Vacation Log

[rickps]

With a free Southwest ticket gathering dust, it was time for a short vacation back east.  I broke with my normal tradition of flying to Point X, puttering around, and then flying home by flying to West Palm Beach for a weekend to celebrate a buddy's birthday, then up to New York for a week of shows, terrorizing the Big Apple (or, more accurately, having the place terrorize me as it always has), followed by a weekend in Chicago.  The time went quickly.  Once again, Southwest proved to be tremendously reliable with near on time flights (several of which arrived early).  I do miss some of the more wacky flight staff however.

Highlights of the trip...

Melbourne Beach, Florida

Friends own an amazing home directly on the beach in sleepy Melbourne Beach.  I was placed in their top floor room facing the ocean.  There is nothing quite like the a red moon floating over the ocean at night and the pounding of the surf against the shoreline to lull you to sleep.

West Palm Beach Airport

If there's such a thing as a boutique airport, it's West Palm.  Luxurious seating spaces, a dedicated passenger "meet and greet" area with large screen plasma TV, and on and on.  It took me a while to realize that signs throughout the airport featured extra large font sizes to cater to the failing vision of a sizable fraction of the airports patrons (I'm told that this was a local requirement).

New York City Subways

Even thought I grew up in the New York metro area, the map of the NYC subway system still looks like a bowl of spaghetti dumped on a table top to me.  Yet complex as it is, it's the most efficient way to get around the city.  But damn, do your legs ever get a workout climbing stairs!  It came as a surprise on this trip that most of my NYC resident friends never realized that the system was originally constructed by three competing private companies which explains, in part, the seemingly chaotic organization of stations, train numbering systems, transfer points, and multiple levels.

New York City Gay Mens Chorus

I was favored with a very special treat - sitting amid the members of the NYCGMC during one of their weekly rehearsals.  My love of mens choral music dates back to my years in grade school and college.  All of that came back to me as I listened to these very talented men work their way through a broad range of songs.  Yes, being surrounded by the chorus members showcased the warts of this practice session.  But it also emphasized how vibrant massed mens voices can be.  I doubt if anyone, no matter what their musical tastes, could not be impressed.  Oh, and it didn't hurt that the evening's accompanist was LJ's own bearfuz.

Friends, Near and Far

The key focus of this trip was to catch up with friends.  I live, it seems, in a far ranging neighborhood that covers a surprising chunk of the globe.  A sign of the times, no doubt.  Among the gaggle of friends seen were the always charming and entertaining trulygrateful and bearfuz.  I'm never bored when in their company.

New York Eats

I'm not a foodie by any means.  Gourmet dining (and I've done plenty of it) is generally lost on me.  But when in NYC, one can't help from indulging.  One evening, my host and I felt the need for pizza.  We ended up at Two Boots Pizza, a small chain of outlets mostly in the NYC area (although I see on the website that there's one in LA) around 10PM, not the ideal time to dine.  Yet the pizza was hot, perfectly prepared, and so good I could have chomped my way through slice after slice.  NYC pizza is the best, hands down!

NYC specializes in funky, one-of-a-kind ethnic restaurants such as another night's dinner spot, Lederhosen (Grove Street in the Village).  The unassuming entry takes you down a ramp into what seems like a basement, past a small bar area and into a single large room featuring simple trestle tables and a huge mural of the German countryside on one wall.  My dinner of rolled beef, red cabbage, spaetzle, and salad was generous in size, authentic, delicious, and reasonably priced.  Amazing.

Shows

Well, you didn't think I'd go to NYC without taking in a gaggle of shows did you??  First up was Our Town, Thornton Wilder's 1930's play.  Staged in a small 'black box' theater, the 70 year old story of life in the small fictitious New Hampshire town of Grovers Corners is timeless.  Acting was clean and crisp, a great evening's entertainment.

I'd seen Billy Elliott in Sydney last year (a gift from the amazing cuboz and friend Craige - not on LJ, the slug!) and loved the show.  Having just been nominated for a zillion Tony awards, I was curious to see what American tastes would do to the plot.  Very little, it seems.  The show remains just as powerful, just as entertaining.  Where they find kids in the 12-14 age range that can act, sing, and dance stuns me.

Although it demonstrates all too well just how old I am, I vividly recall seeing West Side Story on Broadway in its first run.  It has remained as a most favorite on my list.  Catching the recent revival was a treat that I looked forward to, particularly because of the decision to have some song lyrics sung in Spanish by the Puerto Rican gang members.  Overall, I thought the show met expectations nicely.  The dancing was near perfect.  The songs and story are aging gracefully.  I was especially taken by the show's Anita, Karen Olivo.  A young woman, her list of accomplishments is already impressive.  When on stage in this show, you couldn't look away.  Her magnetic presence is one of a kind.  Very likely a superstar in the making.

When I was first contemplating this trip, I initially didn't have much interest in seeing Shrek.  Yeah, it was a fun movie but I couldn't see how it could be successful on Broadway.  But I went to see it anyway, and am glad I did.  I still don't think the storyline is especially strong but the performances by Brian D'Arcy James (Shrek), Sutton Foster (Fiona), Daniel Breaker (Donkey), and Christopher Sieber (Lord Farquaad) make the show.  In particular, Sieber's role,played almost entirely on his knees, is one-of-a-kind hilarity.

Chicago

Whenever I visit Chicago, I'm guaranteed a mix of rain and cold or heat and humidity.  Sure enough, the plane bumped its way through clouds and rain into Midway.  Why then, was the weekend near perfect weather, I don't quite understand.  My hosts and I ventured to Millennium Park (lovely, crowded) and the art museum.  Chicago may never be a pretty city, but it is impressive.  Saturday evening included catching Legally Blond in its road performance (good show, not great, faithful to the movie of the same name) and a visit to the very crowded and VERY loud Cell Block.  I fear that I'm over my time in bars however.



And so ended a very full 10 day trip.  Oh, except for the head cold that arrived in full force once I arrived home.

Comments

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a humdinger of a trip!

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

What a magnificent trip!! We should hang sometime. There isn't a single moment that you describe that I wouldn't have loved! I so want to see "Billy Elliott"! I've had reservations about "Shrek", but I worked with Christopher Siebert's partner Kevin and I'd like to see his performance. All of the theatre, food, beautiful sights and you got to see Chip and John too! Lucky man!

Big HUGS!

[simbobloke.livejournal.com]

Where they find kids in the 12-14 age range that can act, sing, and dance stuns me.

The short answer is, they don't find them. They train them. Hard. For about a year, from memory...

[hotelbearsf.livejournal.com]

The West Palm airport really is the last word, isn't it? Extremely civilized in this crazy world- especially compared to the Hub airports like Denver, O'hare and Dallas which are such a nightmare.

Glad you had fun!