Art Trip

Dang, GPT-Chat and I are getting good at planning trips. I give the basic info, and it organizes it. This time was a trip to New York to see Maya Rudolph in Oh Mary! before her turn at lead ended July 2nd.

We agreed end that a Costco vacation was the most economical, or at least what I wanted. First class Delta flight Wednesday morning at o’dark hundred to La Guardia, private car to Martinique Hotel, then reverse on Friday evening.

Wednesday went off without a hitch. The flight was easy, breakfast good. I had a potato frittata, Grant the salmon plate and a Bloody Mary. A representative from My Sedan met us at the welcome desk at La Guardia and took us to our car. A long, slow drive in rush hour to the city and our hotel.

We left our bags with the bellhop rather than paying $75 for early check in. First up was walking the High Line which has really changed since we visited in 2018. Bigger trees, much more seating, and lots and lots of people. Since the World Cup is happening, many were wearing team jerseys. We sat for a while so I could sketch.

A bus ride up to Keen’s Steakhouse for late lunch/early dinner at 2:45. I’d hoped for dinner reservations, but they were gone when I looked Tuesday. I had the sirloin steak salad and a Aperol spritzer, Grant had the French dip and a Bronx IPA.

Bus back to the hotel to check in and change our clothes, then bus up to the Lyceum. Row N seats. I’d brought my little binocs but we were so close I didn’t get them out. The play was 90 minutes of chaos. Ms Randolph was over the top. We tried being stage door Johnnie’s, but the cast didn’t come out.

Bus back to the hotel and late supper at the attached Carnegie Devil. Lentil soup for me, hummus and veggies for Grant with, of course, a few delicious pita chips. Day total: 17,991 steps according to my phone.

Thursday, as usual, I Zoomed with EarlyBird Toastmasters, then breakfast at Ess-a-Bagel. Me: toasted sesame with a schmear of at least 4 ounces of cream cheese. Grant’s all the way with white fish and onion. We each saved half  for later which we didn’t think would spoil in our cold, cold room. Bus to the Met for the Raphael exhibit, the first one ever amassed in the US. After 2 hours, we were exhausted. Most impressive to me were the 3 huge tapestries.  

I had hoped to sit and draw, but the place was packed. That’s what happens 2 days before a blockbuster show ends. Some intrepid souls stood next to drawings and sketched away. I’m not that brave. As it was, my already sore toes took a beating with being stepped on as we tried to make our way through the crowd. One young man put his full weight right on the end of my shoe and mashed. Accidentally, but it still hurt. 

Bus down to Chelsea (over an hour) to lunch at the Cookshop. We shared a lamb pita and a heirloom tomato salad. Grant had a local beer, I had a sip, then much water. It’s hot. 

Our 3rd reason for the trip was Meg Webster’s Thicket at the Paula Cooper Gallery. Even though the piece had dried out, the room smelled so good of leaves and flowers. There was also one of her beeswax pieces on the wall, so I leaned over and inhaled. Yum.

One more bus trip. This to Dante’s, a bar opened in 1915 and with a $10 happy hour from 3:00 to 5:00. I misunderstood: only the martinis (which Grant had), not my Negronis (an original and then a chocolate, which was interesting but unlikely repeated). Still a fun time.

This time we took the PATH subway back to the hotel. All the stairs up and down aren’t a good enough trade off for the quicker time. We didn’t bother with ride shares because traffic was stop and go. Buses are just as fast and are $3/trip plus no stairs.

We stopped to hear a jazz band at Greenely Park, and I stayed to watch Ecuador beat Germany on the large screen TV.

Back at the hotel, we ate the second halves of our bagels and the mini Basque cheese cake we bought. I’d read about it in the Times, but decided the recipe was more than I was interested in make. Delicious. Day total: 9,576 steps.

Friday, we slept in, then shared  a toasted sesame bagel. I had cream cheese on my half. Grant had salmon schmear with onion. 

We rode up to Bryant Park where we happened on a magic show for children. Of course we had to watch. Grant gave his seal of approval.

Then a quick tour through the public library to see Winnie the Pooh and friends, part of the Treasurers of the Library exhibit in conjunction with Americas 250 birthday. A draft of the Declaration of Independence in Jefferson’s hand, Toscanini’s baton, Virginia Wolfe’s walking stick, the oldest extant cookbook written in English, etc.

Bus to the Park Avenue Armory and the quirkiest part of the trip: Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s clinamen, 3 pools of floating, circulating ceramic bowls clanking together. Absolutely hypnotic. Would that we were flexible enough to sit at the water’s edge, but we were comfortable on the surrounding built in benches. If I lived in New York, I’d join the Armory so I could return again and again.

Our final bus trip back to our hotel, the Martinique, meant we had time for lunch at Wonjo, claiming to be the OG of BBQ in Koreatown. After conferring with the gentleman next to me, I ordered the Dda Ro Guk Bop (simmered beef stew with rice). Grant struck out on his own and had O-jinguh Jjigae, a spicy squid and vegetable stew. Little dishes of kimchi, cauliflower, chicken sausage, fried garlic stems, marinated apple slivers, tofu with sardines, etc. We could add them to our bowls or eat them on their own. 

Our driver picked us up at 4:00 for a quick trip to La Guardia, short ribs for Grant and spinach ravioli for me on the plane home. At Orlando, the limo from the hotel where we always park was already waiting, so a short turnaround to get our truck, home by 11:00. Straight to bed after feeding Gracie and hearing her complaints.

Art and food: 2 of our biggest joys. A great trip. Always too short, but I hate being away from home. Takeaways: bring 2 pairs of shoes; learn to urban sketch and add watercolor; go to exhibitions early in run. Most importantly: do it.