Day 3 in NY, April 20

We picked up a second guide today to give us a special tour. She shared lots of fascinating trivia. We went to the park where we saw the John Lennon memorial. The park really is a heavenly place. I look forward to bringing my son, Noah, someday soon. We got group shots at the Bethesda Fountain. We couldn't have asked for a prettier day. It's sunny, not too chilly, idyllic. Lots of parents are taking advantage of the weather to walk their kids in strollers or walk hand-in-hand with toddlers. The whole scene is amazing.



























Back on the bus, we continued our tour of midtown, revisiting a handful of places we've visited already. I tried to warn her about what we've already scene, but I think I only irritated her. She's obviously got a planned schtick and doesn't want to change it just because we've seen most of the things she's pointing out. I was just trying to be nice. We're headed downtown towards the financial district/ Tribeca/ Chealsea Park, etc. That will be new.









We had pizza in the village. I'm glad the kids got to see a part of the city other than Midtown. Yesterday they got to see some of Harlem, which was great, but most of the time was in Midtown.



Next we went downtown to Ground Zero. I was surprised by how much kids wanted to do this. It's not like there's a museum or even a memorial constructed yet. Then I reminded myself that 9/11 wasn't just one of the biggest historical events of these kids lives (it was certainly that for all of us), but for many it was one of the only major world events in their lifetimes that they've paid attention to, and it was formative. Ground Zero is basically a construction site, but the power of the memories lingers there, and the kids could feel it.







We also visited the church across the street which served as a refuge for many of the 9/11 survivors. Tombstones in the cemetery dated back to the 1780's, at least.













Next we came back to tour Radio City Music Hall.








(Joel, you would love this: Beneath the stage is an elevator that can lift 81,000 lbs more than the weight of the stage itself, dropping it down many stories and even raising it or parts of it above stage level for effects. They hall also has the world's largest HD TV monitor which is counterbalanced and lifted five stories up into the fly-space when it's not in use.)

The grand lounge and the bathroom were pretty impressive. You have to have quite a bathroom for 6,000 people to use it while the next group of 6,00 is coming in to see their Talkies and the Rockettes.








(Post your suggestions for the name for this Boy Band.)

Back up above we saw lots of pictures of the famous acts that have come to the show, as well as a gallery about the Rockettes themselves, before actually meeting a real live Rockette.









Finally we got to sit down.





Then we went to eat at a restaurant in Little Italy called La Mela. We were running late, so I can't tell you how th food was, because my friend showed up to whisk me off for the evening before the food arrived.

We had a wonderful evening tonight. The kids had free time to wander around various neighborhood in small groups with chaperons. Some enjoyed Chinatown.. Others returned to Times Square for more shopping. A group went to see Les Miserables. Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Warren caught up with Orlando Garcia, a former Central grad. now living in the village and teach ninth and tenth graders at a public high school (something I have a lot of respect for).

I had an amazing evening hanging out with some friends, Zach and Lauren Jost (who are always fun) and my best friend from elementary school, Isaac Dye, who I haven't seen in over a decade. Catching up with him was the high point of this trip for me, and we promised not to go another decade without seeing each other. Lauren escorted me on the subway from Little Italy to the Village, where we had dinner, and Zach D., escorted me back to Times Square to rendezvous with the group. Wandering the streets and riding the subway encourages good conversation.

On the way to my dinner date with Zach, Lauren, and Zach, I did get a handful of pictures of Washington Park, some very talented and funny hip-hop dancers/drummers who were performing there, an exotic pet act going on in the park, and some sidewalk chalk artists along the way into the Village. Paige, are you sure we can't move here? Not tomorrow, but someday? Please?











The day ended up being fantastic. I Heart NY.

Day 2, April 19

Today we're going to Lincoln center to hear from an artist in residence.

At Lincoln center we heard an actor (Eric Scott Kincaid) sing, dance, and answer questions. To play New York theater critic: He started with the opening number from Oklahoma, then the opening number of Caberet. He was flamboyant to a remarkable degree. Everything was outsized. It was fun for the kids to see what a Broadway performance might look like up close. For me, I'd prefer to be thirty rows back. Once he started talking he was knowledgeable and impressive. He talked about everything from the structure of shows to costumes to voice technique. His speech was filled with enough specific examples that the overview was still interesting for the folks who know lots about Broadway (at least a lot more than I do). His personal story was interesting, also. He walked us through the whole audition process, explaining a casting call for Avenue Q, a call back. I admit I started off as a very skeptical audience member, but he won me over. Of course, the room, a corner room with floor to ceiling windows on the tenth floor, made anything inside pretty impressive.









During our tour I sang at the State Theater, where the New York City Opera company performs. I sang two notes, just to try out the acoustics (which stink, because the room was designed for ballet, and even has a sound-absorbing flexible stage).









Andrew Boldt has been a bit scandalized by all the nudes in sculptures and paintings all over town. Betty Plude's response: Wait 'til he gets to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.






While the kids went to an acting workshop Mr.Witt asked me if I wanted a couple of hours to mull around the city. I told him I do enjoy the mulling. I like to mull. I'm good at it. So I wandered down a few block, made a random left, wandered some more.


Sad New York note: I walked past a soup kitchen under an overpass, and it looked like a cafeteria at the world's saddest nursing home. The people ALL looked very old. Now, it could just be that living on the streets ads years to one's life, but I wonder how many folks retire from unsuccessful working adulthoods to a twilight of homelessness. At least there was a warm place for them to get a hot meal.

Happy note: A woman with a heavy Brooklyn accent asked me, ME!, what street we were on. She wasn't, lost, just wanted the street number. Maybe she identified me as a tourist and thought, "This yokel will know where we are." But I like to think she mistook me for a genuine New Yorker. Woohoo!

I've now crossed 2 Duane Reades (a pharmacy chain), 2 Lowes Theaters, and my 2nd Burger King advertising itself as an internet cafe. I'm starting tp worry that another ten blocks of mulling in midtown will make me believe in Deja Vu. 10 Starbucks? Twelve?

Yep. Another Duane Reade. Another BK/ internet cafe.

Came all the way back to 8th and 37th, then realized I'd been only a couple blocks from Madison Square Garden. Went back, sportsfans. It's a very cool place to visit, with pictures of some of the greatest events in the Garden up all over.












On the way I passed a shop in the fashion district called "Stretch House" advertising all the spandex fabric the world could ever need, and a whole lot more. More spandex, that is. Nothing but spandex.



And another. How many Spandex Stores does one city need?




We went to a kosher deli. It was called Ben's, which I appreciated. I tried a pickled tomato. Not a fan. Tastes more like a pickle, but with a hint that a tomato has been deeply wronged.



I sat with Maria, Christina, and Jesse. I tried to dissuade Jesse from getting a tattoo when she turns 18. Wait! Wait! But no. I was unsuccessful. She's going to end up with her own last name (maybe someday it will be her maiden name) on her back, and maybe portraits of her dog and her cat on her calves.



In the kosher deli where we went for dinner, there was a joke written in fancy letters around the room. It said, "A couple was dining out at the neighborhood kosher deli and they were amazed to have a Chinese waiter approached to take their order. To their astonishment, the suave Asian addressed them in perfect Yiddish. When he left they asked the proprietor, "A Chinese waiter in a Jewish deli?! And he speaks perfect Yiddish? How so?" "Shhh!" whispered the proprietor. "He thinks I'm teaching him English."

After dinner, before our show began, I wandered around Times Square with Erik Brown. One of my friends who lives in New York warned me that Times Square is "whack". He was certainly correct. Most of the restaurants and stores are big chains one could find anywhere. I can't imagine going to New York only to eat and an Olive Garden or shop at a Toys 'R' Us. Well, I did go into Toys 'R' Us, because I have to enter every toy store I see, but I didn't buy anything there. It did have some cool displays, though. It's still no FAO Schwarz.







I think my dad would appreciate the Hershey's store, though. They pump the smell of chocolate out onto the street. It's a better smell than some we've encountered so far.






Bebe Neuworth in Chicago: Holy... She is... The whole production is... Wow. And these dancers... Wow. If it always looked that good, I might actually become a jazz fan.



During one particularly poignant moment in the show, as Roxy shoots her victim in the trial scene, the lighting goes red, the body drops, and a woman in the front of the balcony gasps a breathy but audible, "My gaawwd!"

During Hairspray (which I didn't see), after the curtain call, when the cast asked the audience to make charitable donations to Broadway Cares, an HIV/AIDS charity, Jesse Gerdes shouted to the male lead (who played the mother), "I love you," and was blessed with an "I love you too. I don't know who that was, but I love you back. Call me."

At the end of the day I was informed that parents want more pic of kids, less of scenery. I will try to oblige tomorrow. Right now it's 2:46 am at night and I'm still making my last edits to this post, so I think it's time to call it a night. Thank goodness for Red Bull.