🎶”Start spreading the news…we are leaving today (really,  we left on Saturday, and it is now Tuesday, I am a little behind)…we want to be apart of it…New York, New York.” 🎶 We all know what that means, I am spending my downtime (Eddie’s nap time) writing about our travels and sharing, wait for it, Eddie stories.  This time, we are in search of double digit (not our current all too familiar triple digits) temperatures that are 60’s and below.  It gets harder every year to find a place in earth not touched by global warming.  We will start our trip in old New York, up to Nova Scotia through the St Lawrence sea way, across the Atlantic, popping in to Greenland (completing our Travel bucket list of all continents*), and finally, circumnavigating Iceland.  (*Antarctic was more of a drive-by, but we decided to count it, we are getting older so we want to cross the finish line of several things.

So, as I am behind, I will recap our 40 hours in New York.  First, the traffic.  I promise to never complain about Houston traffic…inside, outside or on the various loops.  I do not know how people here do it.  The congestion cars, buses, black Suburban limos, Uber/Lyft, yellow cabs, the tolls, the uncontrolled/uncontrollable e-bikes (that is a whole post all on its own), pedestrians…Houston can stay #4.  I could/would not drive in #1 New York, I value my sanity and life too much.  Walking is enough of an adrenaline rush for me.  

This is not our first time in NY by any means, but the first time since preCovid.  Yes, just like all major metropolitan areas, the ghost of Covid lurks in the vacant shop windows and the lack of lit office space in the early morning hours that whispers life is not the same.  Arriving on Saturday the streets were full of families, couples, Japanese tour groups (welcome back, we missed your yen)  and a wild assortment of characters…whether they are local or imported, they are looking for their tribes of likeminded people.  The people watching is some of the best in the world.   We arrived at our hotel the Intercontinental Barclay- part of the IHG group-read Holiday Inn. Whether the Holiday Inn corporate philosophy or the effects on large city hotels post Covid without business travelers, the Barclay looks a little less special and a little more common…down to the dingy thin towels in the bathroom…than it once did when we would come close to Christmas for a meeting with one of Eddie’s groups.  

We dropped our 4 (yes, four, ridiculous amount of overpacking and just in case crap) pieces of luggage in the hotel room, and headed out on foot.  Now remember, we have walked two different airport terminals this morning, never mind the multi trips I made around the house before we departed.    My watch is already asking me if I want to change my fitness goals, and reminding me to stand on the plane or in the taxi.  So, we are off.  We had theatre tickets for 8:00 to see Moulin Rouge the Musical.  Dinner reservations at Becco’s Italian for 5:00.  When I looked at the map…walking and subway, as we are right next door to the Grand Central station, I thought we could do this, looks like a little more than a mile, yeah, we are good.  Over the years from this hotel, I have learned to navigate the NY subway system extremely well along with the avenues and streets.  The Grand Central station has been restored over the years and is eye candy for centuries old architecture geeks (guilty).  We passed on cabs..yellow or pedi (addition since our 2018 visit) and Uber.  We walked, and walked.  Yes, it is 20 degrees cooler than home, but the humidity feels like home and the throngs of people seems to take whatever slight breeze there is out of the equation.  Another thing that I want to do when I come back in the afterlife is to have the scaffolding business that is here in the city.  Despite empty office buildings and store front, new office buildings are going up along with renovation of old ones all around Midtown Manhattan, all are required to have scaffolding…  Our foot travels took up us past the Roosevelt Hotel.  Eddie stayed there in the 1990’s, it was a expensive flea bag.  As I remember the story it was $300 a night and his room was so small that he had to open the closet door when in bed to have a place for his feet to rest…we can all assume there is an Eddie upgrade with that story.   Anyway, if you believe the News (pick your favorite flavor, I think there is agreement on this fact) this old hotel has been used to house the thousand of immigrants from Abbott’s bus-a-migrant program.  Yup, right here on E45th at Vanderbilt…convenient but kinda of a pricy neighborhood.  Our walk by begs the question, why are they 200 motor bikes-more Vespar than Harley- parked in front?  Is this why Mayor Eric Adams can’t afford the problem as they all receive a Midtown Manhattan hotel room and motor bike when they get off the bus from Texas?  Good Grief, hospitality has it limits, and I am from the Deep South.  

Dinner was typical New York family Italian, lots of people packed shoulder to shoulder in small butt chairs (think ice cream parlor sized) at even smaller tables.  Pasta portions are reasonably priced and large…with all the usual suspects for secondi if you wanted a hearty entree.  Cocktails or house wine were $14…which if you know NYC is a deal.  So, with full bellies we attempted to wander the Times Square area..forget it…7:00 was prime time for everything.  

We gave up and joined the queue in front of the Al Hirschfeld theatre to see Moulin Rouge, the Musical. Yes, there was a movie starring Nicole Kidman..but the basis of all of this is the turn of the 1900’s cabaret of the same name in Paris that is general considered where the can-can started.  Cabaret dancers that were oftentimes prostitutes….the plot line of both movie and musical speaks to those facts…bawdiness and all.    So, image our surprises at the number of elementary school kids with their parents seeing the show.  Great music, great dancing, high energy and lots of follow up questions by people of a certain age…like under 12.  User tip, if this is one of the options at the TKTS booths, check wiki before purchasing.  Or, maybe we are just getting that old.  Yikes!  Great show! Remember these old theaters are not known for elbow or leg room, and we had walked 9.5 miles on the day to that point…not a usual thing in Pickle world, Texas edition.  So, the 1.5 miles home were slow going, we  had stiffened up a tad.  We rolled into bed around 12:00 EST.  Even at CST, well past our published bed time of 9:30.  

Sunday was a slow morning.  We went to an on trend late brunch in a near by cafe, we did not pick up a copy of The NY Times, we used our pads and read the Chronicle..with some of the same stories, I am sure.  Remember our last out of Texas trip, we saw friends from our past…well, this trip is no different.  We arranged to meet one of Eddie’s college chums (and a groomsman in our wedding) for dinner.  We have seen Mike more frequently than most of our old friends, and Eddie does a better job of keeping up with the 5-6 of them….even though they had a betting pool on how long our marriage would last…we had only known each other a sum total of 6 weeks when we got married after a blind date.    At 47 years and counting,  Eddie won the bet.  Score one for Team Quail/Pickle.  (Remember those Desert quail that are mated for life)   Mike always reminds us of the bet…We went to dinner at our favorite place, The River Cafe, in Brooklyn under the Brooklyn bridge.  We have been coming for at least 27 of their 30 years in business.  Well, since the last time we were here, Brooklyn (specifically DUMBO-Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) has become a big thing.  Brooklyn has become the new hip area to live and be…never mind it cost $22.50 each way to go over the bridge.  Renovation of old warehouses, green spaces, parks, open markets and tall (50+ story) apartment and condo complexes….and the River Cafe with great views is now hard to get into, Michelin Starred restaurant with a cast of 100’s to serve you.  Was it worth the 90 day out reservation, guaranteed by a credit card, 4 phones reminding us to be there promptly at 7? Along with the dress code?  Nope, the Italian place last night was much better.  $40 a glass for a house red wine…seriously.  We share several hours of laughter and views from their Gramercy Park apartment..mere blocks from the Union  Square riot over a PlayStation give away 9 days before….no, we do not have attending a riot in a major city on our bucket list.  I got a huge hug from Mike and he whispered that he was glad that we (meaning Eddie and I) are growing old together, and he has someone to take care of him.  Yeah, Mike knows our Eddie pretty well.  

Until I write again,