Vacation Day 6 - Upstate New York

After a much too brief visit to Montreal (I need to get back there soon), I found my way out of center city and south to the Canadian border with New York.  Who knew that crossing the border would take over an hour sitting in painfully slow moving traffic and less than 2 minutes once I got to the US border agent.  Why the delay?  No idea.  All the license plates I saw were either nearby US states or Canadian.  I've been told that my experience is hardly unique and much shorter than the 2-3 hour delays some days.

Driving down the Northway towards the Lake George region (just north of Albany, NY for those that know the area), I was struck with the green lushness of the landscape.  Living for so long in California, I'd forgotten that the brown dessicated look of much of the state are not the norm.  My destination, a B&B owned by a gay bear couple Claude and Richard (more not on LJ), the Saratoga Rose, is a grand old mansion that's been lovingly converted to its new role leaving much of the charm and grace.  Sadly, I picked the one night a week the restaurant was closed and therefore couldn't sample Richard's legendary cooking.  Highly recommended should you ever be in the area.

And what of the Upstate New York I recall from my college years?  Those that think of New York as a cityscape devoid of natural beauty should visit the Lake Luzerne/Lake George region.  Heavily wooded gently rolling hills (and some not so gentle), numerous small lakes, and the crowning diamond, Lake George itself, one of the most pure in the nation.  Small, quaint villages that hide well the economic blight that has been the Upstate NY way of life for decades.  A gentler way of life is led here and a good one.

Binghamton on the New York Southern Tier (near the Pennsylvania border) is next.

Vacation Days 7-8 Binghamton

At long last, I'm in the company of a fellow LJer, my long time friend, Roger/rwcubdad.  Roger and I have known one another back into the days of IRC chat.  As it seems to be with those special friends you make, it matters not whether we chat daily, weekly, or not for months.  Roger and his partner seemed completely unchanged, still wonderful, still great company.  We ended up not doing much.  Lots of chat, some great meals.  I love these guys.

Binghamton, what can I say?  Former home (or one of them) of IBM, the area has seen better times.  These days it's a city of normal good people, living good lives.  Nothing exceptional, nothing as glorious as New York City to the southeast.  America as it really is.  I needed reminding.  It reminded me too of how much of a Californian I've become.  After 13 years on the West Coast, i can't imagine living elsewhere.  And yet, there's a magnetic pull to New York, places like Binghamton, and good and special friends like Roger.  It made me dream of having two lives, one east and one west.

Time to build up energy for my assault on the Big Apple, New York City...

Vacation Day 9 - New York City

People should never drive into the New York Metropolitan area unless they have a strong disposition and the patience of a saint.  Old roads that mimic a lunar landscape, drivers that cut and thrust their way through traffic like a surgeon on speed.  Horns blare, people use hand signals I don't recall from drivers ed, I was never so happy to pull up in front of my B&B, the Chelsea Pines, on West 14th Street.  And this is the city in which I learned to drive!  Knowing that I'd never find parking, I parked in front of a hydrant near the hotel, flashers on, raced inside with my luggage, told them I'd be back and zipped back to the car just as a police officer was getting out her pen.  I waved that the car was mine, she nodded, shrugged, and walked away.  Phew!  Another sigh of relief when I returned the rental car, fenders intact to the hole-in-the-wall Hertz lot on Morton Street.

As I settled into my small but perfectly fine hotel room, John/placesintheheart and Chip/bearfuz (woohoo, more LJers and fellow square dance cultists) arrived to take me to dinner.  One thing I know about the three of us, we're never at a loss for something to chat about.  And chat we did through dinner and onto the subway uptown to the theater district.  John continued on home to finish packing for his departure the next day to Palm Springs.  Chip gave me a quick tour of the theaters I'd be visiting and shared a bit of insider knowledge of the current Broadway scene.  A quick hug and I was off to the first of three shows, Spamalot (reviewed separately).

Spamalot - Seat Q107

(So why am I noting the seat I was in?  I've found that, for me, my distance from the stage often colors my experience.  If a show can 'grab' me even at the rear of the theater, it means the show really impressed.)






























One sentence review - A show for Monty Pythonites, it's funny but not hilarious, an easy show to like but not one that'll knock your socks off.

More detail than you probably care about...

Telling the story of King Arthur's search for the Holy Grail, Spamalot's plot leaves reality behind and wanders through a variety of skits that would be familiar to anyone who loved the old Monty Python TV show (which I did) or have seen the Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie.  Perhaps that's why the show fell slightly flat for me.  I knew where it was going before it got there.

Best performance was by Marin Mazzie, the Lady of the Lake.  This gal can sing!  She stole every scene, upstaged Jonathan Hadary's King Arthur and got a roar of applause from the crowd. 

Best Musical Number - The Diva's Lament (Whatever Happened to my Part?)  Sung by the Lady of the Lake, it's a showcase number that hangs on the drama created by the Lady's voice and mannerisms.  Marin was amazing.

Gay Moment - Way more than one in this show, the outing of Lancelot and the Carmen Miranda number that follows with Lance in a rhinestone codpiece and wife beater is priceless.

Bottom Line - A terrific show but one I'd not rush back to see.