Sort of as predicted, I was sad to leave New York. I kept telling myself as we took the train and Metro and Uber home that I shouldn’t regret it was over, I should be glad it happened. It helped a little, but it’s still sad when fun time together has to end. The weekend will be here soon enough, though. And we will most certainly go back to NYC again.
Luis and I had a more casual anniversary vacation this time, which was good. We didn’t super-pack days with activities, and we were flexible when the weather or shutdown got in the way. For example, since we couldn’t go inside Hamilton’s house, we strolled around the grounds and the park directly near it, then walked all the way to the north in Central Park and explored that a little, too. A different day, we were supposed to walk on the High Line but the rain meant it was closed. It’s a pretty outdoor trail with a bunch of plants and views of the city, sort of like an urban Living with the Land. We moved it to a different day and walked it then; it was much nicer in better weather than it would’ve been if we’d attempted it on the rainiest day we were there.
We also went to the Museum of Modern Art in the morning on the day we were supposed to walk through the High Line, and there were so many people in there. I think it was both because it was rainy and because it was a holiday. Probably not the best planning on our part; it was the day with the most people of any of the places we went. But it was still good to see several of the famous art pieces by Dali, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Warhol. One thing I quickly noticed about tourists in art museums is that a lot of them go up to paintings just to take a picture with their phone, then they move on to the next one. I find that sad.
Luis and I stood at The Persistence of Memory for several minutes, admiring it and appreciating it after watching a lady stand directly in front of it, move her arm in the way of everyone to snap a picture, and then leave.
We did take pictures of the artworks, to have proof memory of seeing them, but we also paused in front of each of them to admire them. Paintings, after all, weren’t made to be photographed.
While on our trip, we also saw several Muppets, a Reagan puppet from The Exorcist, Jim Carrey’s mask from The Mask, Robin Williams’ mask from Mrs. Doubtfire, several Broadway theater marquees, several dogs and squirrels, and even a cat sitting in a window in Queens. We also took the subway a lot. It gets a bad reputation, but the New York subway is great. It’s also modernized with the times, of course, so it’s even more convenient than it used to be.
On our anniversary, I got brave and requested for one of the singing waiters at Gayle’s Broadway Rose sing “Being Alive” from Company for us. And he did! And I cried. It was his first time ever performing it for an audience. It was very sweet.
It was a nice visit. I love going to New York often enough that it feels like a normal place to be. Does that make sense?
Sara Mazariegos 