June 20, 2008

We have arrived safely in New York. US customs was a pain in Bermuda since I do not have a Bermuda passport - Aidan was through in seconds on his. I guess I have to get another passport when we get back. The flight was calm. I managed to get through the newspapers, a magazine and a comic while Aidan did the MENSA puzzles in the American Airlines magazine. Terminal 8 is large and modern looking but we had a long walk to baggage claim and then a longer wait for the shuttle into the City. Still, the weather is great for late June and we can't wait to go to Central Park.

The shuttle from JFK into the City was a horrible experience. After waiting for 30 minutes for it to show up, we then picked up passengers from JFK and Laguardia! With Friday traffic we didn't arrive at the Shoreham until 12noon. Talk about painful. We were both hungry and irritated. Seeing the hotel began to turn the day around. The lobby looks like a modern ard museum. Actually, with the employees in smart black outfits, it was like an art museum meets a fashion show. Aidan checked us in but the room wasn't available until 3pm).The hotel is on 55th between 5th and 6th so we began our visit by walking down to 45th to see if we could pick up the theatre tickets. The tickets hadn't been delivered yet so we decided to do a little shopping. First we ate at the McDonalds near Times Square - which was amazing. 3 levels, concert clips and broadway show previews while you ate. We then headed to 34th and went to the Manhattan Mall, etc. We ended. Up not shopping much but we saw a lot of different places vs. the regular Macys, etc.We headed back to the hotet to check in. The room is fabulous. It is larger than the one we had at the Tudor - very sleek yet functional. We rested for the rest of the afternoon and then headed out to Beacon for dinner. We had a voucher for the theatre menu and it was one block over on 56th street. Talk about excellent food! I started with oysters roasted on the half shell in a wood burning oven and Aidan ate a large salad (and he ate the whole thing). We then both had the sirloin with fresh mushrooms and creamed spinach. This was enhanced with a lovely red wine from Spain. Dessert was a trio of homemade ice creams for Aidan and a chocolate chocolate chip souffle for me.We then walked to 44th for the show. And what a show it was. The opening announcement had us nervous at first - Patty Lupone had hurt her foot.... so she was going to do the show in her isotoner slippers. Talk about a collective sigh of relief. Gypsy was amazing. The three main characters (who all won Tonys last week) were phenomenal but the rest of the cast was excellent as well. Patty Lupone was Rose! Her acting was her strength as both of us are not that in love with her regular singing voice (she runs words into each other). However when she sing/acts or blasts a song she was unmatched. I walked out stunned at the power behind the final number!We walked back to the hotel through the crowds. I still can't belive how crowded NYC is at night - I never seem to get used to it.