“Good morning. How are you?” a lady asked as we entered the elevator.
“We’re tired,” said Susan with a laugh.
“That’s good. That’s how it’s supposed to be when you come to New York!” she said in a chipper voice.
“Yes, we’ve been keeping really busy,” said Susan as I tried to stifle a yawn!
The doorman also greeted us with a friendly “good morning” as we left the hotel. We walked the short distance to Sarabeth’s. Some customers were sitting outside, but since the temperatures kept climbing each day, we decided to eat inside. The host escorted us to the same table where we sat a couple of days before. I ordered the French toast and patiently sipped warm coffee. When the food arrived, I generously poured maple syrup over the large stack. I thought the extra sugar would do me some good since my stomach was feeling pretty empty after the Miserable Outburst.
Susan and I talked about how sad we would be if one of us got sick enough where we wouldn’t be able to go to the shows. We bought our tickets long before we got to NYC. I had thought about how sad that would be even before we left on the trip. That thought helped us decide that our fifth day was going to be a more relaxing one.
After breakfast, we waited for a bus on the corner of 79th Street and Amsterdam. If it would have been any other day, we probably would have walked the short distance to Riverside Park. When we got on the bus and noticed that we were the only customers, we told the bus driver that we were visiting from Minnesota. He jokingly asked, “Do any people live there?”
View of The Lucerne (on the Right)
from the Bus Stop
“More people live in Minnesota than South Dakota,” I said. He wondered how come we didn’t just walk because it was only a few blocks, but we ignored his question. We really just liked the idea of using our bus passes! When we got off, we walked down to The West 79th Street Boat Basin Café, which looked like a fun place to eat overlooking the Hudson River. As we walked along, we enjoyed the quiet park and being shaded by large trees. A lady walked towards us with a little dog, and both Susan and I said, “Aww.” Seeing the dog made us realize how much we missed each of ours. After the dog met us and figured out we were all right, he laid down flat and panted.
Since the dog needed a rest, the lady told us about how in the day she is a nanny to a little boy and the dog, but at night she is an actress. She just auditioned for a show. We wished her good luck and continued on after the lady tried to get the dog to move. People zoomed by on bikes, and we passed others walking along the path. When we came to the 91st Street Garden, we named off some of the flowers. The foxgloves looked beautiful. We could hear many little children at the nearby playground.
Me at the 91st Street Garden
We walked down a beautiful path:
We saw the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument:
The buildings were quite pretty:
The warm day had us visiting Café Lalo again. I ordered a delicious smoothie. Susan told me about the scene in the movie “You’ve Got Mail” where Meg Ryan is patiently reading her book while waiting for her email buddy to join her at Café Lalo. That movie ended when Tom Hanks met Meg Ryan at the 91st Street Garden!
We walked some more, visited a few shops and admired the neighborhood.
When we got back to the hotel, we took our time getting ready for “The Jersey Boys.” Before we knew it, it was time to go on the subway. We decided to go to Victor’s Café, a very extravagant looking Cuban restaurant. We sat in the small bar area and ordered Papa Rellenas (stuffed potatoes and meat puffs) from the Tapas Menu. The appetizers were so delicious; we decided to order another round. We were glad that we were both feeling just fine.
As I read the playbill in the August Wilson Theater, I was surprised that I knew all of the songs. I didn’t realize that Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons had such a long list. The order of the songs conveniently told the story of their lives together. The play was quite funny until it got to the part where Frankie Valli’s wife decided that she wanted a divorce because Frankie wasn’t home very much. When Tony Winner John Lloyd Young sang “My Eyes Adored You,” I tried to hold back the tears. I realized I would never think of that song the same way again.
At times the show had me stomping my feet to the music, laughing, and a moment later trying to hold back the tears. When we left the theatre, I felt like I was leaving some good friends behind. That’s when I knew I saw A Really Good Show.
We looked forward to going to see the Statue of Liberty the next day.
To be continued…
My Reality Show 