Sixty Hours in New York City

30 Rock

My friend, Julie, and I flew to New York City on Thursday, had a whirlwind adventure in Manhattan, and flew back to Minneapolis early Sunday morning. For a quick trip this is a long post...we did SO MUCH!

We saw four Broadway musicals in three days, caught up with friends and family, and still had time to tour the Empire State Building and the New York Public Library. A 3 1/2-minute recap video is available here.

We landed at LaGuardia right on time, took the free bus to the subway, then the #7 subway line into Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal. We walked from Grand Central to our basecamp for the 3 days - 2nd Avenue and 48th Street East (just a couple of blocks from the East River and the United Nations).

Our first adventure took us to Lincoln Center via 5th Avenue and dinner with my friend Robin. We stopped at 30 Rock and took pictures of the Luise Vuitton inspired construction masking. The impetus for this trip was to see Ragtime, the musical, at Lincoln Center. I have loved this show for years and especially since I had the opportunity to work very temporarily as an ASM on the touring show many, many years ago.

Waldorf Astoria with Julie

The production at Lincoln Center exceeded all my expectations. It was stunning and even if we hadn't done another thing, my trip would have been complete.

Thursday was the rainy day and night. From Lincoln Center the plan was to take the subway to Grand Central so that we wouldn't be out in the rain so much. 

We made it to Times Square but the subway to Grand Central was not operating (probably too much rain) so we ended up walking from Times Square back to the apartment. We were doing pretty good until about 2 blocks remaining when it really started to pour. Everything got hung up to dry.

Friday morning, we met a cousin of Julie's at a nearby coffee shop then a walk-through of the stunning Waldorf Astoria. Back to the apartment to get our host who was joining us for lunch with my friend John Arnone.

We met John at Grand Central and ended up at The Brasserie - lots of theater stories were shared. A woman walked by our table and I did a double take - it was an actor I had worked with at The Guthrie years ago - Brenda Wehle. She was headed to the train to go to Connecticut. We chatted briefly.

From Grand Central, Julie and I walked to the Empire State Building. The company Julie works for has a connection with the building and a co-worker lent us his VIP access card. It was incredible. Friday was cloudy but no rain and no fog so the views were amazing.

Friday night we saw All Out: Comedy About Ambition. This is the show Julie had on her list primarily because of the band Lawrence. The show had announced it was closing March 8, so we caught one of the final performances. The band was fantastic. The stories by Simon Rich and read by a quartet of stand-up comedians were not as fantastic.

New York Public Library reading room

Saturday, we met Julie's cousin Chloe at the New York Public Library. Besides being a beautiful and historic building, there are exhibitions to visit. The exhibit, 100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity, was enlightening and stunning.

Chloe joined us for the remainder of the day and evening. We walked to Times Square to stand in line for TKTS tickets. We were in line for 1hr+ but brilliant-ly we ordered food online and Julie and Chloe picked it up while I kept place in line.

We made it to the ticket booth in time to get tickets for two shows. We decided on Buena Vista Social Club matinee and Moulin Rouge. Our host clued us into Buena Vista, and I've wanted to see Moulin Rouge ever since the movie.

Both were so, so good and we got great tickets to both. Between shows we ate at a French restaurant, visited the M&M Store, and had pizza slices.

We contemplated going to a club after Moulin Rouge since we were so fired up from both shows but also so very tired. We ended up saying good-bye to Chloe and walking back to Michael's apartment for a quick 2 hour "nap" before catching a Lyft to LaGuardia.

Wow! What a trip! Click here for the 3 1/2 minute video recap.

Mazatlan - Carnaval

I traveled to Mazatlán during Carnaval but didn't participate in any Carnaval activities! It was just nice to get a break from the cold and chaos of Minneapolis and to spend time with friends Pam and Bud.

Walked the beach and saw baby sea turtles struggling. Also, so a sea snake wiggling its way back to sea. Unfortunately, also so a few dead puffer fish. These were all firsts.

Had delicious home cooked and restaurant food (though we had one rather not-good restaurant meal). Met new and old friends.

Finally got to play in the Pacific Ocean!

You will notice in the video that I am obsessed with the birds flying by Pam's condo. 😊

Palm Springs - pre-birthday trip

View from Bud's backyard.

Quick post just to list out some of the adventures (and relaxing) in Palm Springs for a few days before my birthday. I stayed with my friend, Bud, who is snow-birding again this year in Palm Springs. Video here.

For my birthday we went to a new (6 months) restaurant, Ash and Vine. It is housed in a bungalow on La Plaza. The food and service were special.

Our first hiking adventure was to Anza-Borrega State Park, California's largest state park and about 1 1/2 hrs south of Palm Springs. The park is west of the Salton Sea.

Our destination was Maidenhair Falls Trail which starts at Hellhole Canyon Trailhead. We had like 3 different map apps which all had different trailhead locations. So you know, the trailhead is just out of the town of Borrego Springs (it isn't 3 miles out or 6 miles out).

Before you get to Borrego Springs, the drive takes you through the Badlands which is reminiscent of the South Dakota Badlands and worth the photo-op.

The trail to Maidenhair Falls is well marked for the most part until you get closer to the falls then you end up scrambling over boulders and around cacti but nothing too strenuous. But the "falls" -- oh boy. With all the recent rains, I was hoping for water falls though the name gives away the supposed real attraction - maidenhair ferns. There wasn't much of either - water or ferns. 😆In fact, you have to nearly crawl under overbrush to get to the cliff face (and Bud opted not to).

The hike to the "falls" and back is 5 miles or so. We enjoyed perfect temps and I am always amazed that there are oases with palm and deciduous trees. It was also very green for being in a desert.

We stopped in Borrego Springs after the hike for a meal and peruse a very interesting Fredericks Ancient & Ethnic Art gallery.

On the return drive to Palm Springs, we saw a hot air balloon that really looked like it was going to land on the highway or possibly a parking lot. For the longest time it was just stationary in the sky and not very high up. As we got closer, the igniters were turned on to try to get some elevation but didn't seem to work. No idea where it finally landed.

For another birthday dinner, we went to The Purple Room, a supposed rat pack hangout. It was very old school, very entertaining, and very Palm Spring.

On my departure day, we went to the popular Murray Canyon on the Agua Caliente Reservation. The palm trees are crazy tall. We took the Victor Loop that goes up above the canyon for dramatic views of Palm Springs and the surrounding mountains. Along this trail, we did encounter a big horn sheep. 

Video link here.

Annual Cozumel, Mexico, Trip

Once again, another wonderful time in Cozumel, Mexico. This year's group of friends were Jenny, Dave, Bud, JT, and Ellen. A short (5 minute) video is here.

It was rainier and stormier than usual but not so much that it interfered with our adventures. I got in two runs and Jenny swam every morning except one.

Bud did two dives. I joined on one of the dives to snorkel. It was fun to watch the divers from up above and I got to see a Spotted Eagle Ray AND a nurse shark....that is my first shark!

This year we also so a very large sea turtle right at the hotel and a very bizarre fish called a Flying Gurnard!

We spent a day at Buccano's Beach Club again. It is so beautiful, relaxing, and the snorkeling gets better each year.

We ate at the usual restaurants - Guido's, Casa Denis, the beautiful Mision, and Palmera. We tried a new spot, Ohana, which is known for deep dish pizza and peanut butter tequila!

Jenny and I snorkeled A LOT! The video of our underwater adventures is here (warning it is 20 minutes long but very relaxing).

Sea Turtle

Flying Gurnard

Mazatlan, Mexico

Back to Mazatlán for a week to help my friend Pam in her new condo. Click here for video montage. Pam bought a place last spring and had a lot of remodeling work done. I came down to help her get some projects completed and to enjoy the sun and warmth before our long Minnesota winter.

The condo is north of the huge metropolitan center of Mazatlán and directly on the beach (Pacific Ocean).

We did a lot of shopping 😳 And if you know me, I'm not one for shopping. It was Thanksgiving week so there was grocery shopping - we were to bring sweet potatoes to the meal, and decor shopping for the condo - very long walls in need of art or something. We went to several decor and Mexican art shops.

One highlight for me was the day I saw whales far out in the ocean. While staring out at the ocean, I saw some disturbance in the water. I grabbed the binoculars and was very, very lucky to catch a whale tail, aka fluke! It was very far out but definitely a fluke. It looked like maybe 3 whales all together as they swam even further away.

I loved watching the birds fly by. The condo is on the 15th floor of a 16-story building. Often, the birds would soar right at the balcony level.

Mazatlán is known for sunsets. Honestly, while I was there the sunsets were okay except for Thanksgiving's sunset. It was spectacular - in the video, the sunsets are in chronological order.

Here again is the link to the video.

Up North - Cabin, Super Full Beaver Moon, and Maggie

Jenny, Maggie, and I went up to Jenny and Andrew's cabin on Gust Lake in Cook County to close it up for the winter, to see the super full beaver moon, and to look for moose. Click here to watch the video montage.

The super full beaver moon did not disappoint. There were some clouds but they only added to the effect. The "beaver" designation is from indigenous people describing this season's full moon used by beavers to finalize their lodges for the winter.

On Thursday we hiked the Daniels Lake Trail from Clearwater Lodge to enter the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We made it to the BWCA after all!

The trail starts off very wet and marshy but becomes clear and dry and arrives at Daniels Lake in about 2 miles. We saw LOTS of moose tracks but no moose ☹️

Daniels Lake

East Bearskin Lodge's Instagram account had mentioned that 2 moose were around the lodge so on the way back down the Gunflint Trail, we stopped to explore. The US Forest Service was conducting a prescribed burn right next to the lodge, so we weren't too optimistic on seeing the moose. The lodge is closed for the season, but we asked someone cleaning up if they'd seen the moose. They had just seen the pair the day before. We drove around and around but still nothing!

We went into Grand Marais on Friday for some shopping and lunch. All this time, Maggie enjoyed exploring the cabin and its famous "catwalk."

Dave, a Gust Lake neighbor, introduced a very friendly fox to us before he left for the winter.

We all enjoyed the wood-burning stove (which kept the cabin very cozy). We ate well, played cards, and read books. It was a lovely break from the city.

Click to view the video montage.

Biking-Camping - Detroit Lakes and the Trolls

Another biking and camping trip with my friend, Bud. The video is here.

We drove up to Detroit Lakes on Sunday. It was grey and rainy.

The camping portion of the trip was at a HipCamp site called Tumbleweed Base Camp just outside of Detroit Lakes and adjacent to Detroit Mountain Recreation Area.

To get our bearings, we drove into Detroit Lakes to check out the first of Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo's trolls, Alexa's Elixir, in downtown next to the lake.

Full disclosure, I cheated by looking up the location of all the trolls. If you want to follow the clues to discover each troll, don't worry, I won't divulge where each one is.

Tumblweed Base Camp has a nice setup (we really appreciated having a heater in the tent) but wasn't conducive to making our own meals, so we ate dinner in town. We did fix breakfast Monday morning before heading out on our biking adventure.

Monday was a beautiful day for biking. After purchasing a pair of gloves (Bud) and bike shorts (Jeff), we got started around 10:00am.

We started back at Alexa and used GPS to get around. It was fun to cycle then walk around each park where each troll was located. A kind of surprising find was that this part of Minnesota had rolling hills and even a ski hill (mountain??).

I had mapped out riding to each troll. The farthest we had to go was about 10 miles to Frazee. We were on dedicated bike paths most of the time (big shout out to "rails to trails"). 

Thank goodness for The Monarch Coffee House in Frazee. They were open on Monday and serving a hearty lunch.

We saw lots of swans...an unexpected and delightful surprise. The fall colors were nice but not dramatic. The art park, Ortenstone Gardens and Sculpture Park, is a fantastic addition. Be sure to go behind Barefoot Frida to be amazed.

We made it to all the trolls by bike except the last one. It was getting late and it turned out the last troll was near our campsite. The timing was perfect as we got to see the setting sun from the highest point in the area. We ended up biking over 26 miles.

Tumblewood Base Camp teepee

Trying to find breakfast Tuesday before we started the drive home was a challenge. Most places were closed though the internet told us they were open. We ended up at Northside Bar - a cash only local spot serving a very good breakfast.

We took a scenic route back to Minneapolis. Click here to watch the trip video.