Home again

We’ve returned.  I took our boys to NYC for a few days.  We were in the city to have one of our boys assessed at The Yellin Center – I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Yellin, his wife, and the rest of the staff.  If you are in need of an educational assessment for your child, run to them.   Need financial assistance?  Ask for it.  Whatever you end up paying will be money well spent.

In our case, money well spent would have been cab fare.  Instead, I felt a need for frugality so we walked.  And walked.  And walked.  This woman is used to dirt roads, not never ending pavement.  My whole body is jarred beyond belief.  If I factor in the three days of work lost to recovering from the trip, cab fare would have been way less money!

We did have fun.  We looked up Lanny Finnerty, an old friend that I had not seen in 22 years – and discovered he has not one, but two albums out – 18 and Kissing in Public.  (Buy the albums!)  Lanny took us on a whirlwind tour of NY, including FAO Schwartz, where Chris did his best on the Big Piano:

Naturally, the NBA store was a must see.  And then we ended up at Sam Ash, where Chris was able to spend time with a gorgeous PRS guitar.  He was a bit bummed (and also excited) to learn that Paul Reed Smith, himself, had been in the store a few hours earlier.  We went through Rockefeller Center:

and Times Square, had dinner at a great diner, and then spent the remainder of the evening on Lanny’s rooftop, admiring the view, the lights, and breathing a little easier.

Our last day was an arduous, but fun, trek that took in the Central Park Zoo.

This guy reminded us of Charles, our golden retriever.  I fell in love, however, with a polar bear.  He was swimming right up to the window and then pushing off, over and over.  It was all I could do to refrain from jumping in and swimming with him.  I could have watched him all day.  His huge pads would push off the window and his fur would billow behind him, then he would swim back and squoosh up against the window so that you could almost feel him.

The boys would not permit me to spend the remainder of our time in NYC watching a polar bear, so I reluctantly left and marched them up to the Met, through Central Park, and took in a tour of the Museum of Natural History.  The amount of anonymous work in that museum, the paintings, the animals, the creations, all done for the sake of all of us – that blew me away more than any single exhibit.

The trip went well.  We rode the Vermonter to NY and back, and that was good.  Got a wee bit lost on the subway, but nothing major.  The Gershwin Hotel was clean, filled with art, and had the best shower I’ve ever found in a hotel room (although its location next door to the Museum of Sex elicited giggles and “why would they make a museum for sex?” each time we passed.)  Had some wonderful NY pizza and found a nice market near the hotel that had a little bit of everything.  All in all, a good trip – one that will be fondly remembered once I get my legs back!