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.