New York City Vacation, Day 6

Today was our final day in New York City. We visited the American Museum of Natural History in the morning and then walked through some of Central Park.

Then we headed to the airport to fly from Newark, NJ, to Bismarck, ND. Saying goodbye to our daughters wasn't so hard this time because we'll see them all again within the next few months--so instead of embracing and sobbing for several minutes, like we usually do, we hugged and thanked them for a great vacation but then said, "See you soon!"

We have walked so much--down the sidewalks, across the streets, up and down the steps of the subway stations, through the museums, etc.--that our legs and backs are in pain, and we are exhausted. To quote American writer Elbert Hubbard, "No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one." 🤣

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A couple photos from Central Park. It was slightly overcast and cool outside, so it was good weather for a stroll through the park.

Susan and I took a bus to the airport. Hillary and Suzanna had a driver arranged to pick them up for their own flight a few hours later, so they "saw us off," waving to us from the sidewalk outside our hotel.

Abigail had to be at the hospital for clinicals today, so here is a photo of her from the other night. Mostly Abigail traveled from her place in Brooklyn to our hotel in Manhattan every day to join us in our adventures. However, Sunday night she had a sleepover with Mom and Dad in our hotel room! Here's the requisite hotel room mirror selfie.

New York City Vacation, Day 5

This morning we walked around Midtown Manhattan a bit before going on a guided walking tour of food trucks and food carts in the area. In the afternoon we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art ("The Met").

We had supper at Gayle's Broadway Rose, where the servers are all talented Broadway performers who take turns singing musical theatre hits while people dine. That was just a few doors down from the Lena Horne Theater, where we saw the musical Six.

We ended the night with cocktails at The Joyce Public House near our hotel.

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This is one of many photos we took of the gorgeous interior of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown. It's situated between Madison Avenue (associated with the advertising industry) and 5th Avenue (famous for fashion and high-end shopping) ... a good location to serve congregants who are battling pride, greed, lust, and gluttony, I'm guessing.

It was drizzling, so others' umbrellas partially obscured the view of Prometheus, the golden statue at the front of Rockefeller Center. Prometheus oversees the area where people ice skate in the winter and where the gigantic Christmas tree stands each year.

This is one of five food carts and food trucks that were part of our guided walking tour. We had half-servings at each spot, and still we were all pretty much full after the second stop! We had South Asian chicken biryani, Indian kati rolls, Greek chicken souvlaki with pita, South American arepas, and Belgian waffles topped with a gingerbread cookie butter (from Wafels and Dinges).

After our waffles, we walked through Bryant Park and past the New York Public Library to the historic Grand Central Terminal for a subway ride to The Met. The museum has nearly 500,000 works of art from around the world and spanning 5,000 years, so you can just imagine the many famous artists whose work we were able to view. This bronze statue is Edgar Degas' "The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer," which we have seen over the years recreated on posters and greetings cards. Note, however, the hat on the man who is walking past the statue. A daughter pretended to be getting a good shot of the statue but was actually aiming for a pic of that man's unusual hat. Naughty girl!

Six is a musical comedy performed in the style of a pop concert. It features the six wives of King Henry VIII in a contest to determine which of them had the worst experience as a queen to that notorious king. Each of them sings an autobiographical pop song meant to make her case--and Six did win a Tony Award in 2022 for Best Original Score (and one for Best Costume Design).

New York City Vacation, Day 4

We started the day with visits to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. In the afternoon, we walked through several neighborhoods in lower Manhattan: The Battery, the Financial District, the Civic Center, Chinatown, Little Italy, the Bowery, and the East Village.

Along the way, we had Chinese ice cream at the original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory followed immediately (and excessively) by a stop at Ferrara Bakery and Cafe in Little Italy, where we shared gelato and cannoli and had Italian cocktails (mine was a double espresso with Frangelico).

In the evening, we dined outdoors at Veselka, a Ukrainian restaurant in the East Village. The food was delicious: similar to the Ukrainian food that we have in southwest ND but "with the volume turned up," in terms of flavor and authenticity (see details below).

We ended the night with a stop at a speakeasy-style cocktail bar in the East Village. To enter, we had to go into a hot dog shop, find a phone booth there, and pick up the receiver to request to be admitted to the speakeasy. Then the back wall of the phone booth opened, and we were escorted into a hidden space with a cocktail bar and a few tables and booths in a dark room with jazzy world music playing in the background. An unusual experience!

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We took a ferry from The Battery to Liberty Island to see "The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World." Fun fact: although Jake had already proposed to Suzanna in March (in Paris, France), he recreated the act at this spot this morning. Suzanna played along, looked surprised, and accepted (again), and onlookers clapped and congratulated them! Silliness.

A cool view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline in the distance.

Our walk through the neighborhoods of lower Manhattan took us past a variety of buildings: new skyscrapers, old offices and government buildings, concert halls, churches, apartments, shops, and restaurants galore. On many blocks, we saw the old and the new side-by-side.

For example, in the Financial District, here is Trinity Church, a nearly 200-year-old building just down the block from the New York Stock Exchange where Wall Street meets Broadway. Fun fact: Alexander Hamilton is buried in the church yard.

At Veselka, I had borscht, three kinds of pierogi (braised beef, potato, and sauerkraut/mushroom), pork-stuffed cabbage with mushroom gravy, and grilled kielbasa, all served with sides of sour cream, sautéed onions, and burachky (beets and horseradish).

These were our cocktails at the super-secret Please Don't Tell speakeasy. They were all craft cocktails made with specialized ingredients and developed by their team of mixologists. And they were delicious.

New York City Vacation, Day 3

We started the day with a walk to Russ & Daughters Cafe for bagels and lox and then to the Black Fox for coffee.

We were well-fueled for a day of museums: the Guggenheim in the morning and the Museum of Broadway in the afternoon.

The latter is in Times Square, which is just where we needed to be for our supper reservation at Carmine's Italian restaurant. From there, it was a short walk to the James Earl Jones Theater, where we saw the musical Real Women Have Curves.

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The fun building design of the Guggenheim from the ground floor looking up ...

... and from the top floor looking down.

Most floors of the Guggenheim featured works by artist Rashid Johnson, who created paintings, sculptures, videos, and three-dimensional pieces like this one for the museum's current exhibition.

In addition, the Guggenheim has galleries for its permanent collection, such as this oil painting ("Le Palais Ducal vu de Saint-Georges Majeur") by French artist Claude Monet. We saw paintings by other famous artists, too, including Picasso, Chagall, Kandinsky, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, and Gaugin.

The Museum of Broadway takes visitors through a timeline of Broadway's history, starting in 1732. Along the way are displays of costumes from notable productions, set pieces, historical documents, photographs, videos, and anecdotes and quotations from people who have shaped the theatre scene in New York City.

Carmine's serves dishes "family-style," big portions that are meant to be passed around the table and shared like at home. We had a salad followed by lasagna, meatballs, eggplant parmigiana, and linguine with clam sauce.

Real Women Have Curves is a new musical based on a play that in 2002 was made into a movie. Its protagonist is a young Latina struggling to balance her dreams for the future with her responsibilities to her immigrant family in Los Angeles in 1987. One of the leads is Justina Machado, who is nominated for a Tony Award for her role. You might know her from the TV shows Six Feet Under, Ugly Betty, and One Day at a Time.

New York City Vacation, Day 2

We started our day with visits to the Tenement Museum, St. Paul's Chapel, and the 9/11 Memorial. At noon we ate bagels and lox out on the terrace of Brookfield Place along the Hudson River.

We spent the afternoon exploring the 9/11 Museum and then went to the One World Observatory for 360° views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Jersey City. In the evening we went to Yankee Stadium for a game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox (the Yankees won 9 to 6).

We were joined in the evening by Jacob, Suzanna's fiancé, who flew up from Nashville for the weekend; and by Ryan, Abigail's boyfriend, who is from Long Island. After the baseball game, we all had drinks and appetizers at the Beer Authority, a craft beer pub not far from our hotel.

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One World Trade Center is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex. It is the tallest building in the USA (and in the Western hemisphere).

Skyscrapers surrounding the World Trade Center complex.

At the site of each of the Twin Towers (from the original World Trade Center complex), there is now a memorial pool, an acre in size, that sits within the footprint of the tower that once stood there. The names of those killed in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, are inscribed in metal surrounding each pool. Water cascades down from four walls of waterfalls just beneath the people's names.

Another view of one of the pools surrounded by skyscrapers in the neighborhood.

From the top of the highest building in the city (and country) (and hemisphere), One World Observatory offers views in all directions from 102 stories up. In the distance, can you spy the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island at the mouth of the Hudson River?

We took the subway to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. It was packed! Nobody was deterred by the rain, least of all us: we had seats in the upper deck under the roof!

Our view of the field.

Back row: Jacob and Suzanna

Front row: Ryan and Abigail, Susan and me, and Hillary

New York City Vacation, Day 1

Susan and I and our three daughters have not been all together since Christmas 2023, so we have been looking forward to this long weekend vacation in New York City. One of our friends (and Susan's coworker) arranges educational tours for student groups and occasionally schedules one just for adults; so Susan, Suzanna, Hillary, and I all signed up for the tour and made plans to involve Abigail--who currently is living in Brooklyn--in as many of our activities as her schedule would allow. (Abigail is in medical school and is doing clinical rotations at a hospital in the Bronx right now.)

Today Susan and I flew with the tour group from Bismarck, ND, into Newark, NJ, and then traveled by bus to our hotel in Manhattan. Suzanna and Hillary flew directly from Nashville, TN, to New York City. Abigail met them, and the three of them went out for food and cocktails while waiting for their parentals to arrive. There was much squealing and hugging when Susan and I saw them waiting for us when we arrived at the restaurant for supper!

After eating, we walked around Times Square a little bit before returning to the hotel to get some rest before tomorrow's adventures.

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Hillary and Suzanna departing Nashville.

Susan and I departing Bismarck.

(Pardon the blurs -- I'm protecting the privacy of others who were in the photo.)

Reunited! We posed for a selfie in Times Square.

And check out this brief video of what we saw while looking around Times Square.

Mother's Day Weekend at My Father's

My sisters and I spent part of the weekend in Tioga, ND, with our dad, helping him sort through photos, documents, and other items while we were all together. We ran some errands in Williston on Friday but spent Saturday at his house, reminiscing as we looked at old photographs, programs from our high school events, and other gems from the archives around his home!

This morning I made an early-morning departure so that I could get to Dickinson, ND, in time for church and brunch with Susan for Mother's Day. In the afternoon, we had a family video call with our daughters, who live in Tennessee and New York; and we ended the day with supper at El Sombrero.

By the way, Susan's Mother's Day gift from me was 13 bottles of wine: a variety of her favorites and potential new favorites, based on what I know she prefers. Why 13? Well, she will have 13 weekends off from school this summer, which means 13 opportunities to sit outside on our veranda on a Friday or Saturday evening, enjoying the summer weather and each other's company while sipping a beverage.

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The siblings: Sandy (middlest), Kevin (youngest), and Cathy (oldest).

The patriarch: Dad (oldest-oldest).

The western sky looked awesome Thursday evening when I arrived at Dad's in Tioga.

I took a walk around the neighborhood Thursday evening and enjoyed this view of my cousin Jeffrey's house with its lighting matching the sky behind it.

On Friday in Williston, we had a delicious dinner at Gramma Sharon's. These cheerful cattle greet patrons in their parking lot.

Cathy looks excited to start sorting and organizing.

It's always fun to hear stories from Dad about the days of yore. He wishes his memory were better for remembering recent conversations, upcoming appointments, or other short-term details. However, seeing an old photo or letter can trigger memories from decades ago, which he can retell in great detail. We love hearing those tales and continuing to learn more about our dad, even after having known him our whole lives!

I had had flowers delivered to Susan at work on Friday so she could enjoy them until I could get to town on Sunday. Happy Mother's Day!

Farm Photos

Susan and I spent Easter weekend in the Tioga/McGregor area with my sister Sandy and our dad. Here are some pics:

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Sandy serves as musician for several area churches, including First Lutheran in Tioga. We joined her for Easter morning service.

Before the service, the women of the church served a breakfast in the fellowship hall--so we arrived early and enjoyed a meal first.

We had spent the day before with Sandy. She lives on the family farm where we grew up. Note the Easter treats that she had waiting for us!

We enjoyed playing with her friendly cats.

Cool pattern of shadows on the deck.

The evergreens in front of and behind the house and surrounding the yard are the only signs of green so far.

Well, I guess there is a little green coming up in the yard, too.

Sandy took us out in her side-by-side (UTV) to explore the countryside.

When I was a kid, our dog and I used to "explore" and play in the pastures, tree rows, and hay fields of our farm. Might not look too exciting here, but this was one spot for many adventures during my childhood.

When we slowed down to take photos, we scared away the waterfowl from this creek north of the farm.

Pretty early-evening sky.