We traveled through the maze of traffic in NYC with our travel companions Lisa and John, as our fearless van driver navigated the crowded streets of Manhattan, on our approach to Pier 90, where our ship, The Viking Saturn, was docked.
Check-in was very efficient at the pier and since we arrived around 11 am, there weren’t many people presenting their boarding passes and passports, so before we knew it, we were onboard our ship, for our Canada, Greenland, and Iceland adventure.
We were immediately escorted to an emergency station, the place we would flock calmly to if the captain deemed it necessary to abandon ship, This area is where further instructions would be imparted to us and we would don life jackets and board a second means of transportation, aka “the lifeboat”. They served us champagne as we, the captive audience, listened intently to the instructions. (Somehow, I don’t think in the event of a real emergency, we would be guzzling champagne while scrambling into the life boats, but it was a nice touch.) After that enlightening session, we had a lovely lunch in the World Cafe and afterwards, we explored the ship a bit, and then went to our cabin where our luggage was awaiting us.
At around 5, we met Lisa and John for drinks on deck 7, so that we could watch the ship’s departure from port. I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, and there was some confusion as to what side we should be sitting on…port or starboard… for the best view. The crew tried to be helpful, but no one knew the definitive answer, so we decided to stay starboard, and we weren’t disappointed. We sailed past lady liberty in all her glory, with the sun right behind her, and as always, it was a magnificent site to behold.
We then went to ‘The Restaurant’ (that’s really the name of the restaurant) for dinner and had a nice meal with Lisa and John while watching the sun set. After dinner we walked the upper deck in search of the super blue moon that was going to be shining in the night sky, but some wispy clouds were occluding it and we couldn’t see it very clearly. The evening was balmy with a lovely breeze, but we were tired and decided it was time for bed. Once back in bed, however, I decided that I really wanted to check out that super blue moon again, because after all, it happens once in a blue moon, so I went back to deck 8 by myself in my PJ’s, and I was rewarded with seeing it cloud free. The picture I took doesn’t do it justice. Then it was back to the cabin for a good night’s sleep, as the Saturn cruised the Atlantic Ocean, making its way to Halifax, Canada. Tomorrow will be a day at sea.
Well, we’re off on another adventure. We leave from the pier in NYC and will board our ship the Viking Saturn that will take us to ports in Canada, Greenland, and iconic Iceland. I’ll try to post every day, as long as the the internet cooperates, so sit back and I hope you will enjoy the journey.
Allan and I are always saying “It’s five o’clock somewhere, so we might as well pour a glass of wine.” And we do. But now I’m beginning to think we might have a problem. A magazine article that I was reading the other day cited a statistic concerning wine consumption in the United States and it was pretty scary. According to the Wine Market Council, the average person consumes almost three gallons of wine in a year.
Even though we knew the calculations wouldn’t be good…we did the math and our worst fears were realized. We can easily down one gallon of Cabernet in a MONTH, and that’s not taking into consideration the nights we are with friends when the evening tally can go up exponentially!!
Those Wine Council statistics are so unbelievable…I think I might have to pour myself another glass.
One evening, when we lived in North Carolina, we went to DuPont Forest in Transylvania county (where they also filmed The Hunger Games) and saw Phausis reticulata…also known as Blue Ghost fireflies.
The fireflies are indigenous to the area and they only can be seen for about a month each year…and then they are gone. It was a little scary being in the forest where the bears roam, in the pitch black of night, to see these little critters, but it was well worth it.
The show started out slowly with a few blue ghosts hovering about, but then really got amazing at around 10 pm when hundreds of them appeared, hovering over the forest floor about two feet off the ground. Their lights do not blink on and off like the fireflies we are familiar with, but rather stay on for quite some time until they go out…only to be recharged and lit up a few seconds later. And why do they appear at this time of year? It is mating season for the ghost fireflies. The little females have no wings…so they can’t fly away…making them easy pickins’ for the males.
In order not to blind other observers in the area, we were asked to carry flashlights covered with red paper. I was thinking that the males might mistake our flashlights for flying bordellos in a red light district and forget their task at hand, but hopefully, the mating season was as productive as ever and next year we will observe the fruits of their labor.
Allan and I have been going through our clothes and putting aside the ones that don’t fit anymore. We pile them in boxes and take them off to Good Will.
Many years ago, I did exactly the same thing only instead of going to Good Will, I dropped them off at one of those clothing drops that usually stand in parking lots. This one happened to be at a local Catholic church and unfortunately, as I dropped the clothing into the box…the car keys that I was holding in my hand, went along for the ride.
Ken, who was about 11 years old at the time, was with me and we ran over to the rectory, hoping to find someone who might have the keys to open the bin. A priest came to the door and when I told him of my plight he bellowed “OH GOD!!!”
The priest had yelled “Oh God” with such conviction, that I stood there on his doorstep for a few seconds thinking he obviously had an “in” with The Almighty and the door to the clothing bin would miraculously be springing open any second.
No such luck.
The priest said he didn’t have any key and didn’t know what to do. Ken said “I know what to do, Mom,” and off he ran back to the bin.
Before I knew it, Ken was diving head first into the box. I got there just in time to prevent losing my car keys AND a child to a clothing drop. I grabbed his legs and held on while the rest of his body was swallowed up by the bin. He rummaged around and suddenly I heard the muffled cry “I found them!!!”
The priest was astounded at the cleverness of my son. I was just thankful that his vaccinations were all up to date.
Have you ever noticed when you use a powder room in a friend’s home, that very often, the toilet tissue is rolled the opposite way from the way you put it on the holder in your own home?
I was thinking about this the other day when I changed the tissue. Here are the pros and cons as I see it for each way tissue could be put on the holder:
Tissue coming from over the top:
Pros:
1. Tissue comes off quickly
2. Looks nice…you can even fold the top piece into that little triangular shape like many hotels love to do
Cons:
l. Wind up pulling way too much tissue off at one sitting.
2. Very easy for a cat to whack the top of the roll and pull the tissue down all over the floor dragging it into your hallway and down the stairs.
Tissue coming from underneath:
Pros:
1. Amount of tissue is automatically regulated
2. Saves on having to run out to the store to buy toilet tissue
Cons:
1. Doesn’t look as pretty on the holder.
2. If someone has pulled it down too far and doesn’t roll it backup again, your bathroom can look untidy.
Allan and I used to travel back and forth from North Carolina to Connecticut on a fairly regular (no pun intended) basis, I had become acquainted with MANY bathroom toilet dispensers all along Interstate 81. Most of them function as you would hope and you can take as much TP as needed. Others, however, seem to have a little locking mechanism on the holder itself…limiting you to approximately two squares of tissue. That is really annoying. Usually you haven’t checked the dispensing system of the holder after entering the stall and you find yourself pushing the paper over the top and under about 20 times, while balancing on your legs over the bowl. If nothing else, your quadriceps get a great work out!! And sometimes you are all set to grab a handful of tissue only to find out…there’s none left!!! That’s really annoying since usually when you realize it, your neighbor in the next stall has just left the building and you have to now resort to furiously looking through your pocketbook for that Kleenex you blew your nose into awhile ago. (Hey…com’on…I know you’ve done that too!)
When we traveled to Russia we had to bring our own toilet tissue because what the hotels and public bathrooms supplied was the equivalent of industrial grade sandpaper and for the pampered American tush, that was a bit too much. But then we went to Africa where there WAS NO toilet paper in the public bathrooms…but that was the least of your problems since there was NO TOILET EITHER. You straddle the hole and pray that you have some of those used Kleenex stuffed somewhere in your pockets.
So even though the pros and cons for how you insert the tissue on the holder number the same, I prefer the tissue coming from underneath. Probably, because “underneath” is where it’s put to the best use!
Years ago, we were out to dinner with friends and with some folks we had never met before, and the topic of conversation turned to TV shows. We all have Netflix and we were comparing notes about our favorite shows.
“There’s a great show called ‘Hung’ on HBO”, one of the new guys offered. And then he lowered his voice a little and said, “And ‘Hung’ is exactly what you think it’s about”.
I’m thinking to myself…a show about people swinging from nooses? Geez…doesn’t sound like something I’d hang around for…no pun intended…but I said, “Oh thanks for the recommendation. We’ll check it out”. Then he told us about the show ‘Dexter’…which is apparently about a serial killer. While he was trying to think of other shows to recommend… I was frantically trying to remember if I had already mentioned my last name or where I lived to him!
Another guy entered the discussion and our new friend said, “You really have to watch ‘Hung’! And, once more, he lowers his voice and says, “And it’s exactly what you think it’s about!” Again, I’m envisioning the gallows.
Someone volunteered, “Oh yeah. ‘Hung”. That’s the show about the gigolo. It’s hilarious!!”
And then I got it. HUNG. Talk about an Aaaahaaa moment!
Now they were all on a roll and started raving about another show ‘Weeds’. I’m thinking…those pesky green things in the soil that you spray Weed B Gone on?
A dead carrier pigeon was found in a London house chimney with a note attached to its leg. Researchers believe that the note was a coded message from World War II and that the pigeon was no doubt returning from Nazi occupied France during the June 1944 D-Day invasion. Apparently, messages carried by pigeons were frequently dispatched across the Channel during the blackouts to give updates on the invasion. Only the most sensitive messages would have had such a complex code and as of yet, no one has been able to decipher it. The message has now been handed over to Bletchley Park in England which houses the National code center and tries to decipher these kind of messages. They will try to unravel the message using World War II logbooks. Here’s the message:
AOAKN HVPKD FNFJW YIDDC
RQXSR DJHFP GOVFN MIAPX
PABUZ WYYNP CMPNW HJRZH
NLXKG MEMKK ONOIB AKEEQ
WAOTA RBQRH DJOFM TPZEH
LKXGH RGGHT JRZCQ FNKTQ
KLDTS FQIRW AOAKN KNTIM
I’ve started to decipher the code myself…and I think I have made good progress. So far I have:
Being the mother of four children was an adventure every day. Being the mother of four BOYS was an adventure every minute. The boys always found something to amuse themselves with whenever they were left to their own devices. Most times the outcome was fine…other times, not so much.
There’s a product called Fun Tak that’s advertised as: “a removable, long lasting, no mess, stain resistant and non-toxic blue adhesive for hanging posters, photos and drawings on the wall”
A fantastic product…until a child mashes it into his hair and for good measure, squishes it into a sibling’s tresses as well. “Removable” and “No Mess”? I beg to differ. I will, however, attest to its “Long Lasting” claim since 19 shampoos did not budge it. After a frantic call to the manufacturer for suggestions on how to get the stuff out of hair, the two culprits went to school for a week looking like 50’s Greasers. It seems the recommended remedy of mineral oil was “long lasting” as well.
Another “hair” raising adventure was the day one child decided to rev up a “Rev ‘Em Up Racer” and while the wheels were frantically spinning…place it on his head. The wheels spun around his hair, resulting in the car being cemented to his scalp. I tried to carefully free the car from his pate using scissors and razor, but he still wound up going to school for a week looking like Howie Mandel.
The folks at Poison Control were almost like family. I called them almost as much as I called my mother. One child swallowed Afrin pediatric nose drops resulting in the administration of two doses of Ipecac and a whoops pot. (Hours later, the same child confessed he really hadn’t swallowed them after all; he had poured them down the drain.) One son swallowed Mr. Clean while another feasted on a box of chalk. We called Poison Control so much I worried I might have to start using an alias so DHS wouldn’t arrive at the front door to cart my kids away.
One day, a son was getting antsy because lunch wasn’t appearing on the table fast enough, and heard me mutter “I need help” . Imagine my surprise when an elderly neighbor who I hardly knew tottered up to my door and said “Is everything okay? Your son told me to come over because you needed help”. And if truth be told, I would have put him to work making peanut butter sandwiches if it wasn’t for the fact the poor man could hardly stand erect.
A frog, a baby squirrel, numerous goldfish (one of which I had to feed with a tweezers because he was on his last fins and couldn’t get to the food), four white mice, a guinea pig, a Golden Retriever and a stray calico cat…all who found their way into our home – mainly because mom couldn’t resist those famous words “Mom, please. Can’t we keep it?” (And by the way…that half dead goldfish went on to live another two years. Go figure.)
And, I kind of miss those Mother’s Day breakfasts, when, after waking me at 5:30 am, the boys would insist I remain in bed while they prepared a morning feast in the kitchen. It was a sure bet I would eventually hear one brother hissing to another “Now look what you’ve done. You’ve sneezed all over Mom’s cereal” or ” Just pick it up and put it back on the plate”. And how can I forget those 16 oz glasses of milk that accompanied the breakfasts? (I still can’t forget them!!)
Yes, those escapades have given me my gray hair, but I wouldn’t have changed a single moment over the years. Mother’s Day for me was every day…and even though my boys are all grown up now…it still is.
New York City! Being a native New Yorker (that’s pronounced New Yawker by the way), I need to get back to the city periodically to get my fix of the hustle and bustle of the city streets, to inhale the fragrances that waft through the air, to marvel at the beauty of the skyline, and then of course to scarf down bagels and pizza, which you can’t get anywhere else in the world! Yes, there’s nothing like New York.
First stop: New York Pizza! If you’re a native New Yorker, you eat your pizza by folding it in half, never by cutting it with a knife and eating with a fork. It’s wonderful when the oil and the tomato sauce drips down your chin while you savor each slice. We went to a place called Carve and had our pizza…Margarita style, making sure that our napkins sopped up the oil and sauce before they threatened to stain our clothes.
Next stop: Broadway! I was able to get tickets to the Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, at the Lunt-Fontanne theater, starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical is based on a book by Hugh Wheeler and based on a 1970 play Sweeney Todd by Christopher Bond. This is the first time since 1980 that the musical was performed as the original production that Sondheim envisioned, with a 26-player orchestration.
It was fabulous! Josh’s voice took Sweeney to new heights and his deep and resonant voice added to the macabre set. Annaleigh was hilarious with her antics, as she fell in love with Sweeney, only to be cast aside literally in the end. They are both up for Tony’s for Best Performance by an Actor and Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, and the show itself is up for Tony’s in Best Revival of a Musical, Mimi Lien for Best Scenic Design, Natasha Katz, for Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Nevin Steinberg for Best Sound Design of a Musical, and Steven Hoggett for Best Choreography. They all deserve to win!
Third stop: Hotel Scherman! We checked in to this lovely and quaint boutique hotel on Restaurant Row at 346 West 46th. The staff were so accommodating, and the hotel was immaculate. Our room was spacious – king bed, refrig, and a huge bathroom. Breakfast was included on the mezzanine level patio and offered hardboiled eggs, an assortment of breads, (including of course NY bagels), fruits, yogurts, cereals, and beverages.
Fourth stop: Jean-Georges! We walked from the Hotel Scherman to Columbus Circle, taking in the gorgeous evening and the NYC skyline, on our way to Jean-Georges, a two-star Michelin restaurant (top rating is three-star). We’ve been to French Laundry, in California, which was an amazing three-star restaurant, and Jean-Georges was excellent as well. The menu (below) was diverse, and by the time the last two courses arrived, we were so sated, we couldn’t even finish. (Note to self: Don’t keep eating the savory breads, no matter how heavenly the gourmet butter is.) The least expensive bottle of red wine on the menu was $400 so we purchased two glasses each of a cabernet at $38 a glass. We dined on the 10 course omnivore menu and each bite was bliss to the tastebuds. To enhance many of the courses, a small amount of coulis would appear via a waiter holding a small gravy boat, and the sauce would surround the highlighted offering and add to the savoriness. The waitstaff explained each course to us, and each offering appeared on different and unusual plates – the food atop being artfully arranged. We celebrated our 50th anniversary at the restaurant, since on our actual 50th date last August, we both had COVID. Our waiter presented us with a delicious little anniversary cake. And when we were leaving the restaurant, we were presented with two almond loaves to enjoy for breakfast. It was a romantic and magical evening.
We walked back at our hotel around 11:45 pm and the next day we enjoyed the…
Fifth stop: RiseNY! We had never heard of this museum before, but we were so glad that we found it. It took about 2 hours to go through the exhibits, which (according to a blurb from RiseNY) was a “journey through seven galleries – Finance, Skyline, TV/Radio, Fashion, Music, Broadway, and Film…spot-lighting historic artifacts, and memorabilia from each gallery“. It was a trip down memory lane – reliving famous events in NYC as well as seeing the sets of the famous TV shows like All in the Family, Seinfeld, and at Sesame Street we even met Oscar the Grouch in his garbage can. We watched the Beatles as they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show back in 1964, and I loved seeing the fashion statements in the Fashion gallery, that featured some of the famous outfits performers have worn through the years.
After we toured the museum, we went on a simulated ride over the NYC skyline! THAT WAS AMAZING!!!! According to the blurb of the museum, “Full motion seats let you dip, turn, and soar, while wind, mist, and scents heighten the experience, creating the sensation of flight.” I have a fear of heights, and in the beginning, I did have to close my eyes, but then, wide-eyed, I enjoyed the rest of the show. It began to rain on the screen, and we were sprinkled with water as the ride soared along. We zoomed over Yankee Stadium, the skyscrapers, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, to mention just a few of the sites. And then, we found ourselves at the soon-to-be 2023 New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square, and we were given a blast of cool air while snowflakes flew in our faces as the ride glided to an end. It was so much fun and we enjoyed every minute.
It was a fabulous two days, and we can’t wait for our next visit to the most wonderful city in the world – New York!
JEAN-GEORGES MENU
Amuse Bouche – Sea trout crispy sushi sea urchin, salted butter and yuzu, with a cup of sweet pea soup
Caviar – Coconut semifreddo and dill
Japanese Snapper Ceviche – Turmeric, golden kiwi and elderflower
Yellowfin Tuna Ribbons – Avocado, radish, ginger dressing and chili oil
King Crab – Nishiki rice, vermouth fondue and nori
Spring Pea Dumpling – Smoked morel mushrooms and sansho
Black Sea Bass – Clams, celtuce, spring garlic-sorrel jus
Maine Lobster – Braised endive, passion fruit-whiskey emulsion
Hudson Valley Foie Gras – Rhubarb, lemongrass, Sicilian pistachio
Charred Duck Breast – White asparagus, kanzuri, strawberry consommé
