Month: November 2017

Today was getaway day for us.  I’m sure you are sick about hearing about food but sorry I have to tell you we had a tasty breakfast at the Brooklyn Diner (212 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019). 

After breakfast we headed to nearby Central Park to see some of the finishers of the NYC Marathon.   As you would expect security was intense.

In addition to blockades and other barriers, police inspected any bags brought into the viewing area.   The police presence was intense.  We saw police all over the course site and many lining the streets as we approached the race area.

At the race course we saw some wheelchair competitors but were too early to see the elite runners.  I’d like to tell you that seeing the athletes motivated me to go back to the hotel and work out before we left.  I’d like to tell you that but it would be a lie.

The ride to the airport was uneventful thanks to my new strategy.  The cab drivers in this town petrify me.  But this ride was fantastic since I kept my eyes closed until I heard Patrice say the magic words “We’re here!”

At JFK we were delayed at security in spite of our TSA pre-check  status.  Patrice was once again stopped for “random screening “.  If it’s truly random why do they always stop her and not me?  I think they just like to touch her body.

Not only were we delayed entering the boarding area, our flight didn’t take off until almost 2 hours after its scheduled departure time.  Other than that the flight home went well. We got lucky on our flight to NY because we were upgraded to Business Class.  We weren’t that lucky on the flight home but we did get one small bonus.  Although we were not upgraded we had a row to ourselves.  Of the 102 seats on the plane only one was vacant, the one next to us.   Do you think it was just a coincidence that we were in row 13?  

We love our trips but it is great to be home.   Good bye until we are on the road again.

Reading yesterday’s blog one might think I would never return to the Museum of Arts and Design but one day later I found myself in the exact same place.  This time we bypassed the museum and traveled to the 9th floor to have brunch at Robert (2 Columbus Cir, New York, NY 10019).  The restaurant was not named after me but rather for world famous event planner Robert Isabell.  Sorry, famous to some, but I never heard of the man who was responsible for some mega-events (White House Xmas during Clinton administration, Caroline Kennedy’s wedding, etc.).  The decor of the restaurant is beautiful as are the 9th floor views overlooking Columbus Circle and Central Park.

In addition to great views the meals were superb and reasonably priced.

After brunch we started planning out our day.  First on the agenda, “Where shall we have dinner?”   We had heard that the Carnegie Deli had closed but I had to walk by the former site to be sure.  Much to my disappointment we confirmed that it was gone but a bit down the street we saw the Majestic Delicatessen.  We decided to check it out and I was abhorred by what I saw.  First let me tell you that as a child my mama and papa taught how to recognize a good deli.  First of all at the cashier you see an elderly Jewish man who is hunched over and answers to the name of Abe or Sam (occasionally a Murray will slip in).  Next you can’t hear yourself think because the noise level is so high.  Customers yelling at the guys behind the counter who are yelling back at the customers and at each other.  The counter displays are filled with uncut meat ready for you to order.  You also find chopped liver, whipped cream cheese, potato salad, etc. ready to be scooped out for you.  Sorry but this was not to be found at the Majestic.   Instead I saw this:

My mama and papa would not approve.   After seeing this I made an immediate about face only to see this staring at me.

This was too much for me to bear and I had to go back to the hotel to rest.    Luckily I didn’t have time to wallow in my sorrow since we had tickets to an afternoon performance of Steve Martin’s play, “Meteor Shower” starring Amy Schumer and Keegan-Michael Key.  We loved the show.  You know that obnoxious guy in the audience who can’t control his laughter?  He laughs so much that you are tempted to strangle him with your belt?  Well, today that guy was me.

After the show Patrice convinced me to go to the fitness room instead of just relaxing in our room (boy I despise this woman sometimes).   After a shower it was time for dinner.  Since the Carnegie Deli was not an option we chose another of the recommendations from our friends John and LaRae.  This time we ate at Sparks Steak House (210 E 46th St, New York, NY 10017) and once more we were very pleased.   John has said that the steak portions were very generous and he was not kidding.  Look at my filet.

This is our last night in NYC.  Tomorrow is the NYC marathon and we are hoping to see some of the race.  We are also hoping to be able to make it to the airport.  The race covers all 5 boroughs and we are told the city comes to a standstill with 50,000 crazy people roaming the streets.

Bye for now and don’t forget turn your clocks back an hour tonight.

After breakfast we headed north to the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD).  MAD is not just an acronym but rather how you feel about wasting your money here.  I found this place a bore.  The most interesting exhibit was in the stairwell where we saw a display of beautiful goblets.  See below.

As I said, this was in the stairwell, if we had been elevator users we would have missed it.

After the museum we headed over to Central Park and visited the NYC Marathon Expo.  The big race is Sunday and more than 50,000 people will participate.   We then had lunch at the Central Park iconic restaurant Tavern on the Green (Central Park West & 67th Street, New York, NY 10023).  The surroundings and service were great but we both thought the food was not very special.  The waiter was very nice and asked if we were in town for the Marathon.  In fact a number of people have asked me the same thing.  I took that as compliment implying that I looked like I am in amazing shape and ready to run the 26.2 miles.  Then on further consideration I recall when I ran in the LA Marathon in 1998 I was so thin I looked awful.  People thought I had cancer or AIDS.

After lunch we took the advice of a friend and blog follower Don W.  He suggested we walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.   This had never been mentioned to us and something I wouldn’t have considered on my own but it was a lot of fun.  I could not believe how many people were on the bridge.  The walk is a little over a mile and the views from the bridge are spectacular.

We also noted signs on the bridge saying that locks on the bridge are not allowed and placing one would result in a fine.  See below.

We saw a number of locks attached to the bridge with inscriptions of love.  Apparently in the past it was a huge problem and in 2016 the city passed an ordinance making it illegal.  The number of locks are greatly reduced but some people still have not gotten the message.

After resting a bit at the hotel it was time to go out to dinner.  We again used a recommendation of our friends John and LaRae, and once more they came up big.  You might recall I asked for restaurants where we would find locals rather than tourists. Tonight we ate at Le Parisien (163 East 33rd Street New York, NY 10016).

As you can see above the decor was very ordinary.  The restaurant was small and from what we could tell we were surrounded by locals.  And the food?  Well look below.

More fun planned for tomorrow.  See you then.

Yesterday Patrice and I received our training and learned how to be Stakeholder reviewers of grant proposals sent to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.  Today we had the opportunity to attend an actual meeting so as to help us further understand this very important process.  We arrived at the meeting bright and early at 8:00 AM.  Let me restate that, I was early and Patrice was bright.  Remember we are still on LA time so 8:00 AM here is 5:00 AM to our bodies.  We listened to the scientists discuss a long list of proposals for Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation funding.  I was blown away with the sophistication of the studies and the reviewers.  Listening made me wish I had gone to medical school.  Wait, I did go to medical school didn’t I?   One thing is clear I’m going to have to do a lot of work if I plan to add anything meaningful to these discussions.  I still think it will be fun but it will be a lot of hard work.  I am still excited about the process and feel even more motivated to raise money for the Foundation.  I can see that some incredible research is being funded and some very smart people are deciding which grants deserve consideration.  One thing I especially liked was that the foundation has grants for researchers early in their careers to get them motivated to study inflammatory bowel disease and then later on award larger grants for proposals that show a career commitment to study the diseases.

After the meeting we took a walk down to the United Nations and signed up for one of their last tours of the day.  The great thing about the UN is that it draws visitors from all over the world.  It is fun interacting with foreign visitors but it can sometimes be unnerving.  For example I overheard someone ask in an accent I didn’t recognize, “Where do the terrorists go?”  Immediately I started to sweat and my heart began to race.  When Patrice calmly answered, “Tourists enter over here” I became more relaxed.

Our tour guide was a very sweet young lady from Japan.   She came to the US to study and is now a resident working at the UN.  She was full of interesting facts and loved to quiz us.  We stopped at some hallway photographs and she asked “Do UN soldiers carry weapons?”

The tour was good but not great.  It was nice to do it once but I wouldn’t want to go back, except maybe as a delegate.

After leaving the UN we needed food.  Our friends, John and LaRae, who we met in Iceland (they joined us for horse) recommended some restaurants for us to enjoy.  We asked for someplace that might not be recommended by the concierge and one might consider a “for the locals” or “under the radar” type establishment.   They recommended we go to Joe’s Shanghai (9 Pell St, New York, NY 10013) and the place was great.   We took the subway down to the area then got a bit disoriented.  I got the idea that we might be getting close when I saw this.

We finally found the place.  They don’t take reservations and are a “cash only” establishment.  You get the picture, IT WAS PACKED.  They sat us at a table relatively quickly (that will happen when you go to dinner at 6:00 pm) and put us next to a couple speaking Cantonese (Immediately I knew this going to be a great meal).  The couple next to us was a mother and son.  The mother spoke very little English but the son was fluent in English.  When our waiter arrived we told him we wanted the pork buns and the same thing the people next to us were eating.  “Those are the Pork Buns” he replied.  We told him we needed more time to order.  We found a second entree with the help of our neighbors and both were delicious.

After dinner we took a stroll around Chinatown and next thing we knew was that we were surrounded by Italian restaurants.   I know this is shocking but we found a place that reportedly has the best cannoli and gelato in town.  That would be Ferrara Bakery and Cafe (195 Grand St, New York, NY 10013) which has been open since 1892.  I am not a big cannoli fan but how could I say no to gelato?  It was good but I have to tell you Paradis (not a misspelling) Ice Cream Hermosa (1309 Hermosa Ave, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254) just steps from our house is much better (Take that New York!).

When we got back to the hotel Patrice went to the gym to work out.  I had other more important things to do.

Patrice here.  I just got back from the gym and found Robert doing “more important things” (see below).

 

Today we crawled out of bed early in order to get to the Stakeholder training.  We were asked to be at the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation headquarters at 9:30 AM this morning.  I am sure you will agree that 9:30 is a very reasonable time.  Unfortunately for us that translates to 6:30 AM.  Taking a late flight and following it with an early morning awakening is not ideal.  I am not much of a sleeper so I can handle it.  Patrice on the other hand is a marvelous sleeper and did not do as well.  In spite of that she is a real trooper and did a great job at today’s training.

Today’s academic sessions were great.  We heard from an inflammatory bowel disease expert and Foundation representatives about the latest research in the field and what is expected of us as Stakeholders.  What I found most interesting was speaking to the other Stakeholders in the room.  We met patients and parents of patients from all over the country.   It was great hearing from all of them.  Well, except for the guy from Alabama who kept talking about “Bama” football…….ugh!

Tonight we had dinner with the other Stakeholders and a number of the scientists who are on the review committee.  It was a great meal and great to get to know some of the other committee members.

Tomorrow we are supposed to be at Headquarters at 8:00 AM (5:00 AM Los Angeles time).  I will be there but I am not sure my co-pilot will be at my side.  I only wish I could sleep as well as she does.  She is my idol.

Yes blog readers, Patrice and I are on our way to the Big Apple again, but it is not what you think. No, we are not going to New York for more fun and games (i.e., baseball) and let’s not forget eating but rather we are traveling east for our favorite charity, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.

As you might know, we are big supporters of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation because two of our three children suffer from Crohn’s disease. “Suffer” might be overstating it since both David and Erica are doing fantastic compared to many others who have had much greater problems from this disease. Both of them were diagnosed at 11 years old so they have certainly paid their dues. Patrice and I (along with their sister, Lindsay) have also paid our dues seeing the two of them suffer. Each year the Foundation funds research in hopes of finding a cure to both Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis (and other autoimmune diseases). In fact much of the research leading to the development of the medications that have given our kids relief was in part financed by Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation grants.

The Foundation receives numerous grant proposals each year.   Prior to funding, the Foundation has each application reviewed by two scientists and one “stakeholder”. A stakeholder is defined as someone who either has inflammatory bowel disease or has been a caregiver for someone with the ailment. Last month Patrice and I were asked to become stakeholders and we were very thrilled to accept the offer.

Every year Team Reiss raises a lot of money for the Foundation by participating in the Take Steps Walk. Many readers of this blog have been generous supporters of our efforts. Let me assure you that your contributions are not paying for us to have a trip to New York. We told the Foundation that we prefer to pay our own expenses. It didn’t make sense for us to donate a bunch of money to the Foundation each year to have them pay it back to us in any way.

Not sure what the next two days have in store for us but I am sure it will be of great interest to us. I hope I can find something that interests you as well. Anyone feeling an urge for some horse? Oops, that was our last trip.