Healy-Guttman Blog

Somehow in all my years of travelling I missed New York, so this was my first visit - albeit a brief one - and we managed to pack a lot into just a few days.

The genesis of this trip was the WICA auction last year where we bid on and “won” this trip that included 3 nights at the Waldorf Astoria, limo to and from the airport, airfare and a dinner at the Tavern on the Green restaurant.  We have a niece that lives in NY along with one of Suzanne’s best friends, so we were looking forward to this trip. 

We arrived on a Friday night and met up with niece Rachel Colgate and her friend Eric Olson in the hotel and spent several hours catching up.  Saturday, Rachel met us at the hotel and we walked to the Museum of Natural History and on the way got some breakfast (at noon!) and went through central park. It was about an hour walk to the museum, but it was an absolutely gorgeous day, perfect for walking – blue sky and 40°…  Rachel & Suzanne along the way:

 

This seemed to be the favored mode of transportation around Central Park:

There were several “street performances” to keep things interesting:

When Suzanne asked me what I would like to see in NYC, the first thing that came to mind was the Museum of Natural History - and it didn’t disappoint.  We did 2 of the “special” exhibits at the museum and roamed with the dinosaurs:

After an afternoon nap, next up was dinner with Eric and Rachel at the Tavern on the Green on Central Park.  Although a historic place (the owner was the son of the guy who wrote the wizard of Oz), it was a bit over the top, overpriced and over decorated.  The room we ate in looked like an easter egg exploded – with pastel pinks, greens and yellows - or maybe an Easter egg gone very very wrong…  Eric was a trooper, answering all our “tell me about yourself” questions (hey, he is dating our niece!) and even grudgingly posed for a picture or two:

Anyway, it was an experience and “check” we did it and don’t feel obligated to do it again!! We then went about 6 blocks and had a drink at a trendy NY bar…  

Yeah, that’s the only photo that turned out.  …it was dark in there!

Sunday morning, we met up with Rachel again along with friend Ellen Elfering in SoHo at a busy little café/restaurant simply called “Jane”.  After breakfast, Rachel needed to get errands done and get ready for her trip to Prague so Ellen, Suzanne and I walked (again) around the city for most of the day.  We walked through Tribeca and to the waterfront along the Hudson River in Battery Park. Again, another spectacularly fabulous clear day.  Along the line there were more - you guessed it - Kodak moments!  Ellen and Suzanne monkeying around:

We could see the statue, Ellis island, etc. We made our way to “Ground Zero” - there was finally construction going on after being tangled up in politics for 7 years -it was very sad.  Across the street was Trinity Church (the first church in NY) and a graveyard with stones dating 1766, etc… With the disaster across the street, this church and graveyard was not touched at all in the events of 9-11 – bizarre…

After this, I left Ellen and Suzanne and went back to the Waldorf so they could have some “girl time”. They took the Stanton Island Ferry (which is free) and back.  This ferry goes right in front of the statue of liberty and offers an amazing view of the skyline of the city from the water.  They spent the afternoon catching up.  

Our brief NYC odyssey was a lot of fun but I have to admit I’m not much of a “big city guy”.  I am looking forward to getting back to Whidbey and the peace and solitude of our island home.  ..sure we don’t have the Museum of Natural History or world class restaurants - but we have Pierre and Alphonso (the gay ducks), Bobby and Lulu (the feral cats), a great little restaurant within walking distance run by Suzanne, a lot of trees and no yellow taxis that I can think of…