Day 4: The Ride Home

Day 4: The ride home was fine and mostly uneventful, which was good, except for being long. We stopped in Hershey along the way for lunch and to stock up on chocolate, which is always a must. Had a bit of a traffic jam late in the trip in the VA mountains, which was my fault because I ignored the signs (and Marsha's repeated reminders) thinking it wouldn't be that bad, but it was. Luckily, I managed to work out a detour that kept us moving without losing too much time. Lesson learned: Always listen to your wife.

Day 3.2: John's of 12th Street Redux

I wasn't going to post again about John's of 12th Street, since I already covered it recently, but I just have to make a few comments. Again, the food was awesome and the service was great, up until the end when we had to wait a bit for the check.

This time, though, we got to sit right next to the candle! Last time, we didn't even go in the candle room. I'd forgotten all about it (even with a card on the table about "the candle") and thought it was a wedding cake. This time, we couldn't have gotten any closer.

We also tried their other specialty, the veal meatballs, which were delicious. Our John had their other specialty, the Tuscan Ragu, which I had last time. Marsha's favorite was again the tiramisu, which is more like a pudding.

Everything was just terrific. But the best part for me is always the location itself. Real-life mobsters like Joe "the Boss" Masseria actually ate there, which is why both The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire have filmed there. Boardwalk now twice. I just spotted it again in another recent episode. Can't miss that candle. I also love that they've embraced their heritage with the Mob and Prohibition.

I had to go to the bathroom this time to see if there was a gun hidden behind the toilet. There wasn't, but that didn't stop me from coming out with a finger gun anyway to take out Salozzo and Captain McClusky.

Day 3.1: Walking Around and Around the Park

As expected, today was completely different than yesterday. Still had a great time, but nothing was going to compare to yesterday.

First off, it's cold out. Yesterday was a nearly jacket-free day, but today it was downright chilly. 

Second of all, and this didn't affect us until after brunch, but the New York Marathon was going on most of the day, so all the cross streets up around Central Park, including most of the park itself, were closed off.

Our first stop was a new restaurant for us, Landmarc, owned by Chopped judge Marc Murphy, for brunch. We've been to his Ditch Plains in the West Village a couple of times, which we really love, so we expected the brunch menu at Landmarc to be pretty similar. We walked up to Columbus Circle and due to the time change, actually got up early this morning, so we made it there an hour early. Luckily, they weren't full and we able to seat us. The food and service were both excellent. I had French toast made from a thick cut country bread that was superb, plus thick cut bacon. Our table was right next to the window overlooking Columbus Circle and part of the marathon.

From there we'd planned to go to Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon Memorial, just about 12 blocks up by 72nd. But since all of the cross streets were closed off by the police, we soon realized that wasn't going to happen.

We ended up having to walk all the way up to 86th to cross over to the eastern side of the park, where we ended up on 5th Avenue. We were right by the Metropitan Museum of Art and thought about going in, but since it was already after 2:00 by then, we didn't have enough time to justify the expense.

On our way back, we passed by the Central Park Zoo. Madison has many fond memories of going there when she was younger, especially seeing the polar bear, so that was the perfect stop. As soon as we got there, they were feeding the sea lions, which was fun to watch.

We were saddened to learn that Gus the Polar Bear had passed away recently, so the polar bear exhibit was closed. We'd spent many a trip watching him swim back and forth, and were delighted to read how they'd worked to vary his routine by hiding his food. Gus, you will be missed.

On our way down 5th Avenue, we were stopped by two men hawking rap CDs for a local artist. When Marsha and I shook our heads and kept going (just like we do with all sidewalk vendors), they chased us down and hit us with this gem of a sales pitch (and runner-up for the title of this post): "Don't be afraid of the negro." I had to wonder: we're a middle-aged couple. Do we really look like their target audience?

Next stop was the Apple Store on 5th Avenue, and finally the Disney Store in Times Square. Then it was back to the room to give our feet some much needed rest.

Tonight is dinner at John's of 12th Street, which you can read about in an earlier post. This is our John's first trip there, so we're really excited about that. I just saw them again on another recent episode of Boardwalk Empire, so I am definitely ready to go back! Badda bing, badda boom!

Day 2.5: First Date on Broadway

Fortunately, it was a short walk from Bar Americain to the Longacre Theater, so we had plenty of time to get to the theatre and get settled in our seats before the show started. We'd bought tickets months earlier for the brand new musical, First Date, with Zachary Levi (Chuck, Tangled, Thor: The Dark World) and Krysta Rodriguez (Smash, The Addams Family). As soon as we got to the theater, Marsha scoped out the stage door. Madison was really hoping to get Zachary Levi's autograph after the show. She was all set with her pink Sharpie.

We had perfect seats -- front row mezzanine, with Madison on the aisle so she could rush outside as soon as the curtain went down. Yes, we're old pros at this. Our worst fear was that Zachary Levi wouldn't be doing the show that night. That happened to me last year when I went to see Sutton Foster in Anything Goes. We were all quite relieved when the replacement notice in Playbill was only for a minor cast member. Whew!

The show was a lot of fun, about mismatched pair on a blind date in an NYC cafe. It was largely on one set with no intermission. What was really cool is that the supporting cast played multiple characters, constantly switching with just a simple accessory, like a hat or scarf. In addition to the other cafe patrons, they played exes and family members commenting on the action in the two leads' imaginations. The set, too, was a character, using video screens and hidden props to instantly transform at any moment. Just amazing.

When the cast was taking their final bows, Madison rushed up the aisle and down the stairs. I was right behind her, but waited for a minute when Zachary Levi stopped to let everyone know that they were collecting donations for Broadway Cares. I went ahead outside to find Madison. There were only two other people waiting outside, so she got a perfect spot in the autograph line.

We were only there for a couple of minutes before John came out and then Marsha called for us to come back inside. For various donation amounts, they were giving away posters and CDs. The top give-away was going backstage to meet Zac and Krysta, getting their autographs and a photo. Marsha raced downstairs and was second in line.

I have to say that Zac and Krysta could not have been any sweeter or more gracious. They shook our hands and introduced themselves, asked if we enjoyed the show, and thanked us many times over. He was thrilled that we were big fans of Chuck and told us that it's (finally!) on Netflix streaming. Krysta was impressed that we'd seen both Smash and The Addams Family, and she just loved Madison's pink Sharpie! When they signed our Playbills, Zac noticed that we were one short so I could grab mine from my coat. Yep, it was all pretty darn awesome.

Every time we've waited by a stage door, we've always wondered about the regular folks who come out. This time it was us. Needless to say, we were all on Cloud Nine for the rest of the night.

Day 2.4: Winner and Champion, Iron Chef Flay!

I'd have to say by this point, Bar Americain is our favorite restaurant in NYC. We're all in agreement that given a choice between that and Mesa Grill, Bar Americain wins hands-down. We just love everything about this place. The food, the service, the decor -- all excellent. The only thing that could make it better is if they played Frank Sinatra instead of the (thankfully quiet) elevator music.

As usual, both the service and food were awesome. I was thrilled that my favorite dish, fried chicken with honey and peppercorns, has made it to the regular menu. It used to be served only on Mondays, and we'd organized a couple of previous trips just to go that night. The dish has been slightly modified, probably for the better. The portion size is smaller (the previous dish left me stuffed beyond words), the breaking is lighter, and now it comes with collards, too. I would gladly trade that for more of the tiny biscuits, which have been reduced from four to two.

For Madison's birthday, Marsha arranged for the chef to come out and say hello. He was extremely nice, talked to us for a few minutes, and asked about our meal. They put a candle on her dessert (shoo fly pie, which was much better than the so-so version we'd had years ago in Lancaster, PA), which was a trick candle, so she just had to wait for it to burn out on its own.

Couldn't have asked for a better meal before heading off to our show. Little did we know, the night would only get even better still.

Day 2.3: Shopping and Star-Sighting

After a long subway ride back to Midtown Manhattan, we stopped off at Rockefeller Plaza to do some shopping. First stop was the NBC Store, where Madison was hoping to find some Chuck merchandise.

Alas, Chuck has now been relegated to one, small shelf, but she still managed to pick up a cool Nerd Herd shirt. Marsha and John got a couple of shirts, too, before we went to check out the new Lego store.

We were surprised to see that the ice rink is already up and running. We thought about letting Mad and John go for a run, since it wasn't as crowded as usual, but it was late in the afternoon and we had limited time before we had to head back to the hotel for our dinner reservations.

The Lego store was similar enough to the one at Downtown Disney, just a lot smaller and very cramped. Our favorite part was walking around and looking at all the various Lego displays, from Star Wars characters to actual landmarks.

Our last stop was Madison and John's idea of Nirvana, a must stop on every trip to NYC -- Nintendo World. It's two stories of geekdom for Nintendo fans. Our favorite part is the display cases on the second floor that showcase the history of Nintendo products, from the early NES through all the various Gameboys and up to the new Wii U. Our favorite is the Gameboy that was melted in a SCUD missle strike during the Gulf War and still works. Also got our first look at the Wii U in action, which confirmed my initial reaction. The graphics are very much improved, but the second screen seems completely useless.

On our way back to the hotel, we passed by a theatre that had just let out after a matinee of No Man's Land with Professor X and Magneto -- Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. There was a small crowd outside and sure enough, Patrick Stewart was outside signing autographs. We just managed to snap a few pictures before he went back inside. He seemed very nice and we were told that he'd been out there for a good bit. If fact, he turned to go back in, then stopped and signed several more. I'd expect nothing less of Captain Picard.

Day 2.2: I'd Ride An Hour For This Sandwich

First stop of the day (once we finally got up) was Lioni's Italian Heroes in Brooklyn for lunch. John introduced us to this place last year and we were all dying to go back. Not only are the sandwiches incredible, but the place is just like stepping into The Sopranos with a bunch of guys sitting outside, eating and talking. 

It's an hour-long subway ride to get there. Even though it's on the far side of Brooklyn, the place where you get off (79th Street) looks exactly like the Williamsburg stop where John used to live, just down from the Williamsburg Bridge. I finally had to ask John how he discovered this place so far away. He said he first heard about it through a Living Social coupon, and as a self-described connesour of Italian sandwiches, the glowing reviews on Yelp convinced him that he had to go. I will attest, his life hasn't been the same since. No trip to NYC is complete for him without getting a "Scott Baio" at Lioni's.

Aside from the locally made bread,fresh meats from thei shop next door, and amazing authentic Italian sandwiches, Lioni's is known for two thing: their own freshly made mozzarella, and the names of their 170+ sandwiches. Each one is named for a famous Italian (some of whom you may not have known were Italian), from Frank Sinatra and Fean Martin to Connie Francis and Leonardo di Caprio. Each one has a list of ingredients and a little quip. For example, the Pavarotti says, "You'll sing for this one."

The sandwiches are huge, which we learned last time and took a lot of leftovers back to our room with no fridge. John kept them on top of the A/C vent to keep them cool. This time, after some cajoling to convince John to share, he and Marsha split the Scott Baio (who woulda thought John's favorite sandwich would be named after Scott Baio), while Madison and I split to Rocky Graziano. Yes, it truly was "a real knockout."

Day 2.1: Morning in Manhattan

We woke up to a beautiful view of the skyline and the river. Checking in so late last night, all we saw was lights.

Since we were up late opening presents, we had a lazy morning getting ready to get out to the city.

My first order of business was adding money to our MetroCards. After all these years of coming to NYC, I think I finally understand the system behind the MetroCard machines. The key thing, which we didn't realize until probably our last trip, was that you can only do two transactions on the same credit card at one time. Plus, (for reasons I don't understand) each card has to be a separate transaction. So in the past, we'd update two cards and then go into a panic when we couldn't do another. Now we know.

I would absolutely love it if, one day, I added money to a card and it asked, "Would you like to add money to another card?" One day, I guess. So, this time I had everything in a different pocket (wallet, cards) and worked like a machine to update all three cards. My only hiccup was after I did the first card, I accidentally put it in the same pocket as the remaining two. When I went to do the next card, I wasn't sure which one was the one I'd just done. Luckily, the machine gives you the balance first, so sure enough, I'd picked the card I'd just done. I swapped it out, updated the other (knowing this time to switch credit cards in between), and answered questions from the people behind who were trying to learn. Just paying it forward.

Day 1: New York Weekend

Today is Madison's birthday, a very special milestone. So, she requested a trip to New York City. Luckily, she had a day off from school, so we're taking her out an extra day on Monday for travel.

Today we got up early, hit the road, and spent the whole day in the car. The birthday festivities officially began with 6:00 dinner reservations in Philly at her favorite restaurant, Iron Chef Jose Garces' Amada. We'd planned plenty of wiggle room, which was worked out perfectly, because after traffic, stopping for lunch, gas, and so forth, we actually made it just in time. We should have gotten there 45 minutes early, but thanks to heavy traffic getting into Philly, we lost the last bit of our padding. As usual, parking was a bear thanks to some kind of craft fair going on nearby, so we had to spring for valet parking.

The meal was awesome, as always. Our waiter knew right away it was Madison's favorite, since she was wearing her Amada shirt. He also realized that he didn't have to explain how the menu works. It's a Spanish tapas restaurant, so you order lots of small dishes. Marsha had her usual, the cheese plate and ham croquets, while Madison and I had garlic shrimp, grilled chorizo, braised shortrib flatbread, chicken with a sunny side quail egg, and more. We'd contemplated trying a new dish with lamb meatballs, but figured we'd already selected enough. 

Marsha had let them know that it was Madison's birthday, so the Chef sent out the lamb meatballs anyway (perfect!). We considered another new dish (dulce de leche fllled donuts) for dessert, but were just too full. I think the Chef could read our minds, because she came out anyway with the donuts (complete with a birthday candle) and wished Mad a very happy birthday. Above and beyond as always, and one of the many reasons we love to go there.

Then it was back in the car for the final two-plus hours to NYC. Traffic was pretty good until we got into the city, of course. I'll never understand why the Lincoln Tunnel dumps you off into a T-intersection where you have to immediately turn left or right. Still, thanks to EZ-Pass, we again saved time on toll lines, so that certainly helped. After pushing our way through traffic and pedestrians, we finally made it to our hotel and got checked in.

To make Mad's birthday even more special, John flew in and arrived a little while after we got here, just in time to open presents. Now we've got two days to see the sights, eat some more awesome food, and catch a brand new Broadway show. I call that a pretty good birthday weekend. 

As I recall, I was Madison's age when I took my very first trip to NYC, where my cousin Tony and I flew up and back in one day. Makes me proud that visiting the city is old hat for my children, and that the birthday girl already knows her way around here just as much as in her own neighborhood. Very proud indeed.