Ready to go out on the town...July 2010

Five years ago, on July 27, we ran off to New York City and got married. Since then, we’ve made it a tradition to celebrate our anniversary in the city that we’ve grown to love. This year made six years in a row.

Usually, we plan quite a bit. (Read: I plan quite a bit, and Kevin goes along with it. ;) That first year, we planned out almost every little detail. But year after year, we’ve planned less and less, desiring to experience more than adhere.

This year, we left home with a vague idea of some things we may want to try to do and a whole bunch of other possibilities (and a laptop and an iPod with several NYC apps.)

Here are some thing we wanted to do but didn’t:

• See Shakespeare in the Park’s production of The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino: The day we thought we might give up an entire morning to wait in line hoping for tickets, it was supposed to rain. It didn’t.
• See a Broadway show: This was the first year we haven’t seen at least one show. We were mostly considering seeing The 39 Steps, a comedic remake of one of my favorite Hitchcock films. We didn’t.
• Take the Top of the Rock and Rockefeller Center tours: We went so far as to go in Rockefeller Center, where they sell tickets, and look at the posters of the view from the top at night and in the day, contemplating spending the $21 each. We didn’t.
• Explore the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cloisters branch, “devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe”: We gave this a most valiant effort on Thursday morning, trudging through Fort George’s hilly streets. After too many wrong turns and no idea where we were, we decided to cut our losses and take the elevator down to the train. :(
• See the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum: We went to Brooklyn on Tuesday with this in mind, but the museum turned out to be closed. It turned out splendidly regardless. :)

And (…drumroll…) here’s what we did instead:

Monday, July 19

• Left the house around 6:30 AM.
• Drove straight through, basically, stopping for gas, restroom and snacks.
• Accidentally drove past the Lincoln Tunnel toll booth. :(
• Drove over a serious pot hole. :(
• Checked in at The Wellington around 4:30 PM.
• Rested, watched TV, and dealt with A/C and wi-fi issues. :(
• Dinner at the fabulous Tang Pavilion.
• Checked out Thought mural on west side of RCA Building.
• Considered doing the Top of the Rock view and tour. Nah.
• Bought cannoli and Cokes from Fluffy’s.

Tuesday, July 20

• Train to Brooklyn.
• Grand Army Plaza. Brooklyn Public Library. Museum closed.
• Brooklyn Heights and the Promenade. Overtures.
• Whitman’s Eagle building.
• Walked Bridge.

Humorous interlude concerning the extreme heat…
Kevin: It may not have rained outside today, but it rained in my pants.

• Walked around City Hall area.
• Found St. Andrew’s Church. :)
• Hung out with Steve Squirrel at City Hall park.
• R train to 34th Street
• Ate at Pig n’ Whistle on 36th St.

Humorous interlude concerning Kevin’s cheeseburger and his demented sense of humor…
Jo: Your bun is seared.
Kevin: And I thought it was just raw from sitting all day yesterday.

• 6 p.m. Latin Mass at the Church of the Holy Innocents (37th between 7th and Broadway)
• Rest!!
• 10:20 showing of Inception at Ziegfeld Theatre: WHOA!

Wednesday, July 21

• Slept in!!
• Lunch at La Parisienne on 7th Ave., a couple of blocks north of our hotel
• Walked up to The Shops at Columbus Circle in the Time Warner building, a mall with way overpriced restaurants upstairs like Per Se, where you can get a lunch-time deal for only $175 per person. Especially enjoyed L’Occitane and Satya Jewelry.
• Explored the Upper West Side. Favorite: Antiques at The Emporium and talking to owner, Leo Matrovitis.
• Train down to Christopher St. — the Village!
• Hung out at Zinc Bar on W. 3rd: listened to Alex Stein/Matt Brown Quintet and talked to (part-time) bartender, photographer Jacob Murphy.
• Stumbled upon the smallest shop in the Village: 184-3/4 W. 4th St. . . The Silversmith, Ruth Kuzub, owner
• 55 Bar on Christopher St.: listened to a little Justin Vasquez – Triptych.
• Stopped by Ray’s on Broadway for a pesto pie!!
• Ate said pesto pie back in the room.

Thursday, July 22

• Walked to Radio City Music Hall on 6th Ave. and picked up our Widespread Panic tickets for tonight’s show!!!
• Walked to Broadway and 50th, bought bagel for the ride :(
• Took the A train to 191st St.
• Second-most treacherous stairs ever (1st has to go to Savannah waterfront!)
• Walked around in circles for hours through Ft. George, etc., looking for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cloisters :( >:
• Cool views of the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge from the north
• Back to The Wellington for the guitar
• Train down to Christopher St. in Greenwich Village
• Back to see Ruth at The Silversmith for turquoise ring and amber ring!!
• Walked to Washington Square Park and saw the black squirrels!
• Played in the park for an hour or so (recordings to come!)
• Back to room to freshen up
• Widespread Panic at Radio City!!!
• I went back to room. Kevin walked to Ray’s for our very late dinner.

Friday, July 23

• Checked out at 11 AM and checked our bags.
• Stopped at the Pig ‘N’ Whistle on 47th to get out of the rain.
• To Church of the Holy Innocents for Mass
• Talked to Father Thomas about the Shrine of the Holy Innocents
• Went bag shopping at the Herald Square Macy’s and found an awesome Fossil!
• Had lunch at O’Lunney’s in Times Square
• Back to hotel for bags and car, which had a flat tire. :(
• Drove across Midtown Manhattan THREE TIMES looking for a gas station. (It was rush hour!)
• Stopped and filled tire with air on 11th Ave.; guy said he didn’t see anything wrong with tire
• Left Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel, van pulling to left sharply…
• Speculated alignment could have been knocked out of whack in Monday’s pothole incident
• Stopped at travel park in Maryland to find that tire had only 5 lbs of pressure left.
• Found a mechanic willing to find leak and plug tire at 10 PM. (THANK YOU, SCOTT!!!)
• Praised God for our miracle!!!
• Back home around 7 AM.

I’ll add more links as we add more pictures and info from our trip. It’s been almost a month, but as I said the other day, I feel like I leave a part of myself there every time I leave.