifer in an East Village neighborhood where the New York Taylors wanted to introduce us to a Korean restaurant Lisa knew. I ate the whole meal with my chopsticks! 

For dessert, we walked to a bakery and restaurant not far away, Vaniero's. The hardest part of the experience was choosing ONE dessert from the PAGES of options. The best part was the uproarious laughter accompanying Byron's stories from our college days long ago. I think the people around us wondered how we got liquor into a bake shop!

On the way back to the subway, we stopped at the famous Strand Bookstore and spent almost an hour wandering the three stories of new and used books and other delights.

Sunday, June 15

We took the subway to the beautiful Salvation Army auditorium that is the meeting place for the Redeemer Presbyterian Church Downtown Congregation. We met Geoff and Lisa there. (Actually, we met Geoff on the street, walking toward the church, and Lisa followed by subway. He had driven Jen to Forefront Brooklyn, where she was the morning speaker. It was a tough decision to choose one congregation over the other for Sunday morning, but we figured this would be the only chance for Byron and Katie to experience the unique worship that is characteristic of Redeemer.) 

After church, we took the subway with Lisa to Central Park, and Geoff drove Katie and Evelyn there. He and Lisa had packed a picnic lunch for us to enjoy, and we really did enjoy it! The pasta salad and accompaniments was wonderful. The conversation was even better. And, as always, there was laughter, lots of laughter. We were inspired to a different pose, below, to help preserve memories of the day (thanks, again, to G&L's tripod, camera, and creativity).

We walked (and walked!) through Central Park and then traveled back to G&L's apartment, where we rested and cooled off a bit before the evening's adventure: a trip on the East River Ferry from Long Island City to the Fulton Ferry Landing, followed by exploration of the Brooklyn Bridge Park and a wonderful dinner of Luke's lobster rolls. Yum! The weather all day had been glorious--warm and breezy and dry, with a clear blue sky and puffy clouds. It was the perfect evening for the ferry ride and visit to the park. Lisa & Geoff recorded the ferry ride and the lobster roll dinner with these pictures:

Frankie accompanied us on the trip, and we enjoyed exploring the gardens surrounding a riverfront restaurant.

The sun was setting as we took the ferry back toward Long Island City, and I took lots of pictures, trying to capture the perfect view of the day.

The first picture, below, shows the Fulton Ferry Landing, from the ferry itself.

The second is the Manhattan skyline at sunset from the ferry as we returned to Long Island City.

Back at Geoff and Lisa's place, we went to the rooftop of their building and enjoyed the remarkable view available to them there.

We were tired after a long day, but when we got back to our timeshare, we couldn't ignore Katie's desire to see and experience Times Square one more time. Should we go then, at 10 p.m., or wait till Monday morning? We finally decided just to go for one more walk and experience the city at nighttime. We were so glad we did! 

The walk to Times Square from our place wasn't long, and you must experience Times Square at night to really experience it! 

We soaked up the bright-as-day aura of it all, surrounded by skyscraper flashing neon, jostling crowds, and the feeling that you really have come to the center of the earth. We traded iPhones with some tourists of Kentucky and took each others' pictures, looked through a souvenir shop, bought water from a streetside vendor, and were back "home" in about an hour. It was a great way to end the day!

Monday, June 16

We went to the 9/11 Memorial Museum Monday morning before driving to Horsham, Pennsylvania that afternoon. The museum is a sobering chronicle of all that happened on September 11, 2001. Everyone who visits New York should see it. Perhaps most compelling are the recorded stories from survivors, accompanied by projected diagrams showing where they were in the World Trade Center or the Pentagon when the planes struck. We spent at least two hours there; we could have stayed longer, but by that time all of us felt like we were on overload.

We walked outside to pause at the two large reflecting pools, marking the footprint of each of the original World Trade Center towers, surrounded by granite (?) plaques, each bearing the names of some of the 9/11 victims. And we came upon the marker bearing the name of Todd Beamer!

We walked to a deli for lunch, under the shadow of the imposing Freedom Tower, glad we had taken time for this experience.

Saturday and Sunday in New York

A week ago I described our nice Friday night with the Taylors and Johnsons in New York City. We had equally fine days Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday morning we enjoyed brunch at Geoff and Lisa's favorite neighborhood spot, Cafe Henri. Then we drove (yes, I drove too; we needed two cars) to the northern edge of Manhattan to a unique museum called the Cloisters. It features many remarkable pieces of medieval art, including glass windows, tapestries, and wooden statues. Its beautiful courtyard was a good place for pictures, as well as the surrounding gardens and the beautiful park it bordered. We enjoyed the fresh air as well as the culture!

That afternoon we ate snacks on the waterfront in Long Island City and rested and visited till the Johnsons needed to catch their train back to Pennsylvania.
After resting some more, we went with Geoff and Lisa to the waterfront in Brooklyn where we had wonderful lobster rolls at a stand called Luke's, enjoyed eating them in the Brooklyn Park, watching the lower Manhattan skyline light up with the sunset.

Sunday we got up early and rode to Central Park--we were there by 7:00--where we sat up our chairs, spread out our blanket, and waited till noon when the theater ticket office gave out free tickets for that evening's Shakespeare in the Park performance of Love's Labour Lost. (The long time to talk about life was a highlight of the weekend.) We ate waffles from a truck and then drove back home to grab some food and rest in our room.
That evening we enjoyed a great worship service at one campus of Redeemer Presbyterian with Geoff and Lisa, grabbed dinner at a Shake Shack, and then made our way to Central Park--in the rain. We waited under umbrellas till after 9:00 (the play had been scheduled to start at 8:30) when the rain abated and the theater opened. We really enjoyed the quality of the acting, singing, and dancing. A musical score had been added to the play; it was surprising, funny, and cool. And the actors performed like real troopers in the rain that started before 10:00. By a few minutes after 10, management called a pause. And 15 minutes after that they called off the performance because radar didn't show any sign of the rain clearing up. We didn't see the last thrid of the play, but we were really glad we had seen some of it in the beautiful open-air theater in Central Park.

New York with the Fam

Evelyn and I drove just past Harrisburg, PA last night and stayed overnight before driving the rest of the way into the city today. I had never taken the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan, nor driven in Manhattan before. But Geoff gave me perfect step-by-step, turn-by-turn directions, and, actually it was a breeze. The traffic on 40th Street across to Third Avenue was stop-and-go most of the way, but we weren't in a hurry, and it gave us time to soak up the city atmosphere and make sure we were in the right spot.

I  snapped this picture out my windshield stopped at Broadway and 40th Street.

We got checked into our hotel in Long Island City in time to change clothes and walk the few blocks down to Geoff and Lisa's apartment. Matt and the kids were already there, and after awhile, we walked to the subway to meet Lisa and Jen in the city (Lisa was at work, and Jen met with Orchard Group yesterday and today.) We took the subway to Central Park where Lisa managed a family photo shoot. That had been Evelyn's request--a picture of all of us since we were all going to be together. Two of Lisa and Geoff's good friends met us at the park and actually snapped the pictures of all 8 of us, using Lisa's camera. And Lisa took pictures of the smaller groups herself. We took pictures in at least three different locations, and we're looking forward to Lisa's Photoshop work to turn them into masterpieces!

 

Then we subwayed to the location for our celebration dinner. The occasion was our 40th wedding anniversary. The kids had picked out a wonderful restaurant, The Harrison, where we enjoyed a long, relaxing, wonderful dinner. Lots of laughter, great food, a very fine time. And our dessert came with a special greeting from the chef.

We walked the Highline after that and returned to Geoff and Lisa's apartment full of memories of a wonderful family celebration.

To the East and Back

This is another example of lots to write about/no time to write it. We left the Starbucks in Newtown, PA this morning at 7:30 and pulled into our driveway a little after 6:30 this evening. Not bad, considering a stop at Cracker Barrel for lunch and thick, can't-use-the-cruise-control traffic for a hundred miles east of Columbus till we got to I-270.  This post is going to be more pictures than words.

We saw snow on the ground at the higher elevations on the PA Turnpike today, but none on the roads, and the sun was shining by the time we got to Columbus.
To recap the week:
We arrived at Newtown Tuesday evening and spent Wednesday morning exploring the little shops in the village. Wednesday afternoon we visited and ran errands with Jennifer, and Evelyn did some food prep for the next day. Then we went with Jen and Matt to a diner for dinner Wednesday evening.
We returned from our hotel to Matt and Jen's place Thursday morning to watch the Macy's parade on television and await Miles and Nina's arrival from their mom's place at noon. Geoff and Lisa (and Frankie!) arrived about 1:30, and we enjoyed a walk with the dogs through the fine neighborhood next to the church. Dinner was about 4:00, and it was a sumptuous feast. My pictures give only a hint of how tasty and abundant was the food. I did not get a picture of the spatchcocked turkey! It was as good to eat as it was fun to say!

Miles and Matt and Geoff and I played Settlers of Catan after dessert (Lisa made the cherry pie pictured above as well as a wonderful pumpkin pie.) The ladies watched the dog show Jen had recorded earlier in the day.
Friday Jen and Matt and Evelyn and I took the train to New York and the subway to Long Island City  for 24 hours in the city with the New York Taylors. It was a great time. We walked down to the East River to see the expanding park along the riverfront and enjoy the always captivating views of the city.

Soon we took the subway to Tribeca and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and then took cabs to the movie theater to see a sold-out showing of Lincoln. I started with a head cold on Thanksgiving evening and was feeling a little ragged by Friday evening, and I'm afraid I even dozed off a couple of times during the movie. It is a bit wordy, but maybe I'll watch it again when it's available on DVD.
We stayed in Long Island City that night and enjoyed a gourmet brunch at Geoff and Lisa's favorite Long Island City breakfast spot, Cafe Henri. After 1:00 we took the train back to New Jersey and then drove back to Levittown. Matt had church work to do in the afternoon. I checked into our hotel, ran to the grocery store, and then took a nap on Jen's couch. We ate yummy Thanksgiving  leftovers for supper, and had a nice visit before we headed back to rest up before an early departure this morning.