I woke up about 2am on Saturday after just 4 hours of sleep. If I’m going to go back to sleep it will happen fast, so when I was still awake at 2:30 I gave up and put some coffee on. I got Friday’s blog up and just relaxed until Ash got up about 6:30am. Actually, I re-read a lot of entries from prior trips. I always say I’m my biggest fan! I’m sure no one else reads an entry more than once! It’s fun to read about things I’d forgotten about. Which on some level is one of the reasons I do this: this is my souvenir.

We stopped by Starbucks first because I was starving at this point, and I got a breakfast sandwich. Then made our way over to Central Park for my last visit this trip.

The pond that’s along Central Park South. Still frozen.

I’d found my own headband which Ash somehow had packed in his bag. I don’t like stuff on my head but my ears get cold. As shown below, it was 15 degrees at this point and wouldn’t get up to even 30 this day.

This tiny waterfall had frozen while spilling.

Many if not most of the dogs we encountered were off leash, maybe because we were near an official dog park over towards Central Park West where that was OK. Paul romped around the open spaces like a puppy despite his 11 years.

Kids practicing spins and other things on the ice skating rink.

You can’t quite see the building we had dinner in the night before, but it’s over there in that corner.

Earlier in the week, Ash asked what shows were safe to see without me after I left and his friend, Erick, joined him for the last couple of days of his stay. I paused for a moment to think about it. Then he asked, “what about ‘Come From Away'”? I choked down a tiny irritation and said “that would be fine” because I didn’t want to seem petty. But this show had been on my list since my 2019 trip. I learned of it then and was fascinated by the premise: On 9/11, 38 planes were diverted to Gander, a small town in Newfoundland. It has a large airport despite being a town of only about 9000 then because it was where trans-Atlantic flights used to refuel before they developed the capacity to not have to. So, an additional 7000 people, “the plane people”, were stranded in this town for 5 days. I remember hearing about planes being diverted when it was all happening but never stopped to think about those passengers all that much. This tells that story.

Ash decided instead on Dear Evan Hansen, since he’s only see the movie. I saw it on Broadway in 2019 and again in Sacramento early 2020 so it was safe territory. We made our way to the theater to get rush tickets. We were 2nd in line, and as we’re standing there, I look out the French doors of the theater and what’s across the street? Come From Away. I’d asked Ash to get tickets for it if The Music Man didn’t work out, and of course I’m glad that did. But it was still high on my list. Ash said, “Are you OK with just hanging out after brunch with me and Erick and being lazy in the afternoon?” I responded: “Or, y’all can be lazy and I’ll catch that matinee before I have to leave”, pointing across the street.

Ash calls Erick, who’s driving into NYC from DC and would arrive in another 40 minutes or so. “Are you up for seeing 2 shows today if we can work in a matinee?” Without even asking what it was, Erick says “yes.”

After getting their evening tickets for DEH, we walked across the street and got these shown above: Row AA for $38, which, in this theater, is front row.

We walked back to the apartment after to meet up with Erick, but Ash wanted a final Times Square selfie, so thereyago.

Meet Erick, a friend of Ash’s from college at the University of Maryland who he’s kept up with all these years. We’d made reservations for Noon but confirmed we could arrive early and did so around 11:15am. The Russian Tea Room was about 2 blocks away from us. It was founded in 1927 by members of the Russian Imperial Ballet. Madonna worked here as a coat-checker in 1979! Now you know :)

The decor is beautifully done in art deco style. This was my view across the table. They sat us at a long booth and literally pulled the table out of it so we could seat ourselves comfortably, then pushed the table back in. They did the same thing when we left.

Erick and a bit more of the restaurant.

I’m not much of a tea drinker but it seemed fitting given where we were, so I got what they called Prince Vladimir, which was vanilla with other spices and citrus. It was very nice. The dish with the red is black cherries in a natural syrup to use as sweetener, a very nice touch since I love cherries.

We got the caviar tasting option, which was salmon, trout and sturgeon. They were all good, but we agreed the salmon was our favorite. they were served on tiny pancakes. In between is sour cream, chopped boiled egg, red onion and parsley.

Ash had what was essentially a salmon wellington – protein cooked in a pastry – but they called it something else. It was very tasty.

I had just been saying the night before how I really enjoy getting burgers in nice places, so this was the last opportunity for that. It came with blue cheese and onions grilled in balsamic vinegar, with twice fried sweet potatoes. Definitely hit the spot.

A cherry and cheese blintz with a scoop of vanilla for dessert.

We went back to the apartment, and I packed while Ash and Erick took Paul out, then made our way to the theater around 1:20pm.

This has been running here, the Schoenfeld Theater on 45th, since it opened March 12, 2017.

The synopsis in 3 small signs: 38 Diverted Planes, 7000 Stranded Passengers, 1 Small Town.

It seemed clear to me when we got to our seats that this row was not originally planned because it was ridiculously close to the stage. In some theaters row AA is after row Z, not before it. But we were happy to be there and didn’t care that we wouldn’t be able to see their feet! We could certainly see the actors and it made for a very intimate experience, especially when they made eye contact with you.

Overall, the size seemed pretty typical.

The staging and presentation of this show was like nothing I’d ever seen. A run time of 1:46 with no intermission, it went very fast as their transitions from scene to scene were minimal. Each actor played multiple roles, one each as passenger or town person for sure, and sometimes multiples of those. In the Playbill it would say, for example “Kevin, and others” for each one. The simple set was re-arranged for each scene to be seats on a plane, a local diner or bar, etc. Everything moved really fast. There was no orchestra, just a great 8-person band, who came out from their places way in the back (you can see one on their left there) in a bar room scene to also be the band playing live at that venue.

This show gave you a lot to think about, from the perspective of the townspeople and of “the plane people” and the impact of being stranded for 5 days against the background of a horrible tragedy. It was surprisingly funny and joyful despite the deep explorations as they portrayed examples of humanity stepping up in the midst crisis.

I’m often disappointed when I have high expectations of a show but in this case I was not. And I think the rest of the audience agreed, with a loud and long standing ovation at the end.

When we got back to the apartment, I said goodbye as Ash & Erick took Paul out and I made my way to the airport after a quick shower. I had an easy an uneventful direct flight back, landing early even, and got home before 10:30pm.

Final Thoughts

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a fascination with New York City and always said I wanted to live here at some point for at least a year, long before I’d visited for the first time in 2011. This trip was the closest I’ve gotten to that. I didn’t enjoy the weird dynamic of working in a time zone 3 hours earlier than everyone else, but beyond that it was a great way to see what it would be like. Especially having the apartment in an amazing location and eating in a fair amount.

It was great being as social as we were, we both really enjoyed our visits with everyone we spent time with. And of course, the shows. We have other friends who have done “Broadway trips” where that is the whole point, but this was my first time. I’d never seen one until 2011 on my first trip – Book of Mormon Original Cast was my very first experience, shortly after it had one 9 Tony awards – but I definitely appreciate how shows here are so often just “that” much better than shows that tour, for a myriad of reasons. And there’s nothing like the energy of the Theater District, which includes Times Square as obnoxious as it is, and it’s always fun to be out in that. Somehow you feel like you’re a part of something special. Seeing shows with big names – Patti Lupone and Hugh Jackman – was also incredible. I’ll be thinking about that Hugh Jackman performance for a long time.

Ash made arrangements to have this apartment again in August so he will be back for sure and I will be here for some of it. Will just have to see how it all works out. In the meantime, I’m returning to Puerto Vallarta for a few days in March, we’ll be in France in May, and Ashland in July for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Lots of good stuff coming! We enjoyed having you along as always and look forward to seeing you next time!