Tag: Broadway

Birthday Celebration Day #3 “Recovery Day: Or Californians Cannot Deal With Rain”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

Yesterday was so special we were bound to have a let down today.  It started out well in that I did make it to the gym today.  Oops, I forgot we are at a fancy hotel and they don’t have a gym.  I got up early and went to the Fitness Center.  I did a short run on the treadmill and then headed back to the room.  Much to my surprise, Patrice was awake and soon we were on our way to the lounge for the breakfast we missed yesterday. 

The hotel breakfast buffet was good but not great.  I tried to eat healthy after my day of debauchery yesterday. For example, today I thought some cheese would be good.  Since the tomato and cheese (mozzarella) salad was a little devoid of cheese (see below) I decided to have a cheese danish instead.  Healthy choice, no?

Where’s the cheese?

After breakfast we whined for a while because today was much colder and it was raining.  Definitely something Californians do not enjoy.  We decided to brave the elements and take a short walk to MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).  I have to confess I am not much of a modern art guy but the other museums were much further away so MOMA was my choice as well. 

First we saw this Jackson Pollock painting.  I don’t recall the name but I think it was “Painter falls and spills his supplies”.  See below.

If your mind works like this is it any surprise the artist had a drinking problem?

We also saw this sculpture.  I think it was called “Jafar from Aladdin”. 

Admit it, doesn’t it look like Jafar?

We did see one of Patrice’s favorites, Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh so the trip was worthwhile.  

Okay, okay, I liked it too!

Another art piece I enjoyed was this one with a medical theme entitled “Jewish Penicillin”.  See below

Andy Warhol’s rendition of our cure all.

Please don’t think I didn’t enjoy myself.  Actually I had a very good time.  I really enjoyed the Senior Discount we received and all the steps I racked up on my pedometer. 

After MOMA it was time to eat.  I told Patrice I wanted to head to Junior’s across the street from the hotel for a corned beef sandwich.  Followers of the blog know that I never eat Shrimp and Grits (which I love) north of the Mason Dixon line.  I have a similar rule for corned beef on Rye.  I only eat it when we come to New York.  This serves me well in that I always enjoy a good corned beef sandwich  on our trips here and my longevity is not severely compromised.   The meal was delicious but I was disappointed that they didn’t offer potato knishes. A New York deli and no knishes?

Tonight we decided to stay at the hotel for entertainment.  The reasons are simple, it is cold and raining outside and Monday is typically a dark night for Broadway so all the shows that interested us are not performing.  Instead we saw “Stranger Things: the First Shadow” at the hotel theater. This was a prequel to a show of the same name on Netflix. The people in attendance seemed to love it. I assume they were fans of the show because I didn’t get it and could hardly wait for it to end.  

We leave early tomorrow so this will be my last post of the trip.  Followers know I like to end with some interesting photos so here you go. 

Do you really need to tell people this?
Junior’s tribute to our Dodgers?
Health food truck around the corner from our hotel.

See you in December when we travel to ………………….

Ciao

Patrice here. Thank you for a very nice birthday trip.

Birthday Celebration Day #1 “Don’t You Just Love to Fly?”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

Patrice and I headed to New York today in order to  celebrate her ??? birthday.  Her actual birthday was yesterday.  So if you forgot to call or message her forget it, it’s too late, and you are on her no fly zone list.  Don’t worry she got congratulatory messages from her credit card company and insurance agent.  

As a special birthday gift we both get rewarded by flying when  the government has been shut down resulting in TSA agents and Air Traffic Controllers working without pay.    

We had a pleasant ride to LAX.  Our taxi arrived on time and we seemed to have a great driver.  Apparently there is an app that he uses that critiques his driving.  A couple of times we heard this mysterious voice announce, “Rolling stop detected”.  Wow, glad I don’t have one of those in my car.  I can just imagine what it might be telling me: “You might want to drive a little slower” or “Is your turning signal broken?”. 

Boarding was uneventful as was the flight.   Unfortunately the ride from JFK to our hotel was less than ideal.  A crash on the highway slowed our voyage.   But it wasn’t a total loss because we learned some interesting phrases from our cab driver.  At one point I checked Google maps and it said we were 1.1 miles from the hotel but the estimated arrival was 24 minutes. 

Don’t these people know it is my wife’s birthday and we need to get to the city?

After checking in at the hotel we got a quick bite to eat and then tried to get tickets to a Broadway show.  With travel being so unpredictable we didn’t want to buy tickets in advance, in case our flight got canceled. So we tried to get rush tickets at a variety of shows. We failed at 3 locations and finally were successful at getting the last 2 tickets for the show “Chess”.  We heard a lukewarm review from one of Patrice’s friends but we thought what the heck, what else do we have to do?  The show is a fictitious story about a chess match between an American and a Russian that supposedly happened in 1979.  All I can say is that we won’t be asking Patrice’s friend for show recommendations.  We loved the show even though we got the last 2 seats and had to sit on opposite sides of the theater (Patrice here, that was the best part).  

The set of “Chess” before the show began.

After the show we decided to stop by for some late night gelato at a store next to the hotel.  We arrived there at about 11:15 pm and saw about 50 people on line.  We decided that we didn’t need gelato that much and came back to the room so I could write the blog. 

People on line for gelato at 11:15 pm.

Great first day of our birthday celebration.  More fun planned for tomorrow.

Ciao

New York, New York Day #2 “Broadway Overdose?”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

Today we planned to get an early start. So at 12 o’clock we finally got our act together and entered Carmine’s Italian Restaurant (200 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036) for breakfast and lunch.  This is an NYC icon and famous for its “wow-size” portions. Sorry I was a bit absentminded and forgot to take a picture of our eggplant parmigiano before we started to eat it.  We both ate more than we should have and we still had enough for another lunch.  See below. 

This was how much was left after we both ate a ton. It was amazing.

We also had bread pudding. Loyal followers of the blog know that we are on a quest to find an equivalent to our definition of the perfect bread pudding which you can find at Masa of Echo Park Bakery and Cafe (1800 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026). On the “Masa Bread Pudding Scale” with 10 being best, the Carmine’s bread pudding rates an eleven. Yes, Masa has found it’s match. 

Carmine’s Bread Pudding. The picture does not tell the whole story. My mouth is watering as I type.

After breakfast/lunch (and possibly what might be our dinner tonight) we strolled down the street past Times Square and all the street performers.  As expected we saw Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Spider-Man, Elmo, among others.  Superman, Darth Vader, and Batman were absent. Someone said they were at a bachelor’s party for the Incredible Hulk.  Apparently the Hulk is marrying one of the Jolly Green Giant’s daughters. His parents only let him date women of their own color so it limits his field. 

There was one guy out there that I hadn’t seen before. Armed with a guitar, cowboy hat, and little else he billed himself as “The Naked Cowboy”.  See below 

We didn’t hear him sing. I was too cold just looking at him so we had to move on.

A few steps after seeing the Naked Cowboy we went to see “Six” a musical about the 6 wives of Henry VIII. It was a very energetic musical with 6 very dynamic women singing about each of Henry’s wives. The choreography, music, and singing were all very good. There were also some humorus moments. The production was based on historical fact but I think there might have been a few inaccuracies. For example as I recall 4 of Henry’s wives were not Black, were they? After the show we waited for the majority of patrons to leave so as to not get crushed as we exited. One thing we noted as we left was that we are not in Japan any longer. See below.

Blog followers will remember seeing Japanese baseball fans bringing their trash out of the stadium and disposing it in trash bags.

After the show we decided that we didn’t have enough of Broadway so we then walked a short distance and got tickets for tonight’s performance of “The Play That Goes Wrong”. We saw “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” with our son and his family just a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it so we signed up for its predecessor.

“The Play That Goes Wrong” was funny and enjoyable but I think I liked the Peter Pan version more. I guess seeing three of your grandsons giggling and having a good time makes the experience much more fun.

Enough for tonight. What’s on tap for tomorrow? Broadway of course.