Our son, an architecture student, has been living in New York for three years, and this is our first trip to see him, but our adventure really begins with the flight to LaGuardia. We are frequent fliers, but work circumstances for my husband have kept him on road travel for the past year and a half. He is astounded to find out we no longer have to shut off our cellphones and ipads. I patiently and sweetly instruct him in putting them in airplane mode, because I love helping people. Some people call it bossy. He then asks if anything else has changed. Can he smoke? No, but he can still drink, I assure him.
Quick, uneventful flight and we are there! LaGuardia! It's big! And noisy! But we find our bags and our airport shuttle and we are off to midtown Manhattan. Our hotel is the Wyndham New Yorker. Art Deco, very nice. Love historic hotels. Hubs road travel points paid for this one. I love him so much.
We meet the boy outside the hotel and drop off our bags since it's too early to check in. We head to Fifth Avenue (!) and begin walking.
And walk...and more walking...walking...still walking.
Now, here is how well the boy knows his parents. Our first stop is the New York Public Library. Because we are HUGE Ghostbusters fans! I kid. We ARE huge Ghostbuster fans, but we truly love all things books. This library to end all libraries is amazing -- beautiful -- marble everywhere. The boy points out a smaller location across the street where you actually check books out. This one's just for research. And show. It's a beautiful public space as well, adjacent to Bryant Park. Lovely, cool and green, this is the boy's favorite spot to hang out. I love him so much.
We leave the coolness of Bryant Park and continue to walk to one of the boy's favorite meditative spots. On the way we stop in at St. Patrick's Cathedral, which is heavily under construction and filled with tourists. It's noisy, busy and decidedly not meditative. But a few blocks away, just as I am beginning to wilt from the heat and my inappropriate choice of long sleeves, we reach our destination of St. Thomas, an Episcopal Church that is truly beautiful, quiet and blessedly cool. We sit, meditatively, and take in our sacred surroundings, discussing later how there are so few truly sacred spaces left. (I'm looking at you, St. Patrick's.)
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| St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue |
Our next immediate destination is Butter, Chef Alex Guarneschelli's restaurant in midtown. It is elegant and lovely. And, it's restaurant week! (Restaurant week this year is July 21 to August 15. Weeks are longer here. That's just the way it is in the big city.) Select restaurants provide a prix fixe menu at $25 for lunch. We are delighted. The meal is delicious, exactly what I would expect from Iron Chef Guarneschelli. And the waiter is so nice and friendly! He treats us just like we belong there. I love New York so much.
Other stops today included the boy's favorite architectural spots:
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| The Dakota, via Strawberry Fields in Central Park |
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| The Ansonia |
Dinner at this place:
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| Arte Cafe: Lovely setting and lovely Italian food. And wine. |
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| View from our hotel window |
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