We drove to Salt Lake City on Wednesday to drop the kids and dog off at Grandma and Grandpa Snow’s (thank you!). By the time we got there I had lost my voice due to a sore throat/sinus cold (I’m still recuperating).
On the way to Salt Lake we ate at the Bombay House in Provo—one of Vickey’s favorite Indian restaurants. Then Thursday morning we took a Delta flight to JFK with Troy and Jen (Tyler and Emily met us in NYC after spending some time in Philadelphia).
Our first adventure was getting from JFK to the Times Square Courtyard Marriott where we were staying. I was a little rusty on my subway skills (I lived in NYC in ’96 and ’97), so we ended up exiting the E train too early and had to go up and down some stairs a couple times until we finally arrived at Times Square. Some helpful subway attendants helped us and our luggage (I over packed) get where we needed to be. Then it was a little tricky figuring out which subway exit would be closest to the hotel. But, after two hours, we managed.
The whole time Jen was saying what a fun adventure it was. I think Vickey was thinking, “We should have taken a cab!”
The six of us enjoyed a terrific Italian dinner at Carmine’s then a late-night movie, Music and Lyrics. I’d give the dinner an 8 out of 10. The movie, a 2 (but that could be my tired state of mind and sore throat talking).
Friday morning we took advantage of the “do not disturb” hotel room door sign and the fact that there were no kids to get us up early. After a lazy morning we ventured to Max Brenner, Chocolate by the Bald Man in Union Square (a referral from one of our friends). We were not disappointed! We had an excellent meal—a chocolate smorgasbord, really—and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. They have the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had!
We visited a few places on Friday including Ground Zero, Columbus Circle and the Manhattan LDS Temple. It’s still bizarre to see the World Trade Center site and know I was there every workday for a couple years. I worked at Merrill Lynch in the World Financial Center.
Friday evening we ate at Koi on 40th Street (our concierge was kind enough to secure Friday and Saturday dinner reservations for us). The environment was exciting, edgy and inviting. The food and presentation were great. I wasn’t so fond of the sushi, but that’s not my bag, baby.
Then we were treated to the wonderful Broadway production of Mary Poppins. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the musical. It was very well done. I appreciated that the musical didn’t rehash the movie, but brought a new perspective to the thought provoking story.
Friday night we played games, liar’s dice (it’s Tyler’s favorite), until way too late.
Saturday morning I was determined to explore some new areas. So despite the fact that my voice was also on vacation, Vickey and I scheduled an early wake-up call and took off for Chinatown and Little Italy. There was a striking difference between the hustle and bustle of Chinatown and Little Italy early on a Saturday morning.
We were there for a couple hours and it wasn’t until we were leaving for lunch that there was much movement in Little Italy. The folks in Chinatown were going strong from the moment we got there: “Rolex, Rolex…handbag, handbag…scarf, scarf…” They didn’t say things once, everything was said twice and very fast—it helped us feel like we were in a different country.
We had some amazing gelato and canoli in Little Italy. I got a hair cut at Sal’s neighborhood barbershop while Vickey got her nails done in Chinatown.
Saturday afternoon we split-up to see Wicked and Putnam County Spelling Bee. I’ve seen Wicked and although it’s my favorite Broadway show, I wanted a new experience, or more truthfully didn’t want to spoil my memory of Wicked’s original Broadway cast. I was very impressed with Spelling Bee. It was a terrific production. It was hilarious, had good audience participation and very well staged. The performers were all great.
Following a visit to Rockefeller Plaza we had an excellent between show dinner at Bobby Vans Steakhouse on 50th, then headed to our final Broadway experience of the trip, The Color Purple.
The show was highly recommended but I wasn’t as impressed with it as I was with the others we saw. I wasn’t fond of the lesbian love affair (yes, I saw the movie), some of the costuming was questionable, and I was turned off by the cast shushing one another backstage after the opening number. The gospel music and voices were great, although the score failed to provide any memorable tunes. I’ll be interested to read the reviews once American Idol’s Fantasia takes on the lead role next month.
Small world moment: some people I recently met in Las Vegas are co-producers of The Color Purple, along with Oprah Winfrey. They were going to hire Codella Marketing to do some work for another business venture, but it didn’t pan out.
Of course we stopped at the Times Square souvenir shops.
Again Saturday night back at the hotel we played liar’s dice. By this time we were all feeling a bit worn out and couldn’t stay up as late as the previous two nights. Guess we’re getting older. It’s been 15 years since Tyler, Troy, Jen and I were in Young Ambassadors together.
Sunday morning Vickey and I did a bit more exploring. We found Garrett Popcorn Shops near Macy’s and had to get a bag for everyone. Their popcorn is a favorite of Vickey’s and every time she visits Chicago for a Pampered Chef convention she brings some home. We learned the New York shop has only been open a couple months. Perhaps that’s why we didn’t even have to wait in line, either that or the early Sunday morning hour, or the very cold windy weather (so glad to be back in sunny Las Vegas).
We met-up with our dear friend, Carlos, for Sunday brunch at Max Brenner’s again (yes, we really liked that place). Carlos was in Mamma Mia for a couple years and now plays understudy for the roles in Altar Boyz, he’s the swing and dance captain. Next time we have a New York minute, we’ll see you in your show, Carlos. And again, happy birthday to you!
After brunch it was time to load up and head back to JFK. This time our train ride was only an hour. Partly because we knew exactly what we were doing and partly because the passenger volume was lighter on Sunday afternoon than Thursday evening.
Our flight home was uneventful except for the hour wait we had waiting on the runway to finally takeoff.
We returned to the Snows to find everyone no worse for the wear, except maybe Grandma and Grandpa who seemed pretty tired. Monday morning the kids were glad to see us and Tank was my shadow as I loaded the Sequoia. Tank always gets a bit nervous when we leave for extended periods. He’s a weimaraner, what do you expect?
We had an awesome time in New York City. It was terrific! What added to the enjoyment was that it was just the six of us with no little ones to look after. Sure, we missed the kiddies (at least the girls did), but it was also nice to be on a vacation without them.
We’ll look forward to yearly or perhaps biyearly trips. Keep in touch guys!
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