Category Archives: Manhattan

A Different Kind of Travel Adventure

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Nearly two years ago (March 5, 2024 to be exact) our older son and daughter-in-law had to leave their home due to a fire. We are all thankful no one in the co-op, including Brandon and Lia’s cats, were injured, but it was much worse than we knew at first. There is a video (that even shows our son at the start) about the fire. (They live on the 6th floor, and the fire start in the place right below them.)

I flew to New York to visit shortly after the fire happened. I was pretty horrified!

WHAT a mess, right?

They are still not back in their home.

Even getting start on the repair work took, if I’m remembering correctly, over a year. Or at least close to that.

While the whole family was here in January (celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary!), I mentioned to Brandon that I’d be willing to help paint when things were ready. And, lo and behold, we flew there on the 11th to get going on that.

The flight was uneventful and we were greeting at EWR by colder weather and a bit of snow. Then we took a car to our hotel. Our hotel with a tiny room and no place to hang anything up. But hey, it was less expensive than others, and after a 15 minute walk would be a direct train to Brandon and Lia’s.


Before starting our painting adventure we were able to celebrate my “Brooklyn brother’s” birthday (to differentiate between him and my “Germany brother”). We met up first a jazz club, much to his surprise. (It was fun to see his face when he saw us there!).

We then dined at a lovely restaurant. With Timothy and Margaret. FUN FUN FUN!

The next morning we (somewhat leisurely) headed over to Brandon and Lia’s to see what we were in for. First it was cleaning up and prep day. I neglected to take any photos I guess (Funny that I thought I had!) and Dan got only a few. But we vacuumed. Dan did a ton of masking. Brandon and Lia worked on getting the floors (which are beautiful!) covered, along with more and more cleaning. Sorry you only get these three pictures, though.

From there we headed to our hotel, catching a bite at the noisiest restaurant ever. We even texted each other at one point!

The following day Brandon and Lia both had work so we decided to enjoy a lunch at Red Rooster, being fans of Marcus Samuelsson. We had a delicious meal. Dan spent some Dick Tracy time talking to his watch. And yes, yours truly even took a photo of the floor in the bathroom. Because. Of course when I saw Bernstein I had to take a photo!

From there we wandered, with our final destination being the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

We had learned that Jameson and Meghan were going to be at the Cathedral that evening to hear the Gesualdo Six sing. The concert, however, was sold out. BUT … we get to the Cathedral and hear singing. How ‘bout that? They were rehearsing. So we got to enjoy them as we wandered the building.

Toward the back there was a quilt exhibit. You can read about it as well.

More wandering …

And more quilts …

… and wandering …

From there we took a train down to meet up with Brandon and, when she was done working, Lia.

We had some drinks and dinner and then headed back to get some sleep.

On Saturday morning it was work time! I only took a few photos … I guess I was too busy edging and rolling and all that …

For the evening the four of us went to celebrate our hard work and Valentine’s day at an Albanian restaurant in the Bronx called Çka ka Qëllu.

VERY yummy and such a nice way to relax after a day of work.

Our Harlem hotel room looks out here:

Back to work … and look at that beautiful tile in the bathroom!

The above is the kitchen. That’s right, no cabinets, no appliances … nothing. Yet. But soon ….

For dinner we (finally!) got to meet up with Jameson and Meghan as well. Fun times!

Our breakfasts are enjoyed downstairs at our hotel. For me it’s just coffee. (I had a pastry the first morning and was reminded that eating before doing a physical activity gives me the shakes!).

Back to the subway we went for yet another ride up to Pelham Parkway North!

This was our final day of painting. We managed to get a lot done.

The kitchen floor is lovely. (So is Lia!)

The happy painters … and Brandon being Brandon. 😉

Sadly, we had to head back home on Tuesday. But so it goes. We had the first row of Premium Economy … HUGE leg room! Gotta love that.

And hello Bay Area!

So here we are. Back in what is now a rainy San Jose.

Do you wonder what we’ll do next? It won’t involve painting, just so you know. (Although I’d go back and help more in a heartbeat if we had the time and money to do so.

So This Is It

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Yes, our last day in NYC, and our last full day of this trip. It flew by. It seems like we’ve been on it forever. Funny how that goes!

I didn’t wake up until 7:00! (Well, okay, I was up three other times, but that is sort of the norm for me.) We lazed around a bit (since Dan has a cold he’s taking it easy for sure, and I’m happy to be lazy as we wind things down), and eventually I went down to pick up some croissants for breakfast. Angelina Bakery has been our go-to for those. It was cloudy outside, and some people were holding umbrellas although I felt no drops. Some of the taller buildings were hidden by clouds, though. I dropped our yummy croissants off at our room and went up to floor 27 here at the hotel to get our coffees: decaf espresso for Dan, caffeinated cappuccino for me. Yes, you really do need to know these things: when we get home I just might write up a quiz called, “What did D&P do on their trip?” Please have your number 2 pencils ready.

We have a table in our room so we just ate there.

Then, while Dan did what Dan does (computer, shower, whatever) I started to search for a place to eat dinner. It’s a challenge when there may be six of us and some choices were out of the question. Contacting Brandon he suggested maybe we should try something different than the bar food we’ve been having so I found a Japanese restaurant. I suspect that will be quite refreshing after eating so many fries!

It was drizzling out (according to our often incorrect watches anyway) — we were in no rush to get outside. In addition, the last day of our trips tend to be rather slow. It’s as if we allow ourselves to finally let go of the required energy needed for travel, knowing the trip is nearly over. But eventually out we went.

For food. Because … well … it’s the last day to be indulgent!

And it was bagels.

Since the restaurant I’d reserved was very close to the bagel stop we walked by. Ummmm … wellllll … no ambience and I can’t figure out how they’d even seat the six of us! I guess we’d have three tables for two, the restaurant was so small and narrow. So we decided to walk back to the hotel and redo our evening plans. On the way I had to stop for a couple of photos because this blog entry is looking to be extremely boring unless I do that. No one needs to hear me (okay, read me) rattle on and on. You need New York photos! Right?

Back at the hotel I texted with Brandon and Jameson, and another restaurant was chosen (thanks for the suggestion, Brandon), and a reservation was made. While at the room a man came by to make sure all was well here — he wasn’t the housekeeping person so I’m not sure why he came. But it was handy because I could tell him all was fine except we needed more of the Nespresso coffee pods. Later on another man came by with a bag FULL of them. Maybe they will come in handy at another hotel sometime. We shall see.

We continued our lazing around for quite a while, but eventually we opted to go out for a casual walk, having no real agenda in mind. Dan did suggest, though, that we head toward Central Park. While heading across 45th we walked past the restaurant we chose for tonight after canceling the other. It’s a whopping seven minute walk.

And now I’ll just post the photos I took, as well as one video:

On our way back we picked up a couple of cannoli. Big yum, but I actually couldn’t finish mine so Dan kindly helped me out. As you can see, there was only health food in the case.

Eventually we met up with Jameson, since he was in the area earlier than our dinner reservation. We walked to a spot where he could get iced coffee … we sat and yakked and then it was time to get to the restaurant.

We met Lia at Sozai, and Brandon showed up shortly after. I have decided Lia is the Queen of Ordering and she magically remembered all the things we wanted. (Thanks, Lia!) The food was absolutely wonderful. I was sorry Meghan couldn’t be there with us, but she had so much work she said it just wasn’t possible. (Sorry Meghan … we missed you!) I took a few (bad) photos. It was really the best I could do as the light was low and some things weren’t easy to photograph. So it goes. Just trust me: everything was delicious!

We said goodbye to Lia and Brandon, and Jameson walked with us back to our place since his bus would be a bit further down the street. Then a quick hug to him, and back up to our room we went. I’m nearly packed (just need to get pjs and toiletries in the pack tomorrow morning), and odds are we’ll grab coffee upstairs and then get a car to Newark. (We’ve been informed that saying “EWR” is not the norm here so I am going to have to change my ways. Hah!) After the pain of taking New Jersey Transit in to Manhattan we’ve decided we’d prefer a Lyft back. Besides, we have money in our Lyft account so why not?

But now? Time to attempt to sleep. I’m better it will be a restless night what with tomorrow being a travel day, but I can dream, right? Or maybe I can’t dream since I might not sleep. Time will tell.

Ciao for now!

Another Day In NYC

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We had no plans, other than a dinner tonight, and as we are winding down we weren’t in a huge hurry to get out and about. We did, however wake up very early. I was up at 4:00, and Dan was a bit later than that. We definitely haven’t adjusted to the time change.

After continuing my streak on Wordle, playing Connections, playing Sudoku, and reading a bit of news (but not too much: it can so easily ruin one’s day right now), I got up and made myself an exciting Nespresso cup of coffee. (Yes, we not only have coffee and tea up on the 27th floor, but we have Nespresso in our room.) Sadly they only offer that not-milk creamer stuff so I’ll get my cappuccino a bit later.

I did receive an email that appeared to be from the DMV that said this:

California Department of Motor Vehicles

Dear Customer,

Our records indicate that your vehicle registration payment is currently overdue. Immediate action is required to avoid late fees or registration suspension.

Please review your registration status and submit payment as soon as possible using the secure link below.

Yeah, right.

But of course I had to check to be sure I hadn’t somehow forgotten to make a payment because a few years back I actually had forgotten and while we were on a trip in Death Valley I had to quickly pay, including the late fee. And no, I did not click on the link. I just signed in to my account and, sure enough, nothing is yet due. (I have a list of when things will be due on an Apple Note, so I could have just checked that!) These scammers are just getting more and more scary, if you ask me.

But enough of that! Next up was getting some sort of breakfast rolls or pastries from a nearby spot, and then taking those up to the 27th floor to enjoy our coffees (yes, second cups) and the view. Look … health food!

We sat upstairs for a bit and a bite, and then went back down to figure out what we were doing. We agreed doing the High Line would be fun, so off to the train we went.

Once we reached our stop we then had a short walk to the High Line. The day was quite lovely. I brought my umbrella just in case, but so far it looked like it wouldn’t be necessary.

The last time we did the walk it was winter. This time flowers were blooming and the trees had leafed out. It really was beautiful. It was also crowded with people — it’s a very popular spot for tourists: I don’t know if locals use it all that much. I managed to use my Fuji camera a good amount since I had my macro lens on. We’ll see what turns out when I get home because I don’t bother looking at things on my iPad.

When we reached the end we went down to the street level and we figured it was time for the lunch search. It wasn’t quite noon, but we know how long it will take us so it was a sure bet we wouldn’t eat until after 12:00.

First we walked to past a number of places very close to the Whitney. I’ve decided the closer to a museum, the higher the prices and not necessarily the better the food. So nope.

While we walked around Dan pointed out a man saying, “My camera is packed so you can take it!” Well, that man noticed I was taking his photo and posed and then said, “Do you know who I am?” Of course we didn’t. He said to google “Mayor of Meat Packing District” and, sure enough, there he was! His name is Roberto Monticello and when I read an article about him later I was extremely sorry we didn’t stay to chat longer. He sounds like quite the man. In any case, he was delightful, witty, and we were so glad to have seen him, and I was relieved that he not only wasn’t annoyed that I took the first photo, but let me take more!

Then it was Chelsea Market. It was totally overrun with tourists and so noisy. We knew it wasn’t the option to choose.

Years ago, when we had visited the Whitney, we ended up lunching at Tavern on Jane, so we walked over there and had a nice lunch. I would tell you I ate too much, but I always say that so I won’t tell you I ate too much this time. Aren’t you glad I’m not telling you that?

Once finished, we decided to go back to the hotel. As I stood outside waiting for Dan, I saw this woman. Earlier someone was interviewing her. I haven’t a clue who she is, but maybe someone else does.

Dan has a bit of a cold and a rest would do him good, and that also allowed me to start this blog entry. We got on the L, got off too soon, and had to figure out what in the world we were doing, but we did manage. As Dan said, it wouldn’t be a trip to New York without making a train mistake at some point. Our exit is Grand Central/42nd street and then it’s an easy walk to our hotel.

After the rest and blogging it was time to head down to meet up with Brandon and Jameson, so off we went. After one mishap with our trains we did manage to get to down to Union Square (but really should have gotten to Bleeker St.).

Eventually, after a less than one mile walk, saw Brandon and Jameson at a place called Figaro where we enjoyed one another’s company and had drinks. Then it was on to Ear Inn where we had snacks and some had drinks while other of us had the non-alcoholic sorts (I can only handle so much, after all!). At Ear Inn Timothy and Margaret arrived, and only shortly after Meghan came as well.

And, finally, we went to Houseman’s for dinner, where we completed our family with Lia. We all made our orders, including some bites before the mains. Everything was so very tasty. I had mentioned to our server that we were celebrating two birthdays, so candles were on some brownies and we serenaded them.

We shared a car to our hotel and their home with Brandon and Lia. It was a longer ride than expected because the driver started to take us to west 45th rather than east and we had to then get through the Times Square area, but we eventually made it back. We are both pretty exhausted, but we are up later and I’m hopeful that that will mean we sleep better tonight. We’ll see!

For now, goodnight. Tomorrow if our final full day here. I’m not sure I want to get back to reality!

I Like The Isle Of Manhattan

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Needless to say, I’m sure, we woke very early. It’s to be expected as we adjust to the time change, but at least the difference isn’t as great as it would have been had we flown straight home.

We could spend the morning in a leisurely fashion: nothing was on the agenda and we assume the rest of the family will want the morning to themselves. After showers we went to the top floor for coffee. It’s a huge area (I had been there before, when I did my solo trip) and I’m surprised they don’t try to get us to purchase breakfasts there, but I guess that must be too much trouble. But free coffee or tea? Sure, we’ll take that! The views from the 27th floor are not bad either.



We’ve been to New York enough to not worry much about missing something. I suspect we will do our typical wandering about. And eating.

Side Note: Foolish me made my annual medical appointment shortly after we return. I highly suspect I’ll be told my cholesterol level is too high. Oops!

When we were ready to go out, we first went a short distance to get a bite. No photos. Just a croissant for Dan and a cream cheese pastry for me. Then it was time to get catch a train.

We landed close to the Met and we made our way there. There were some sprinkles so the umbrellas came out. There was a line to get into the Met so we were trying to buy tickets online as we stood in said line, but didn’t manage to get things to work properly. After going through security (where I was stopped and had to open my daypack and camera bag while Dan walked straight through) we purchased our tickets. (The Met isn’t cheap.) Then inside we went.

Dan was interested in a American photography exhibit showing at the moment, and I always enjoy seeing some art there. This time we wound up in an area with Chinese art which isn’t something we have spent a lot of time viewing. I do find it amazing to read how old some of the objects are. And hey, they make me feel pretty darn young! (So I guess I don’t qualify for the museum. Yet.)

Eventually Jameson arrived, and we went to grab lunch there (gotta love those museum prices). Hey … I ate too much. Such a familiar tune, right? We saw a few things both on the way into the cafeteria and out of it.

Then we viewed the photography. It was all very early American photography and I confess it wasn’t of great interest to me. I could see that others were fascinated, though.

Brandon had written to say he was nearing the museum so we agreed to meet. He suggested we meet outside.

And then it started to pour. I mean really pour. The kind of downpour that means a ton of people started flowing into the museum. But Brandon had found a spot with scaffolding right across the street so we finally decided to meet up there. The rain had started to dwindle enough that we opted to walk to Orsay for drinks and a snack.

Lia arrived a bit later, and Meghan shortly after that.

While it was rather early for dinner, we decided that we’d go find dinner nearby rather than do anything that was too far away: we are, after all, still adjusting to the time change. So off we went, and a nearby place, JG Melon, could take us all so in we went. Again, no photos of food, or even of people. Somehow when I’m with family I forget to take photos I guess.

Then we said goodbye to Meghan and Jameson, and Lia and Brandon walked with us down to our hotel. As we walked we looked to the right and Brandon said something about rain coming. Sure enough, shortly after, it again began to rain. We had gotten our umbrellas ready, so our heads stayed dry, but this rain was coming at an angle that mean the back of our pants did get wet. No harm done. Just damp pants.

Finally we got back to our room. It was (and is) on the early side, but it’s fairly clear that we are winding down both in terms of time on the road and energy. I’m hopeful we will be adjusted to New York time by tomorrow. I know it will help us adjust to California time when we leave for home.

I can’t go to sleep yet — it’s only 19:47 or 7:47 PM. You choose! — so I have to work hard on staying up later. We’ll see what I can manage.

Goodnight!