New York and Boston May 2025 - Part I New York

On the Subway

Monday May 12

Yesterday was a very busy, long day. We got up at 3:30 AM to catch our flight to NYC. The flight was 2.5 hours and uneventful, which is always good. Then we had a 50 minute Uber ride into the city. When we arrived at the hotel our rooms weren’t quite ready so we stored our bags and went around the corner for very mediocre deli sandwiches. It wasn’t Jewish deli for sure! Oh well. I was the one that vetoed the very good Ramen place right next to the hotel. My bad.

Back to the hotel and our room was ready. The room was very nice, with a little bit of a view of Central Park. BUT!!! There was a low-pitched hum throughout the room, and we couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Very disturbing. We unpacked and then met up with Daniel, Kelsey and Emi. We decided to go ahead and go to Brooklyn, walk around, get a snack, maybe find a playground for Emi, and then head to our Mother's Day dinner reservation.

Oh has Emi changed since March! Her vocabulary is exploding - she says Emi happy, duckies for any bird, especially pigeons. Mama for Mama, and Dada for any man (sorry Daniel). She says Outside! And many other things that I forget. And she has become LOUD! She has discovered screaming, and thinks it’s great fun. NBD if we’re outside, but in a subway car, or a restaurant, not so great. And she’s only 17 months so too young to listen if we say SHHHH. The inter web says to ignore it so you don’t feed it. I’m not sure how good at that I’ll be!

We all used transit express to ride the subway, and google maps to figure out our route. We walked along some tree-lined esplanade in Brooklyn and then made our way to a restaurant with outside seating where we could order a snack for Emi and us to share. We got sweet potato fries and as long as there was ketchup to dip them in Emi was delighted. Also in the plethora of pigeons (aka duckies)!

Then we walked over to Fort Greene where there was a very nice playground. Of course Emi fell asleep right before we got there, but she woke up in enough time to play for about 15 minutes before we headed to the restaurant. The restaurant was VERY good, but it was very very warm where we were sitting. They had the windows open but still. I think our long day was catching up with me. We shared a salad, asparagus, some fried cheese balls, and 3 different pasta dishes, tortellini, lasagna and green ravioli with morels. They were all great.

We took the subway back to the hotel. It was supposed to be an express train but it stopped more than it was supposed to. Who knows. When we got back to the hotel I complained about the humming to the front desk and they offered to move us. A hassle but decided it was worth it. The new room did not hum except in the bathroom, but we could hear the TV in the room next door. I dunno, none of it bothered me; I was so tired. I slept pretty solidly from 9 pm to 6:30. Then I got up to have a cup of coffee and go for a run in Central Park.

It was a beautiful morning and there were so many runners and cyclists out! I ran for 2 miles and then turned around. I know I could do a loop but I hadn’t planned my route so I played it safe.

Central Park Running

Got back to the hotel, took a shower and met Lee for breakfast. Soon we’ll head out with the gang, maybe take Emi to the children’s museum and figure out something for lunch and dinner. Tomorrow and Wednesday we’re babysitting for Emi.

Tuesday May 13.

We ended up walking to a playground in Central Park. it was a great playground for toddlers, little slides, steps, sand, and small hills and valleys made with an artificial substance in different colors. Emi did a little of all of it and enjoyed it all. She is very into picking up trash and throwing it away. Another neatnic! Maybe.

Central Park Playground

It was getting sort of close to lunchtime for some of us. Dan had some work calls to make and Kelsey had a little work to do as well, so we took Emi to Chipolte’s. We got her a kid’s quesadilla but she only ate a bite of it. But she really liked the little bag of chips that came with it and slowly ate them all. I got a salad bowl and Lee got a taco to tide us over. 

When Dan and Kelsey were finished working we walked over to a New York style version of a Singaporean Hawker Stand! It wasn’t exactly the same but it had the same general idea. I got a fish curry that was really good. Dan got a chicken curry, Kelsey got some fried rice and Lee got a biryani bowl. I think we all enjoyed our late lunches! Emi ate some of Kelsey’s rice, a lot of it ending up in her stroller as we found out later! Then we walked back to Central Park and went to their little zoo. It was small but the few exhibits it had were done well, and it wasn’t very expensive by New York standards. We saw snow monkeys, seals, snow leopards and grizzly bears. Emi waved to a grizzly bear that was hanging out right on the other side of the glass. Lee caught it on video, very cute!

We also watched a heron having a fit because a squirrel was in his enclosure trying to steal his peanuts. I was watching him by the railing and he kind of flew at me as well! He definitely startled me! I stayed well away from him after that!

Then we went back to the hotel for a little while to rest before dinner. We both agree that we can’t keep up with the kids like we used to! We needed to stop walking and put our feet up for a while!

Dinner was at a nearby restaurant, I forget the name. I really wasn’t very hungry, so I ordered a charcuterie plate to share. The others got sliders and shared an entree of steak frites. I did have a delicious manhattan! Emi wasn’t hungry yet either. She ate some cheerios and that was about it. Later they got her a pizza and she ate a lot of that. Her stomach seems to be on Pacific Time still.

 

I didn’t run this morning. I’ll run tomorrow, but probably abbreviate it some. Hopefully it won’t be raining but if it is I’ll just tough it out. We’ve had breakfast and we’re just hanging out in the room until they are ready for us to start bbsitting. They’re going out tonight so it’s going to be a long day of Emi, but we have some plans up our sleeves!

Wednesday May 14, New York

First we went back to the playground in Central Park. She found some new places to explore and we picked a lot of dandelions and collected a lot of rocks. We walked to a salad place for lunch and she fell asleep on the way.

Then we took Emi down to Chelsea to look at mattresses. We both want to replace the Temperpedic that weighs too much and I find uncomfortable. We went to a store that sells mattresses recommended by Wirecutter and tried out a few. It’s so subjective, and hard to tell really by just lying on one for a couple minutes. I really need to spend the night in a mattress store. But there was one we thought we really liked. We inquired about kings too but the cost would be prohibitive. We’d have to replace the headboard and all the sheets, and remove the cedar chest from the bedroom to make room, so I doubt that we will do it.

Then we walked over to the Highline and let Emi walk around a little. She smelled the flowers and picked up rocks again. But she was getting hungry and tired. We tried to find something she would like to eat but the place we tried was kind of gross. She did eat some french fries and ketchup, but that was about it.

By then it was time to go back to the hotel. Dan and Kelsey gave us a break before we took over again and took Emi out for pizza. That actually worked out really well. The pizza was good, the caesar salad was yummy (big pieces of anchovies which I love). Emi ate a LOT of pizza. It was impressive, but then she really hadn’t eaten that much earlier.

We went back to the hotel and hung out in our room until they got back. It was late for us, but not that bad, and it didn’t really matter since we’re going to be up late again tonight.

Wednesday May 14

I went for a run in Central Park again this morning, this time going up the east side instead of the west. I was going to shorten the run but lost track of my repeats and ended up doing most of the prescribed workout. It wasn't raining at the start but by the end it had started to come down pretty good.

We took Emi to the Museum of Natural History today since it was raining. We took the subway and got pretty wet in the process. Emi's stroller has a rain shield but we had trouble attaching it and she kept kicking it off. The subway exit we needed didn't have an elevator so Lee flexed his muscles and carried her stroller down the steps. After the first set of steps we got a little wiser and took Emi out of her stroller first. Then one of us would carry her and the other carry the stroller. Eventually we got even smarter and kept her in the stroller but carried the whole thing together. Whew!

Once we found the stroller entrance to the museum we had a great time. I had read that the dinosaur exhibit was the place to take toddlers and that was definitely the case. Emi was enchanted, pointed and cooing and ooing and ahhing, telling us all about them as we walked past. She was a little toddler dinosaur tour guide! 

Telling Us All About The Dinosaurs

When she got tired we put her in the stroller and went to look at more boring exhibits in South America and Africa until she fell asleep.

Dan met us at a nearby Mexican restaurant. Fortunately by then the rain had stopped. We were glad to sit down for a while and Emi woke up in time to eat.

We went back to the hotel for a while. We stopped babysitting around 4 pm because it was time for us to get ready to go out that evening. We took an Uber to our dinner reservations at Chalong, a southern Thai restaurant. It was good, but not as good as Seema, where Sarah and I ate when we were here in November. We got a whole fried fish, pork and shrimp dumplings, a pomelo salad. I liked the salad and my mango sticky rice dessert the best. Oh and the cocktail I got, a souped up Manhattan, was fabulous!

We strolled over to the theatre and were there early, before the doors opened in fact. our seats were fantastic. In the very back of the orchestra, but right in the center with an excellent view of the stage.

I've never actually seen Gipsy before. I hated Ethel Merman and her booming bombastic voice. But Audra McDonald as the stage mother to end all, was perfect. She has a huge voice, but it's beautiful and thrilling without being overbearing.

Gyspy is one of Stephen Sondheim's earliest hits. It came out in '59 right after West Side Story in '57.

There’s a lot of great music in Gypsy, more songs than I actually realized were from it, including "Let Me Entertain You" and "Small World". And McDonald managed to give the songs depth and meaning. For example, “Everything’s Coming up Roses” sounds like it should just be a happy optimistic song, but it actually comes at the end of the first Act when Rose’s heart is broken because one of her daughters, June, has run away. In reality it’s defiant and sad.

The end of the show, when her other daughter, Louise, has become the famous stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, and Rose sings “Rose’s Turn”, was unexpectedly moving. Most of Gypsy is either funny or almost horrifying but that last song brought everyone to tears. It was weird how suddenly the whole audience started crying. Then it was over and we all stood up and cheered. Wow.

It was definitely hard to get up this morning but we have a train to catch!

New York City November 2024

Monday November 18

I’m in New York with Sarah. She had a business meeting and asked me if I wanted to tag along. She would extend it a day and we could go see The Outsiders on Broadway. Of Course! So here I am.

I drove to her house this morning and we drove to the airport together. Lots of the expenses for this trip are comped by her client so I don’t have to pay for the hotel, or the Uber from the airport to NY, but of course I have to pay for my own flight, the show, and my food while we’re here. 

Our flight was kind of crazy. Only 2.5 hours, way shorter than going to SF, right? But first we’re delayed because of airport congestion (thank you, I’d rather be delayed than risk a close call!). But THEN as we’re taxiing to the runway the pilot gets on the intercom and tells us that we have to go back to the gate because a passenger needs to get off the plane! That’s a first for me. We don’t know why, but Sarah heard the person say to a flight attendant “I thought I could get it to stop but….” so we’re thinking some kind of medical emergency.  Not overt though. We’ll never know.

So that took a minute, and then apparently we missed our takeoff window so we ended up delayed another 20 minutes after that. I think we ended up being delayed about 2 hours. Sarah had a client meeting she missed, but what are you going to do? These things happen.

Our hotel was very nice, in the financial district, right on Wall Street near the East River. The Wall Street Hotel. It was very fancy, we would never stay at a hotel like this in New York if her client wasn't paying for it! Our room had a big bathroom with two sinks and lots of counter space, a luxury for two high maintenance women sharing a room! And even though we were only on the 3rd floor the room was quiet.

While she went off to do a client dinner I did a little research and went to an Irish pub right around the corner. I sat at the bar and had an Old Fashioned, their butternut squash ravioli and a piece of apple crumb cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. I was hungry! It was all very good and the Old Fashioned was great. They always taste better in NY.

Tuesday November 19

I made myself stay up until almost 10 pm, after Sarah came back from her client dinner. Then I somehow slept until 7:30, unheard-of for me, over 9 hours. Sarah was still asleep and I didn’t want to wake her so I grabbed my jeans and sweatshirt and walked to a Starbucks down the street. I got a latte and some oatmeal and took it back to the hotel lounge to eat. I chilled there for a while and then went up to the room to change to go run.

I’m not as familiar with running on the east side, and I’m definitely not familiar with running around Wall Street! But after looking at Strava I decided it made sense to head toward Battery Park along the East River and then hopefully up the Hudson side a ways before turning around. I worked out great, even though Battery Park has a lot of construction going on and I had to zig and zag a little bit. It was a nice run with a bit of speedwork thrown in and an only mildly wonky GPS signal.

Back at the hotel, I took my shower and planned out the rest of my morning. I was going to try a place called Tonii’s Fresh Rice Noodles in Chinatown and then go check out The Eldridge Museum. I decided to walk since taking the subway would save only 10 minutes and it was a beautiful day. I was able to find my way there without too much confusion, even though I had forgotten how crazy Chinatown can be. Unfortunately Tonii’s turned out to be carryout only so I had to find a park where I could eat my lunch. There was one conveniently around the corner from the museum so it all worked out.

I got the noodles with chicken, which I figured would be a safe choice. I also got some lemon tea. The noodles came with lots of different sauces, soy, hoisin, peanut, chili. I used the soy and hoisin. I could have used a little chili but decided not to risk it. The noodles were ok. I mean there was nothing wrong with them but they could have used something more. There were a lot of different options so maybe it was my fault for being too cautious. Oh well! The tea, however, was delicious.

I signed up for a docent led tour at the museum, because at $11 for seniors, why not? I was a tour group of one. My docent was ok. He was very knowledgeable, but a little grumpy. There were a few other tours going on and he got very annoyed when the other docents were in the same area as he was, so we kept moving around. Honestly his irritation was more distracting than the other docents! But the synagogue was neat, and beautifully restored. It was a grand orthodox synagogue, built in the 1880’s and in use from then until sometime in the 40’s when most of the congregation had moved to the Bronx, Brooklyn or beyond. Then the building fell into disrepair until the 1970’s when the slow work of restoration finally began. It took a lot of work and the building opened as a museum in 2007. The building is worth touring, and maybe you’ll have better luck than I did with your docent! Or you can get an online tour instead.

Wednesday November 20

I walked back to the hotel. Sarah was already there, finished with her work for the trip. Around 3 we decided to go ahead and take the subway to SoHo and do some window shopping before our dinner reservation at 5. 

We got ourselves all dressed up, Sarah in a beautiful green skirt from Farm Rio and me in my fancy skirt from Nuuly.

First of all, using Omni Pay to pay for the subway is amazing! You just have to authorize it on your phone and then just tap as you go through the gate. No more metro card, the charge goes on your primary cc in your Apple Wallet. If you lived in NY and used the subway a lot you never have to pay more than $32 every 7 days so it’s economical too.

Second, we’re both fairly experienced subway users but we got on an express train without realizing it, so we overshot our stop a bit. It wouldn’t have mattered except that my boots started to hurt my feet after a while. I was fine that morning because I wore my tennis shoes, but after about 30 minutes of strolling back to and then around SoHo I was starting to feel my age.

We both like Farm Rio so we looked in there. I walked into the UGG store and then walked right back out, too crowded. We went into Paige so Sarah could check out their jeans, and I found myself looking at a variety of silky button down shirts. Hmm. Finally we went into Free People and I saw a houndstooth overcoat I really liked. I wanted it but I wasn’t about to buy it in NY instead of MN where there’s no sales tax on clothes, so I’m going to look for it online.

We still had lots of time. We took the subway to a stop closer to the restaurant. We went into a chocolate shop and bought some truffles for a snack for intermission at the show. We walked down the street to the restaurant and  popped into a lovely shop that sold artisanal things by various makers from all over the world. We were both tempted! I loved some oyster shells that had been dipped in gold paint and filled with a painted ceramic flower. Not practical or really very useful but pretty! There were also some ceramic dishes made by someone in Brooklyn that we both really liked. And glass platters with flecks of silver and gold paint, and silk scarves, and Norwegian sweaters and….

It was finally 5 o’clock so we went across the street for our reservation at Seema. This restaurant had seen a lot of hype and it was hard to get a reservation but I focused and hopped on Resy right at 8 AM 15 days earlier and got us in.

We both got a cocktail, very good. We followed our servers suggestions and got dumplings, scallops, a dosa (giant), a branzino steamed in a banana leaf, and the oxtail. It was too much food, but so good. It was a shame to leave some of it but we couldn’t help it. 

Seema Dumplings

At 6:30 it was time to go. The show started at 7. We had to walk 5 blocks to the subway, then a 15 minute subway ride, and then hoof it through Times Square to the theater. I put my Hong Kong hat on and led the way, weaving expertly through the crowds. We made it with a few minutes to spare. Sarah scooted to the bathroom. The lights went down and there was Ponyboy, writing his story about a week in Tulsa in 1967….

                                                               

The Outsiders is an interesting story in a lot of ways. The most fascinating part to me is that SE Hinton wrote it when she was 17 yo, and it was published by the time she was 18. How she managed to do that I’ll never know. Not only that but she managed to get herself inside the head of a 14 yo “greaser” boy, and make him and his friends real, and people any teenager could identify with, no matter what class or social milieu they were from.

The Outsiders has always been one of my daughter’s favorite books. I didn’t read it until my 40’s (I generally read anything my kids read if they thought it was worth reading). I reread it on Monday and I think it made the musical more interesting.

They made a few changes to the plot that I thought actually improved the story, simplifying the love interest in the book and changing how Dallas dies in the end.

The songs were good, but at least without listening to it again a few times, nothing too memorable. It reminded me of Rent, both in the set, and the general theme of misunderstood kids against the world. However, the music of Rent was electrifying from the get go, and something I listened to over and over, until I was sick of it. I doubt that I will do that with the Outsiders.

The one thing in The Outsiders that was just astonishing was the rainfall during the "rumble" (gang fight) toward the end of the show. Water fell in torrents upon the stage, but no puddles formed even though everything got wet. And it fell for several minutes, at least. Where in the world did it go? The floor of the stage was covered in pea gravel (another mystery, how did they keep that gravel in place with people dancing and singing all over it for almost 3 hours?). The “rain” fell on the gravel and disappeared. There must have been some kind of grating underneath the gravel that would let the water out, but keep the gravel in. And how did they manage to dance on that kind of surface? I’d love to know!

After the play we strolled back to the subway and this time gratefully took an express train back to Wall St. We were both in bed by 11. I didn’t sleep great, heartburn and a nightmare (Harper ran away and we forgot to look for her for 2 days, in retrospect ridiculous but terrifying at the time). At least on the way home everything has gone smoothly (so far, I”m writing this on the plane) (it did).

I’m so glad Sarah asked me to come. It was a lot of fun. I miss New York and it was great to get a city fix.

 

Now back to Minnesota where it may be snowing. Time for thanksgiving!