I Love NY State in the Summertime

Part I


John and I are headed to the shiny island of Manhattan next weekend. He has a conference, and I’m tagging along for a slice of NY style pizza from my favorite NYC pizzeria, Sbarro’s.

This is why I love NYC: next Fri, there are 47 Off-Broadway performances, 4 Literary events, 2 major museum exhibitions, 24 festivals, 3 different world-dance performances, and a gazillion concerts to choose from.

So much to do, not enough time.

I know what I DON’T want to do. I don’t want to see a Broadway musical (with the exception of Promises, Promises- which is based on one of my favorite movies, The Apartment.) I don’t want to visit the Statue of Liberty, The Empire State Building, or Ground Zero. I don’t want to shop at Bloomingdales or Bergdorf Goodman. There are no exhibitions I am particular drawn to at the Met, the MOMA, or the Guggenheim.

I kind of want to shout at Al Roker at 7am in the morning. Our hotel is in Times Square, so I think this is a definite possibility.

I do not want to see the comic revue Naked Boys Singing, which is exactly what it sounds like, or Viagra Falls at the Little Schubert Theater. Nor do I care to see Puppetry of the Penis at the Green Room, which is also exactly what it sounds like, or Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party.

In fact, the off-Broadway selection in NYC has led me to believe that there are no longer any straight men involved in the theater. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Here’s what I kind of would like to do. I want to hang out with my darling Christine. I want to take a self-directed walking tour of historical buildings. There’s also a cool neighborhood in the Meatpacking District I’d like to explore, followed by a casual dinner at the Spice Market. There are also some (some is an understatement) used bookstores I’d like to hit. I’m a wanderer. I wander around, around, around, around, around.

Here were John’s suggestions: A Mets game (and they’re in town. Curses!) He also (and he was so excited about this) has a client who could TOTALLY get us a private tour of the Brooklyn Brewery.

I cannot believe we have been married for nearly 11 years. Seriously.

I’m not opposed to a baseball game, but they take up an awful lot of time- time that could be better spent wandering. Some sort of compromise will have to be met. Any suggestions for fun, frugal, NYC things to do? Preferably with shopping and eating involved?


Part II

Tomorrow, I am taking Ben and Caleb up to Schroon Lake to visit my cantankerous grandmother.

Grandma likes to remind us on a regular basis that she doesn’t get many visits. The main reason, according to Grandma, is that she lives on a hill and all of her friends are now too old to climb the hill. She then likes to remind us that it sucks to get old and that it is depressing to watch all of her friends die.

Can’t argue with that.

I think she’ll enjoy Caleb and Ben. I’m sure I’ll hear this type of statement at least once:

“When YOUR mother was growing up, she didn’t have all these fancy toys to play with. No- your mom played with her dolls and she played outside, summer and winter, and that was good enough for her.”

Grandma is 88, she still drives everywhere, and she has an opinion about everything. She amuses me to no end.

I’m going to drag the boys hiking and then we’ll take a dip in the lake. There may even be a paddle boat excursion in our future. I wish we could be there on a Wed. night to go square dancing! Perhaps next year.

Summer’s too short. Way, way too short.