Day: November 17, 2018

This morning we got off to an early start picking up our credentials for Sunday’s Carnegie Hall extravaganza. We saw lots of people in the lobby who represent other choirs performing on Sunday. We then headed off to breakfast at one of our New York favorites, the Brooklyn Diner (212 W 57th St, New York, NY 10019). On our way, we met three of Patrice’s choir buddies and invited them to join us. Unfortunately, we didn’t have Erica with us since she spent the night in Brooklyn (the borough not the restaurant) with one of her friends from college.

On the way to breakfast, we saw this scary sight on 52nd Street just west of 7th Avenue.

Pothole on 52nd Street just west of 7th Avenue

I tried to point out this hole (which was easily 1 foot deep) but no one seemed to care or want to do anything about it.

At the restaurant, we learned that others had a worse experience getting from the airport to the hotel than we did.  Two of our breakfast companions arrived with the majority of the choir members in Newark and took a bus to Manhattan.  The bus took 5 hours to get to the hotel.  Yes, 5 hours.  The other friend at our table has recently moved to Washington D.C.   She took the train from D.C. to Penn Station and then a subway to the hotel.  Her total time travel was a little over 3 hours.  So her travel time from D.C. to NYC was about the same as our time from the plane to the hotel and much less than the choir members who landed in Newark.  But this was not the worst story.  One of the choir members decided to take a later flight leaving LAX at 10 AM.  That flight was canceled and for some reason, she had to fly to Seattle in order to secure another flight to New York and didn’t arrive until 3 AM!

Breakfast was great.  In addition to the fun companions, we had spectacular meals.  I had scrambled eggs with chopped salmon and caramelized onions.  For sides, I had polenta home fries (good and unhealthy) and challah toast.   Challah is a word that does not exist in LA.  The food exists but we just call it egg bread.  You might think it is the same thing but it isn’t.  If you don’t know what to call it (as in Los Angeles) then you don’t know how to make it (like they do in New York).

Patrice shared French Toast and Chocolate pancakes with choir mate, Pat.

Scrambled Eggs with Chopped Salmon and Caramelized Onions. Polenta Home Fries.  Challah Toast.

After breakfast we took a leisurely walk then Patrice headed to practice and I headed to the gym.   A three-mile run helped me work off the calories and the guilt that resulted from such a fantastic breakfast.

Tonight we saw the Broadway hit, “Dear Evan Hansen”.  Patrice and I had tried to see this play numerous times but it was always sold out.  We finally got tickets for tonight’s performance and although it was very good, I have to say I was a little disappointed.  I think all the hype made me expect something much more special.

Following the musical, we headed to the Stagecoach Tavern (834 7th Ave, New York, NY 10019) for dessert.   Patrice’s quest for the perfect bread pudding is on hold and we have declared Masa (1800 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026) the winner.  Tonight we started a new quest….. the search for the perfect cheesecake.  The Stagecoach Tavern offers two choices, the standard New York style cheesecake and Bailey’s Cheesecake.  We were undecided of which to try so we decided to try ……………………

Both