New York Sojourn

I’m just back from a very entertaining day in New York City.  On Wednesday we drove down to New Haven to catch the train to New York.  That was a bit of an adventure because we had to catch a certain train and when we showed up all the parking lots were full.  We eventually found a garage meant for hourly parking.  I thought I was going to take a big financial hit but we had to catch that train.  We were met by my daughter and son in law at Grand Central and walked to a restaurant just off Times Square.  We had a great dinner together and then we dropped off my wife and daughter to see the Hugh Jackman on Broadway show.  My son in law and I had no interest in being compared, both verbally and subconsciously, for two hours by our respective wives while they feasted their eyes on this paradigm of the male species.  My wife even made a risqué comment on Mr. Jackman’s posterior to my daughter, who of course immediately tweeted it to the world.  Meanwhile my son in law and I journeyed to a nearby bar expecting to watch a World Series game.  The game was postponed so we ended up just spending the time talking about, well,  just about everything and also consuming vast quantities of alcohol.  I had the best time that I had had in a very long time.  I love the fact that my children are at an age where we can talk with them as adults, from my wife’s butt comments to my long conversation with my son in law.  I’m not sure they are always as pleased at the increasingly, and sometimes inappropriate, familiar comments from their childhood icons (maybe?).   While I have a few beers each weekend this was the first time in a long time that I was really feeling no pain and it was fun to spend it with people I love.  I hope I didn’t embarrass them too much but this was a great vacation from stress.  I probably should have toned down my verbal assessments of our fellow subway riders but hey, no one got stabbed – at least in our immediate vicinity.  In the morning we rode the subway in with my daughter on her way to work and said goodbye at Times Square so my wife could realize a long held dream – to see Good Morning America.  She watches it everyday and is a huge fan.  When we walked up everyone was clustered around the weather guy so we stepped up to another window to watch the rest of the cast.  This turned out to be a great move because as soon as the weather was over they started prepping a set right in front of our window.  The exotic animal guy, Jack Hanna, walked in and sat down right in front of us.  The entire GMA crew came over and George Stephanopoulos even waved to my wife.  He was followed by a flamingo and a full grown cheetah, which made us think of our daughter (her favorite animal).  Our plan was to walk around New York but there was a steady cold rain that modified that plan.  We caught a train back to New Haven and I made the 10 minute trek through the cold rain to pick up the car, dreading the cost the whole way – we even pooled all our cash.    My wife waited at the terminal so I could make better time.  It turned out to be a non-issue and the cost even less than our normal parking spot.  When we both were back in the car we agreed that we really missed the freedom having our own transportation.  Owning a car in NYC makes no sense, but on a day like yesterday, we missed it.   A long drive through the rain and we ended up in Providence where we saw the movie The Three Musketeers – which was absolutely abominable.  We were then reunited with Buddy with predictable enthusiasm and a delicious meal with my sister.  The drive home turned out to be a real adventure as we were in the middle of blizzard like weather with a severe snow storm.  We made it home, exhaled and agreed – despite the weather challenges – a truly special day because of the time we had with our daughter and son in law; told you I was lucky.

The Wife and I at the Restaraunt

 Two Very Special People - Daughter and Son in Law

Enjoying the Night Life - Lucky Guy on the Left