Day 3: Another exceptional day
started with bagels and coffee at a corner shop. The touring kicked-off and we executed
a clockwise loop of Central Park on the TopView bus. I thought of John Lennon’s
“Imagine” when I saw the Dakota Apartments. Took in the views of Harlem and Spanish
Harlem in the bright morning sun. Thought of James Brown, Otis Redding and
other African-American artists when the Apollo sign came into view. I was
excited to be on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and Malcolm X Blvd, thanks to
exposure to Spike Lee movies and epic history that was made on these boulevards.
My
overall impression of Manhattan was the streets and neighborhoods seemed
smaller than the legends they spawned. So much history contained in just a few
city blocks. We came around the east side of Central Park got off at The Met.
Traversed the park on foot, grateful for the exercise. Marina occasionally bolted
to chase chipmunks or birds.
We slowly headed in the direction of the American
Museum of Natural History ($72 for all four of us). Once inside, we maneuvered
through the weekend crowds and viewed the geographic sections and attractions of
interest: the Moon, Asia, North America etc. Alas, the girls were semi-interested.
I think videos and instant knowledge always available on YouTube rival for
their full attention. Perhaps the old ways can’t compete. However, you can’t truly
grasp the physical immensity of a baleen whale by watching it on a screen. I
hope that sinks in, if nothing else.
We
went by cab back to Times Square and walked around again enjoying the human
carnival around us. Yes, we saw the singing cowboy and a trio of cowgirls all
doing their thing. Angry Disney characters posing for pics with tourists. We dropped
our gear at the hotel room and prepared for the Blue Man Group show at the
Astor Place Theater.
Getting
there wasn’t easy. Traffic was snarled but our cabbie was a pro, and we arrived
just in time. It was a full house of about 200 souls in a long and narrow
space. The show features three deadpan men with amazing imaginations in
skintight plastic suits. There was minimal dialogue; it was a visually centric
performance. The threesome drummed on open tubs of paint, creating splashes of
color. They consumed Twinkies and Cap'n Crunch for no apparent reason. The
toilet paper grand finale is memorably meaning-free. Audience members in the
rear seats unroll long lengths of toilet paper and pass it forward to the
people ahead of them until it reaches the front of the stage. Meanwhile, the
audience is bombarded with loud techno music and strobe lights.
Blue
Man was terrific. They are Smart Coneheads merged with a dash of social
commentary.
Day 4, The Return: We slept in. Close
quarters in the hotel room inevitably generated sibling fights and bottled-up
parental exasperation. This equaled no morning cartoons until the Rising
Daughters™ changed clothes from their pajamas and packed up.
We
had brunch at the Benash Delicatessen that my coworkers introduced to me the
prior week. Before noshing at Benash I had always judged any IKEA food court’s
cheesecake and coffee combination to be the best. (When you chew the cheesecake
and wash it down with hot black java the blend is orgasmic.) My view changed
irrevocably after my first visit to Benash. I knew had to share this joint with
my family, who do enjoy The Sweets. The girls loved the food, Naomi understood
why I love the ambience. It isn’t fancy, nor is it cheap, but in my humble
opinion it looks and tastes like the New York of our dreams, indifferent
waiters included. We’ll be back.
To
cap off our trip we did gift shopping at the huge M&M store in Times Square
and scoffed free Hershey’s kisses at their flagship store. Our last excursion in
late afternoon was for a meal at Bubba Gump Shrimp--why not?
The
liftoff from LaGuardia was gorgeous, featuring a spellbinding sunset as we cruised into the night over Manhattan
and New Jersey. I’m rarely giddy from plane seat views but this time it was
truly a visual feast.
So,
yeah, we enjoyed our time in the Big Apple.
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