Checked in
after so much hassle, Wife and I finally got into the room. I checked for
bedbugs. She changed into her PJs and started directing me to put our clothes
into the drawers since we would be here for 5 nights. Then she fell asleep.
I decided to
take a stroll around the immediate neighborhood to get my bearings. Central
Park was 2 blocks away to the north, Times square about 10 blocks to the south.
David Hyde Pierce was doing a play on the same block. All in all, it looked
promising. I got some food from a deli and headed back to the room for the
night. This was going to be all right.
On Tuesday,
Wife woke at about noon, and only because we had to get going to see the
Rockettes. It was her dream since she was a small girl to see them. I was
indifferent to the whole thing. We walked to Radio City Music Hall, about 5
blocks, and went in.
The place
was amazing to see all decked out for the holiday and designed for another era.
The men's bathroom had a lounge area and old nooks for phones. The stage was
impressive from our spot in the second mezzanine, which turned out to be better
than I imagine the floor would be since you can see more of the stage and the
patterns they create from above.
I didn’t
know what to expect, and have to say that I was thoroughly impressed. The
Rockettes certainly earn their reputation. I was dragged to the Russian Ballet
a year or two ago in Fargo for the Nutcracker, and I have to say this was miles
above that experience. They performed songs and dances in near Busby Berkely precision,
one after another. The only drawback was a few portions of the program used 3D
glasses, which are annoying in general, but seem particularly weird when you
are at a live show for criminy sake.
When the
show was done, we headed a block over to see the Rockefeller Center tree.
As we were already there, and Wife
knowing my love of going to the top of tall things, she overcame her fear of
heights for us to go to the Top of the Rock, my absolute favorite thing of the
whole trip.
Wife let me
wander around while she sat safely away from the edge of the building. New York is breathtaking at night.
Night
settled in early, near the shortest day of the year. We headed over to Times
Square to check it out. It turned out to be Wife’s favorite spot to just sit
and watch once the first feeling of panic from so many people and lights calms
down.
We nearly got tickets to go see a
show that night, but decided against another commitment and instead went back
to the hotel. We went to a shoe store to get Wife some walking shoes, Borns,
for the rest of the trip. Then across the street to Carnegie Deli.
Food in New
York is pricey, but Carnegie Deli will charge you 25 bucks for a Ruben and give
you a heart attack in a pie tin. Piled in this pie tin, on top of two thin
slices of bread, was several pounds of corned beef, a thin layer of sauerkraut,
and a thick shield of melted cheese. The two of us attacked it, bite after delicious,
sinful bite, but still left a third for the trash, our hotel having no
mini-fridge for leftovers. We also got a $10 slice of cheesecake that made me
want to get it pregnant.
Day four:
Wife at this
point was showing a pattern of extreme relaxation. Her ability to stay in bed
until afternoon was impressive, but with the short daylight hours available, I
was anxious to get going for another day in New York. We left the hotel at
about 3, me worrying that the Museum of Natural History would only be open
until 5:30. Not a block away from the hotel, Wife said her heels were getting
cut to shreds by her new shoes. She stopped and pulled off a shoe.
Me: How the
hell? We aren’t even a block away!
Her: I know.
I’m sorry.
Me: Would it
help to have more socks?
Her: I think
so.
Me: Take
mine.
I pulled off
my shoes and socks and handed them to her. It seemed to help, and I didn't mind going hippie fashion all day. We hopped on the
subway and got to the Museum at 3:30. We discovered very different levels of
interest in the museum. I wanted to see the space stuff, she wanted to look at
dioramas of dead birds. We went through her bits first, and she left me to
check out the space part while she did the gift shop.
We went back to the
subway, and found that Wife had lost her metrocard along the way. So between me
losing my bag, her shoes, and the card, we were $200 over budget. Sigh.
We left at
closing, had a hot dog, and went to Times Square. Bought two tickets at 40
percent off to Avenue Q for that evening. The musical is full of puppet
characters singing and learning about life post-college, and it’s a blast.
Personal favorite song: Everyone’s A Little Racist.
After the
musical, we were standing outside ready to walk to the nearby subway when a
freak rainstorm came roaring down the street. Umbrellas were comically turned
inside out, people scampered for cover. Wife begged to take a taxi, but I have
a fear of cars in the city after the supershuttle I would not be swayed from.
The nearest subway station was just half a block away, and we scampered to it
after the wind died a bit.
We got
through the gate only to realize the trains were going the wrong way. The only
way to get to the northbound train was to exit, go back to the street, and walk
another half block in the rain. We got there and found our “unlimited” metro
cards wouldn’t work since we just used them on the other side. I was livid at
having to buy two more single ride passes, not knowing how long it would be
until our own cards would work again, but we made it back to the hotel. Wife
took off her shoes and bloody socks and I felt like a complete creep for
pushing us around the city with about quarter size holes in the back of her
feet.
I went and
got a Carnegie Deli brisket meal because I never want my body to forget how
much I hate it. We ate like wild dogs and slept like housecats.
Thus ends
part 2
No comments:
Post a Comment