New York City

Time just flies! I want to keep up my blog and life just gets in the way. I'm still planning to sort my cruise photos for me and you to enjoy one of these days. In the meantime, let me catch up quickly with a mini-vacation I had last week. Three days in New York City with Madelon! We had a blast.

Friday. Madelon (Mom) and I took the train up to Penn Station and caught a taxi to the Affinia Dumont, my home away from home in Murray Hill. We grabbed a quick lunch at the hotel's Barking Dog. We walked down Third and back up Lexington and stopped in little stores. Then my nephew, Luke (Brad's son), came to get us with his girlfriend, Phoebe. We walked back up 34th Street to the Empire State Building where their college is located! In the basement! The King's College. I think the basement of the Empire State Building is a fabulous place to go to school because you see the people who make the building run. I liked that the College has nine houses (like Hogwarts!): Luke is in Winston Churchill and Phoebe is in Clara Barton. Another thing I like is New York - you see something new every time; I mean, who would expect to visit a college in the basement of the Empire State Building. For dorms, the students live in apartment buildings. We visited Luke's flat on the nineteenth floor of a Sixth Avenue building. He has a balcony overlooking Sixth. But even better is the rooftop terrace. You can see south and west and east and you can see Herald Square and Macy's very well. I bet it's crowded for the Thanksgiving Parade. Later, we went to Benjamin's on Second at 33rd for dinner, a nice little neighborhood restaurant. I got Madelon back to the hotel, then took a taxi down to Speedy's and visited with him and met Cal. (David was in Maryland of all places!)

Saturday. We did Murray Hill things in the morning like go the the Murray Hill Market for bagels, get my brows threaded, and walk. We went to the Morgan Library and went through Mr. Morgan's library and study. We perused the Acquistions Since 2004 exhibit which was fabulous and includes letters from Vincent Van Gogh, Wm Randolph Hearst's pre-blog travelogue, and original tickets to the premiere of Wagner's Ring Cycle (which I mention for Speedy as he regaled me with tales of the Met's production). Then it was off to the Lincoln Center for a quick lunch @ 65, a new cafe in the brilliantly-renovated Alice Tully Hall. Then to the Vivian Beaumont Theatre for South Pacific. Luke and Phoebe attended also. There is nothing like a show with tunes by Rodgers and Hammerstein, make no mistake. Back to Murray Hill and off to a manicure before dinner. We were planning to meet back up with Luke and Phoebe at Casaville on Second at 35th; were we ever surprised to walk in and see Brad and Kim at the bar! So dinner for six. How fun! After a nourishing (body and soul) meal, Madelon and I trudged back to the Dumont. But I was still energized by New York so I went to visit Speedy again and then went shopping at Duane Reade of all places at midnight! And the place was packed. And all sorts of people on the streets buying flowers as it was now Mother's Day.

Sunday. Mother's Day dawned sunny and lovely. It was fitting to meet back up with Brad and Kim for a coffee/iced tea at the Barking Dog. Then we said good-bye to them and Madelon and I went to meet Paul Laric and his wife Dodo at Hudson Place on Third at 36th for brunch. Mr. Laric is my dad's roommate from USNA class of 1949 (he even asked Madelon, "how's my first wife?") I had heard about them but never met them probably because Mr. Laric left the Navy after five years. Weren't they just the cat's pajamas! They have lived in an apartment in Greenwich Village for all their adult lives and raised their daughter there. From tales of CIA intrigue to explaining Slovenia vis-a-vis Serbia and Croatia to Mrs. Laric's charming French accent to Mr. Laric's courtly ways, the time flew by. Soon it was time to catch the Amtrak back. But all in all, a terrific weekend and nice way to spend Mother's Day. Oh yes, the daughters, Mallory and Natalie, as well as Bennett, were waiting for me at the train station with flowers and chewing gum. What more could a gal want?