Mother's Day From NYC

Ah, the Capitol of the World! Thursday at 4 am!!! I roused Wifey and the Ds from a deep sleep, piled them into the ole Volvo SUV, and headed to NYC. Mission: short family vacation, and to see D2 off on her Birthright (tm) trip to Israel.

My ladies took the early hour surprisingly well. I rarely like to take such early flights, but the next one open was too late, and would have blown a whole vacation day, so we boarded at 630 and flew the 767 to JFK.

We arrived, and took a taxi to our hotel, the Marmara. Hotel prices in NYC have become obscene! We usually stay in a nice Midtown place, but now they have a 2 person in room max, and at $400 per night per room, that was a bit much.

I found the Marmara, a hotel/condo, and got a one bedroom condo where all 4 could fit (2 bathrooms and a kitchen, too) for the bargain price of only $390 per night, PLUS ridiculous NYC taxes.

Whatever. It was a nice enough place, on 94th Street and 2nd avenue. and we left our bags and headed to Times Square for theatre tix. We agreed on one show: "The Book of Mormon," an anti religion satire by the South Park guys. We went to the box office and found tickets WERE available, and good seats, for face value ($150 per) in AUGUST!!!!! Oh well. We were told we could try a lottery at 430, so we had lunch, headed back uptown for naps, and then D1 and I returned. No dice. The line was 50 desperate folks. We agreed it wasn't to be, and no other show grabbed anyone. It was to be a Broadway-less trip...

We had terrific Italian at Nicks, across from the hotel, and then walked the 'hood. The Ds and Wifey love to dog watch, and they found a bunch of them to pet and communicate with...

Friday I had a mission, very early: D2's phone went on the blink, and I headed to an ATT shop across from the library on 42nd Street to get it fixed. Success! It was just a bad port. I celebrated with a cafe au lait and Friday Times in Bryant Park. It was gorgeous out! Spring and Fall in NYC truly are magical. The trees were green, the flowers in Spring bloom, and I only had to growl at one homeless guy who bothered me.

The Ds and Wifey met me at the Parker Meridien's restuarant Norma's, where we had Mother's Day brunch early. It was delicious, and aburdly expensive. But where else can you get peanut butter and chocolate waffles, and oj made from amazingly sweet oranges--mandarins, I think...

Then we headed back uptown to see Tracy, my partner Paul's daughter, and her new baby Lilly. What a beauty! We held the baby, and traded tales of babyhood. Jon, Tracy's husband, came by on his lunch hour, and we chatted about law and new fatherhood. I told him fatherhood gets better and better; law sucks more and more...

From there, we hit the Jewish Museum near Central PArk, where they had a great exhibition of the Cohn sisters, wealthy spinsters from Baltimore who befriended Matisse, and bought tons of amazing paintings. I told the girls that WE could have bought tons more stuff but for what we spent on them.

Next we headed near Lincoln Center for sushi with D1's friend Rachel, a Columbia grad student. She took us to her tiny "2 flex" apartment, where a roommate was hard at work learning hand anatomy...

Saturday we had breakfast at the Barking Dog Cafe, apparently famous from "Sex and the City." Or "In" --I never get that straght.

From there, we headed to Canal Street by cab. As soon as we alighted, a Chinese lady saw D1 as a fashionista, and whispered "Handbags? Wallets?" We then did the foreign intrigue-like drill, where we were handed off from China lady to China lady, until we were dropped at a nail salon, ushered in, and shown the motherlode of knockoff bags and wallets.

I'm ashamed to admit the girls and Wifey fell prey, and are now walking around with bags and wallets that are fake versions of stuff that would have cost over $8000 at Saks, and which we bought for about $250...

My situational morality allowed me this trespass over the houses of Fendi, Chanel, and Tori Burch...

Still, when a large man came out and bellowed that buyers could be arrested and fined, it spooked me, and we left...

Next we met another of D1's friends, Macarena, from the J. Maca, as D calls her, is a beautiful South American girl who graduated UM and is now getting a Master's. She only likes Jewish guys, and found herself a venture capitalist who bought a condo in TriBECA, which we visited. The VC guy was on a conference call, and only managed a head shake at us, but we went to the roof and enjoyed the sun.

Next, it was to West Village, where we met D2's friend Ashley, and her sister, a Brooklyn film producer. We shared the most delicious felafals we had ever eaten, to get D2 and Ashley (going on a different Birthright (tm) trip in the mood for Israel...

Then back to the hotel, where we watched the Kentucky Derby, and then the Heat game. D1 left to meet yet ANOTHER NYC Gator friend for yogurt.

This am, we went back to Barking Dog, ate our farewell breakfast, and headed to JFK. We said goodbye to D2 at the Swissair terminal, and met some of her fellow travelers. Some others also had Israeli born parents, and were let out...

Then to the AA terminal, via airtrain. JFK is much nicer than it was when I was a kid, though the terminal where AA is was clearly designed by engineers from the University of Warsaw: from the train, we went up and down 3 times to get to the gate, via escalators...

So now I plan to enjoy my Admiral's Club(tm) free vodka, and wish D2 Godspeed on her trip.

Back to Miami's heat and humidity...