Argh… it has been almost two weeks since my 2023 “wrap-up” blog entry. I belatedly got that done as I knew I couldn’t do my “Travel blog” about NYC until last year was out of the way! I had foolishly believed that I would be able to do the NYC post that same day or at worst that weekend. Instead, it is now two weeks since I returned from NYC and I’ll just include my photos and see what memories they trigger. I don’t think I took any travel notes and I haven’t started using the new Journal app on the iPhone regularly. Despite trying to use my “daylight” lamp for 20 minutes every morning I think the continually gray skies and cold weather have seasonal affective disorder winning out over my Lexapro some days. Writing takes a lot of enthusiasm and concentration. There were days in the last few weeks when I wasn’t motivated enough to even exercise which then made me feel guilty AND deprived me of the endorphins that I need to be productive. This morning though, I felt great and did 28 miles of the Ironman Florida course on my bike trainer and a one-mile run while watching “Barbie”. I LOVED the soundtrack; Billie Eilish AND The Indigo Girls! I think if anything it deserved Best Director MORE than Best Film nomination. I’ll be writing while watching the Ravens beat Kansas City and SF beat Detroit. Having lived in Baltimore for 4 years I’ll root for the Ravens, I don’t have any real interest in the other game but SF seems much stronger and is playing at home.
January 10th. Wednesday. Buffalo to NYC.
The Waze app was spot on, we arrived at 3pm, 6.5 hours including our 2 gas stops. Alex drove all but the last hour. I thought it would be “fun” to use one of the “special” Waze voice options. It took only 20 minutes for us to turn off the super sweet hyperactive Unicorn narrator.
A very relaxing drive for me, Alex kept the cruise control at 75, Waze warned us of any police and the weather was mostly dry.
Soon after passing Scranton (Birthplace of Joe Biden and Dunder Mifflin), Alex said they saw a NYC taxi behind us. I was skeptical, thinking maybe it was just a Scranton one but they were right! When Waze said we had only 50 miles to go I took over the driving. We had listened to only Alex’s music until then but I put on Billy Joel for the last stretch.
I always trust Waze but was surprised it had us take the Lincoln Tunnel, on our previous 6 or 7 drives to Manhattan we have always used the GW Bridge or Holland Tunnel.
After being in the car for 7 hours it was nice to walk for 10 minutes from the parking garage back to my hotel and then to head out and collect some takeout for us.
January 11th.
I started the day with a long, slow run.
It took me 1:39 to run the 10-miler so just under 10 minutes per mile pace. My Garmin watch however totally glitched on heart rate measurements. 5 minutes into the run it said my HR was 150 but when I checked my pulse it was barely over 100. I tried pausing and restarting without a change and then (as it was cold out) ducked down some subway stairs to take off my gloves and fiddle with the watch some more. A rat calmly walked down the steps in front of me (but he had no Pizza slice). Later in the run, my HR was recorded at 200 while standing at a traffic light, and taking my pulse as 120. Must have been a NYC thing since my Garmin has not misbehaved since then.
Just south of the Met on the east side of 5th Avenue, I noticed a statue of “The Little Prince”. I had read just last year the author’s less-known book, a memoir of his time as a pilot delivering mail to French colonies in Africa.
I have been trying to always go somewhere new (to me) on every visit to NYC. I have wanted to visit the new Jackie Robinson Museum since I saw it being built pre-COVID.
The museum was great. I felt a little sad that Alex and I were the only visitors for the hour we were there but it was a weekday. I had known the basics of Robinson’s story but learned so much about his life before and after baseball.
Robinson was in the first class of Black soldiers allowed into Officer Candidate School.
Even though the Dodgers made it to the World Series again in 1956 they decided to trade the 37-year-old to the Giants. He decided to retire and begin the “next phase” of his life rather than change teams or play beyond his effectiveness. After the 1957 season both the Dodgers and Giants moved to California. He was diagnosed with diabetes soon after retiring and only lived until 1972 but he was very involved in the Civil Rights movement and attended the March on Washington with MLK in 1963. He was the first Black sportscaster on TV, the first Black vice-president of a large American corporation, and founded a bank in Harlem to help Black people get loans for businesses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson
Thursday night Alex and I went to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. We had gone 8 years ago when they “bought” me tickets for my 50th Birthday. Since I turn 60 this year it seemed like time to go again. I am glad we decided to because I was unaware that Billy is ending his long experiment of being MSG’s artist in-residence. After his 150th performance there in June he not be doing it anymore. He sold his mansion on Long Island a few years ago and now lives in Florida year-round. Maybe in 10 years, we can see him at the Hard Rock Casino or Margaritaville down there. His voice is not the same anymore but with technology, I am sure in 10 years he’ll sound 30 again.
Our view was fine, especially with all the video screens, and the sound was great. His piano rotates on a platform so everyone gets a good view. He seemed a lot sillier than 8 years ago. He played a part of “Start me up” and joked about not being able to dance like Jagger. He started as if playing an Elton John song and quipped about Elton not being here (they had toured together with pianos long ago). I looked up the setlist.
Here is the setlist from the August 2015 show. Itzhak Perlman came out in his wheelchair to play Violin for two songs.
It only took a few minutes after the show to snag a cab down to Union Square after Alex led me a few blocks away from the garden.
My morning workout was biking in the gym. With no power meter on this spinning bike, I did intervals of easy 8 minutes, and 2 hard minutes using my heart rate to guide my effort.
Although I had CAREFULLY checked that there would not be any snow in forecasts before the trip, winter storm Gerri popped up out of nowhere. I had been planning to leave for home Saturday morning after breakfast with Alex but kept checking the forecast Friday to see how fast the storm was moving.
Alex suggested this awesome coffee shop near NYU.
I had read that there was a new permanent exhibit at the Public Library and having not been there in over 20 years decided to visit.
https://www.nypl.org/spotlight/treasures
To use the “study/reading” rooms you need a library card, but they are free to any New York State resident. You can also sign up for one online and use the library’s e-book system. If you ever visit you can stop in and get a physical card.
https://www.nypl.org/library-card/new
The new permanent exhibit (they still have temporary ones in other spaces), is in a gorgeous huge room on the main floor. Of course, it has phenomenal books but also archival items such as costumes, sheet music, sculptures, and paintings.
The gift shop was awesome too.
For a late dinner, I headed to midtown to meet some old medical school friends for some Asian food. I had only a thimble of Sake as the weather forecast had me planning to be on the road by 6am to get home before the snow reached there.
A careful review of the future radar showed that if I got home before 2pm I should be there before blizzard conditions developed on the New York State Thruway. Alex helped me out by waiting in the hotel lobby with my luggage and then loading it into my car after I got it from the garage.
There was of course no traffic early Saturday morning and I made great time (despite some dense fog in New Jersey). I stopped for gas after Scranton and then filled my tank again on the Thruway just to make sure I had plenty in case the snow got bad. The conditions ranged from fog to rain to blue skies and sun.
I made it door to door in a record time of just over 6 hours. I took Fifa for a nice long walk and within another 2 hours, it started looking blizzardy. The big storm would eventually bring up to 4 feet of snow to some areas, delaying the football game, etc. My house only got about 13 inches over those 3 days,
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