Category Archives: New York

December 24 in NYC

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We managed to stay in bed until 7:00, although Dan didn’t sleep well. I think I’m adjusting to the time quicker than he is.

I was happy to see white stuff falling from the sky when we went downstairs to get our croissants and coffee. What a nice day before Christmas treat to see snow!

While there we also picked up little boxes of macarons for tonight, along with some lovely looking bread.

After breakfast we made a quick trip to the wine store (you can’t buy wine at grocery stores in New York) to get bottles for both tonight and tomorrow. And yes, we chose California wines.

Then it was back to the hotel to drop those off, and prepare for a walk to Central Park.

By the time we were out and about the snow had stopped. There was a lot of slush and spots with ice so we did have to be more cautious. No way do I want to take a spill!

Pictured below: snow covered Christmas blow up decorations and plants. Just because SNOW!

The park was lovely. Trees dusted with now. Water looking icy. And lots of people out and about enjoying it. Dogs, too. The dog I’ll post below had little booties on, and I saw one other who did that, while others were “barefoot”. Maybe dogs don’t care about cold feet?

We wandered quite a bit, and Dan did a good amount of photography. I, as always, used my iPhone.

After the park we walked south past stores beyond our budget. And again, just did a lot of walking.

I was so hoping to find a sweater at a less costly store somewhere that would work for tonight and tomorrow — I didn’t think so much about dressing for Christmas. But, well, it just never happened. (I do have a red turtleneck, but I have to wear more layers so it’s barely seen. Oh well.)

Lunch was at a diner-type place, was too much food, and overpriced. But hey, it’s New York!

Walking back to the hotel we saw crowds, but never like we saw in Madrid (or even Munich and Nürnberg). And we saw one big tree and Kennedy LINCOLN (thanks, Lisa, although Dan says, “You could say they were both the right presidents. The upcoming one is the wrong president”!) Center, both from a distance.

Then it was shower time for me and nap time for Dan.

**It is now 1:23 AM. We are just home from Timothy and Margaret’s. What a wonderful time! But I am so tired I dare not try to write about the evening. I will write again tomorrow morning.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Goodbye Europe, Hello NYC!

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We woke early today and, miracle of miracles, we both woke before our alarms went off. (More of a surprise with me than with Dan.)

Packing was quick. Deciding to check luggage after all was rather speedy as well. Roller bags are just not as pleasant to deal with in the overhead bins, and it also meant I didn’t have to consolidate my purse with my Cabin Max bag. I do, however, feel a bit of a failure when I do checked luggage. Go figure.

Our drive to the airport was easy, but communicating to our driver wasn’t. She initially thought we were going to terminal four, even though we said one a number of times. She then dropped us off at the far end of terminal one and we had a bit of a walk. It wasn’t really a problem, being as we were there much earlier than necessary. We were so early, in fact, that they hadn’t opened the luggage check area yet. That opened only a few minutes later, though, and we were second in line so that was quite speedy. Then it was a walk to the the A gates.

Not speedy was finding the lounge! We had mixed messages when we looked online. One suggested the lounge I thought we should go to was closed for renovation. Dan’s info said we should go to B6, but we couldn’t even find B6! Eventually we saw a sign and, sure enough, “my” lounge was where we were to go. It was quite nice, and I loved that we could go outside. Had the weather been warmer we would have sat out there.

After a few hours (that, for me anyway, seemed to speed by) we saw on the board that we should go to our gate. So off we went.

I’m sure we could have left the lounge 10 or 15 minutes later, but I do like getting to the gate on the early side.

This plane’s seating is different than we’ve experienced before. We can’t sit together, as no Polaris seats are in pairs. Because of this we chose window seats. Dan is in 7L and I’m in 9L (8L didn’t have a window). It’s rather fun to look outside — something we’ve not done on an international flight since we moved to Polaris. (I like to have the map on the screen so I can see where we are.)

(The final image is probably over Porto.)

One reason to get Polaris is, of course, so we can put the seats back and actually sleep, but first … dinner. Or what they call lunch. Seemed more like dinner to me, and it was actually quite tasty.

Soon after eating I decided to try and sleep, and I think I slept for over an hour — perhaps even two hours. Then it was the typical just hang, do whatever … and look out the window when we finally saw land again. First it was Canada, and later Massachusetts.

The landing was maybe the smoothest I’ve ever experienced. After landing we saw a lot of emergency vehicles. Hmm. We figured some plane must have had an issue. And, indeed, one did. Ours! We were informed that a tire had some sort of a problem and we were stuck for a while as they had to decide if the plane could proceed to the terminal or if it needed to be towed. Finally we moved again (no towing), and arrived. Going through passport control was SO easy, because we have Global Entry. Gotta love it. Luggage was retrieved and we opted to use Lyft rather than take the train.

Maybe that wasn’t a wise choice. Traffic was ghastly. But so it goes. We finally arrived at the Hotel Belleclaire. It’s rather funny that this is the smallest room we’ve had on this trip. Maneuvering around is a challenge. I am somewhat convinced that I get smaller rooms here when I book through Expedia. I had written to the Belleclaire to see if they would match Expedia’s price, though, and they never replied. (Their site says that they will match a price. Hm.) But we arrived safe and sound and I won’t complain. We unpacked, rested a bit, and then went out to meet family.

And it was COLD. Funny that this is probably the coldest weather on the trip. Who knew?

Next up: meeting with Brandon, and later Jameson, Meghan, and Lia. We ended up eating at Amsterdam Ale House, which is sort of a go-to place when we stay at the Belleclaire. Only one photo, shot by Dan., and it’s not exactly his masterpiece, but how wonderful to be with these four tonight!

At this point it is 3:48 AM in Spain. I think I’m handling the time change fairly well, but tomorrow will tell the real story!

G’night!

My Last Day In NYC

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As usual, I started my morning with my cappuccino on the 27th floor. Okay, I had two. Call me crazy!

Then it was off on a random walk, heading south down Lexington. I had no agenda … I just walked and went right when the light was red and I couldn’t cross a street.

I finally wound up at Macy’s and tried on a few shoes. I sure with the shoe manufacturers realized that even those of us with large feet need half sizes! The 10s were too short and the 11s too loose. Go figure But at least I saved money!

I went back to my hotel (Club Quarters pictured above) and enjoyed (eek!) another cappuccino. Hey, they come with the horribly high hotel fees, so why not, right? Then Jameson wrote and we agreed to meet up toward to the top of Central Park at a diner there.

Silly me: I neglected to tell the map app I was walking so it gave me a car route and I ended up walking on 66th across (and under) the park. That was NOT a pleasant bit of walking but I managed and we met up at Old John’s Luncheonette.

After lunch we walked more, heading back down toward my hotel but mostly toward Keene’s. We had drinks there, and Brandon eventually joined us. It was getting crowded and noisy and with my ear that meant I couldn’t hear well. So off we went.

We ended up at The Shakespeare and had very UK sounding food like Welsh Rarebit and fish & chips. Best of all was that we were the only people in the room where we ate so I could hear perfectly. What a wonderful way to end my stay! And no they weren’t on their phones the whole time: these are just a few goofy shots! I’m really sorry I didn’t think to get a photo of the three of us.

From there the boys walked me back to my hotel, we hugged, said our goodbyes, and now here I am, missing them already.

PS 27,680 steps and 11.83 miles. Piece ‘o cake!

St. Patrick’s Day Sunday

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This morning began slowly, since we had all agreed we’d not get together in the morning: I know what it’s like to hang with parents, and I know breaks were needed!

I headed upstairs to get my cappuccino, posted photos on to the yesterday’s blog entry, and played my puzzles (got ‘em all but the easy level of “colorfle”).

Then I figured I’d walk to Russian Samovar to see how walkable the route was since it’s where we are having dinner tonight. As it turned out, there was a half marathon taking place and I couldn’t get to where I wanted to go!

Instead I kind of followed the marathon route, figuring I’d then go to Central Park. Well, they had most of that blocked off from the east side so I had quite a walk to find a way in.

I only went through a short bit of it, and then headed back out. I then thought I’d head back to Russian Samovar. I got there in a rather circuitous way: Manhattan and I don’t see to agree on North, South, East, and West. But I did find it.

From there I reset my watch so I could check the distance to the hotel. Only trouble is that after a bit of a walk I saw the Hudson. Um … that’s not on the east side! I had walked the opposite direction of what I should have done. I still have no clue how I got completely off like that! So back I went, and finally, after nearly 7.5 miles of walking, I was back at the hotel.

I put my feet up for a short time, but it was after 1:00 and I did think I should probably get a bit to eat so I went close by and ordered a burrito. “Mission style” is what it said, whatever that means. But it was tasty so no complaints here, other than I could only eat half of it. (And there is no fridge on my room.)

Then it was relaxation time again, and then Brandon wrote to say he was on his way here. I decided we could meet up at our destination before the restaurant since there is nothing special about this hotel, so I put on my dress (!) and out I went.

We met up for a drink before Samovar at the Monkey Bar … I wish I’d taken a quick photo. Rats! There were drawings (paintings?) of monkeys all over the walls.

Landing at Samovar Jameson, Meghan, and Timothy met up with us. (I missed Lia, but with so much stress and all she took a much needed break.) The food and drinks were tasty, and the live music fun. I’m so glad I finally got there, since Dan had been talking about it after his solo visit here.

Did we have fun? Maybe …

Brandon kindly walked me back to my hotel (passing through Grand Central Station) and now here I am, hoping for some sleep. I rarely sleep well on the first few nights of a trip. I’m guessing this short one means I will never get a great night’s sleep, but I don’t really fret over it — I’ll sleep when I get home!

Oh … and it looks like I walked 12 miles today. It’ll do!

Saturday in New York

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I’m going to write up what I did today and then add photos later: I’m just not sure how much longer I can stay awake!

I woke this morning, and had a relaxed bit of time, heading up to the 27th floor for a cappuccino. Okay, okay, I had two! It’s only “automatic machine cappuccino”, but it’s free and it’s here and there you go. I’m going to enjoy them.

After that I slowly headed out. It was a lovely day here: there were clouds, but just pretty fluffy things. There was sun. And there weren’t a ton of people out and about. I’m guessing they all headed to the St. Patrick’s Day parade. I opted to avoid that and just enjoy a random walk, heading up Lexington. When Brandon texted to say I could head up to the Bronx I went back to the hotel and then called a Lyft.

I began the Bronx visit by meeting up with Brandon and Lia at their current home … which happens to be a place they stayed in right before they purchased the Pelham Parkway place. We then walked to their very damaged home.

Oh. My. It really is sad to see. As I told them, I would be able to handle it much more (though it would still be sad) when all the rubble is cleared away. It’s just a disaster. There was also water sprinkling down from a broken pipe. I would have thought they’d have shut off the water! That can’t be doing ANY good at all.

From there we got a car and headed to Meghan and Jameson’s.

Jameson had mentioned a nice place to walk to a few weeks back, so we headed there. It’s called Wave Hill and I want to read up on it later. We had a light lunch and then wandered. There were flowers that were so lovely, and we went into a greenhouse with fabulous plants.

From there it was back to their place for a time, and then we headed to a Kingsbridge Social Club for dinner (pizza) where I ate far too much. As usual.

Now, after taking a Lyft back to the hotel, I’m comfy in bed and very tired. I might try to post the photos soon, but it’s more likely I’ll do them tomorrow morning. Do come back to this page to see them!

Update: It’s morning and yes, I have posted photos. I am using my iPad, and this is a great test-run for our long trips. I can certainly manage with this, although posting photos is extremely clunky at the moment. I’ll have to research and see if there’s a better way. I currently have to post one image at a time, and I don’t see a way to make them smaller and mosaic-like. Still, it’s nice to get them up here!

Safely Landed, Now Ready for Sleep!

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My plane flight was fairly non-eventful, although at one point they felt the need to point out where the barf bags were! Yes, a bit of turbulence. Nothing that bugged me, though.

In addition, for some reason we were never offered food. Perhaps because of turbulence again. It very well could be that they told us, but I can’t really understand much when the do the loudspeaker thing. It’s not loud, and it’s not clear. Go figure.

Boarding was a bit of a pain. When they say I’m in group two what that really means, as far as I’m concerned, is group six.

First they do people with disabilities, and then they add (not necessarily in this order), people of high standing (maybe platinum members?), groups with young children, and military folks. Finally group one went in and then we go to go. By the time I got to my seat in row eight there was NO room in the overhead bins close by and I had to hike back a bit to find an empty spot. I really wish they’d have a rule that said, “Use the bin above you,” but of course they can’t do that.

In any case, I got my luggage stowed, and went back to my middle (sigh) seat. The man to my right was an arm rest hog, but so be it. I sat quietly, got some rest, played my jigsaw puzzle and basically relaxed.

It was great to get in to Manhattan — it took nearly an hour from EWR.

I got to my room (VERY basic, but I don’t need anything fancy), relaxed, and waited for the boys to tell me what was up.



I met Jameson and Meghan in the hotel lobby and we ambled a bit, finally ending up at a place where we met Brandon and Lia. Foot and drinks were enjoyed, and it really was a great time. I’m SO happy to see them all. It’s good to see that Brandon and Lia are doing okay despite dealing with the fire at their apartment. Soon they will be able to move to the place right across from their uninhabitable place and I think that will be a good thing.

After eating and talking a lot Brandon and Lia said their goodbyes and Jameson and Meghan walked me back to my place.

What a long day. But who cares?! It’s just so great to see everyone!

Tomorrow I will head to the Bronx, view the mess of Brandon and Lia’s, and then go to Jameson and Meghan’s area.

SOLOING!

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I have a solo! How ’bout that?!

Okay, I have lots of solos when it comes to music. So there’s that (but, I hope, not for much longer). But this is a solo TRIP. That sort of thing is rare for me. Dan is the one to go off and do a pack trip, head to the ocean or desert, or visit with the birds, and last year he even did a New York trip (I urged him to go: seemed like it would be cool for him to have a visit with our sons and wives). But I haven’t done a solo trip in a long time. Back when Kelsey was in college I took trips around her birthday to visit, but I’ve not done that in a very long time.

So yes … I’m going on a trip, and I’m very excited! I will be heading to New York to visit our boys and, I hope, their wives (if they are around — I know they are busy) mid-March.

And yes, I’m already packing in my head. Because I can.

November 20, 2023

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Before we had to head to the airport Dan and I had a bit of free time, so after our breakfast, and a bit of organizing of our stuff we went to Central Park and walked for about three miles. The weather has changed and it was quite cold, but of course nothing like the year I was freezing no matter how much I bundled up!


Coming back to the hotel we packed and prepared for the long trek home.

We opted for a Lyft ride to the airport. NOT CHEAP! I think next time we might do the train and just accept that it will take longer. At the airport security was extremely speedy, and the airport wasn’t as crowded as usual. We went to the United restaurant “Classified” that is hidden and quiet, and there were only a few other people there.

Then on to the gate to board.

Now of course there isn’t any need to write about the flight except at one point an attendant came over to me and asked if I had just had a birthday. He then proceeded to to bring two desserts, asking which I’d like, but then gave me both! Of course I shared with Dan.

This has been one super birthday!

November 19, 2023

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So, today is the day: all of the sudden I’m a year older. Funny how that goes. I had told Dan several weeks ago that I wasn’t going to bother with a birthday poem this year (I wrote one when I turned 50, and then started writing them every year beginning on my 55th birthday.) Well, he encouraged me … so here is the poem I decided not to write (kidding!):

Not This Time (67)

This year will be a first —
there’ll be no poetry.
My last year’s was the worst,
and the blame is all on me!

Besides, it’s rather nice

to pretend I’m not so old.
I’ll put this age on ice
and let it shiver in the cold. 

I also wrote this, but never shared it with anyone other than Dan until now:

Birthday Pride

I’m hesitantly proud
To join the sixty-seven crowd.

Yeah, I’m pretty darn funny, eh?

Dan and I went to Cafe Luxembourg for brunch. It appears that it’s quite popular later in the morning, but we were there at 10:30 and it was easy to get a reservation. They brought out our donut holes with a candle in a strawberry … cute!


From there we came back to our room: I was tired and after my shower I just had to close my eyes for a time.

Eventually Brandon texted to say they were in on the upper east side, so we headed out that way, walking rather than taking the subway since it was a lovely day. Brandon, Lia, Dan, and I went into Bergdorf Goodman and had cocktails and a bit of food. (We also saw some gorgeous men’s clothing at prices we could never afford!) When the server found out it was my birthday she gave us each a freshly baked Madeleine! It was pretty darn yummy.

I should have taken more photos, but unfortunately the one above is all I’ve got. Sorry!

From there it was a subway ride to the hotel to dress for dinner, and eventually we got a car to our restaurant, Mino Brasserie. It was quite the distance, but SO well worth it. Absolutely delicious food, great service, and a wonderful time with Brandon, Lia, Jameson, and Meghan. For dessert I was, once again, surprised by a dessert (profiteroles with chocolate sauce … YUM!) with candles and the gang sang to me. I’m feeling so very blessed! We spent a good amount of time there, and when we were finished Jameson, Meghan, Dan, and I shared a ride to get back to our hotel and their house, while Brandon and Lia took a train.

Tomorrow is back to reality. But also to Thanksgiving (SO much to be thankful for!), and Mel and Kelsey will join us for a few days, so still a lot to look forward to!