May 24 through May 31, 2023
"Welcome to New York, it's been waiting for you..." - Taylor Swift
A few months back, we decided to arrange our post-Japan schedule so that we could swing through the US on our way to the Caribbean (Barbados, Panama, and Mexico were already set up for the summer). Art suggested we stop in LA (to see Laurel and repack) and New York (to see Ariel and some shows and perform at MoMath) which turned out to be a great idea. He pulled together all the logistics; I helped by using all of my credit card points to get us a nice and affordable hotel in lower Manhattan :)
The flight from Japan was perfect; it was on Singapore Airlines, in Premium Economy, and was 10 hours non-stop. The service was great, the food was good, and the headphones they provided were awesome, allowing me to sleep for a good chunk of the flight. We landed at LAX, got shuttle-bus-driven to our house and got to hug Laurel for the first time since January! We unpacked, repacked, sorted, re-sorted, ate good pizza (thanks Laurel!), and went through boxes and boxes of mail. The 8 hours we were there flew by and soon it was time to hug Laurel (again) and head out via Ontario.
We arrived in NYC after our red-eye flight and figured out our way to the hotel via train (we're pros at doing this in any country with a halfway decent train system). I sure wish LA had a better train-to-city system from LAX by now. A few short hours later, we went back to the airport to pick up and hug Ariel for the first time in months! It did my soul good to hug both my girls tightly 💗
We spent the next few days exploring, eating, and seeing shows with Ariel. Art also did a show at the Museum of Math (who picked up some of the remaining hotel cost, thanks MoMath!). Shows we saw together and separately: Bad Cinderella, Six, Funny Girl, Once Upon a One More Time, Kimberly Akimbo, Shucked, and The Thanksgiving Play. My personal favs were Once Upon a One More Time (I laughed so hard) and Six (of course Art and Ariel's preferences may be different). We ate pizza (a lot) - who knew New York now offers super cheap but good pizza at $1.50 a slice, and still charges $25-30 for a corned beef sandwich at Junior's? We had great bagels (that was long overdue for us), Ariel and I had Spaghetti Incident ('cuz who doesn't love pasta in a cone?), Art and I had some good Chinese food, and I even tried the local street food ('cuz NY hot dogs and knishes are one of a kind).
We even found time to check out a new area; since I hadn't really been to the islands near Manhattan, we went to see Roosevelt Island by tram. It was nice to walk around, visit the parks, and generally enjoy a slower-paced vibe than the rest of Manhattan, on an island that happens to be right next to Manhattan. I imagine rents there are exorbitant. We walked through Times Square and the subways countless times, marveling at the performers (some very scantily clad, some very talented), being amazed by the size and boldness of the subway rats (really), and the endless energy in this city. Ariel and I also wandered a bit around Chinatown where we were approached by countless "want to buy a handbag?" sellers on the street. Art and Ariel both had random New York encounters - Ariel bumped into a classmate from Smith somewhere near Canal Street where we were literally randomly wandering, and Art was "found" by a former student as we passed a cafe on Roosevelt Island. Wow, what are the odds? (I'm sorry to say I did not get to have my own random New York encounter.) Art and I also got to see a cool magician/mentalist named Asi Wind (definitely see him if you're in NYC), to visit the Museum of Broadway for a minute, and to see the 9/11 memorial (just me).
Ariel had to head back to California way too soon so we saw her off on May 28 😓 The next couple of days included a meetup (a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory to be precise) with my parents and Gail in New Jersey. We got caught up on everyone's health issues and learned that my parents' dog died the day before 😨. We gave them our 30-minute "how was your world tour?" version and they seemed pleased (though my dad is waiting for me to make it into a documentary apparently). My final day was filled with a visit to see Yayoi Kusama's art gallery (which I had missed in Tokyo), Rockefeller Center, Washington Square Park, a mani-pedi, and a massage. I had a good time even if I really should have been in bed sleeping off my cough/cold that showed up during the week 😷 Hopefully Ariel and my parents and Gail didn't catch it (Art sort of did).
Despite my feeling like I didn't need to see New York on this trip, I'm glad we did, and super glad it gave us a chance to see our girls and catch our breath a bit. Off to Barbados next!
Deena and Art
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