Postcard from USA: Part II

Posted on 06/07/2022 by

21 Comments

While staying in Long Branch, we generally pottered around the more historic (and more attractive) Shore towns such as Red Bank, and also took the Highlands Ferry into Manhattan. New Jersey is pretty much flat as a pancake with only the Highlands providing a bit of a view across the bay. The ferry provides fast, fun passage to Wall St which we’ve not visited for years. We strolled around Battery Park, the 9/11 Memorial and South Street Seaport before heading back to the Jersey Shore.

After 10 days at the Jersey Shore we headed for the cultural and gastronomic highlights of Manhattan. Not that we’d eaten badly, au contraire, we had eaten our bodyweights in seafood and salad!

We left Long Branch early, after breakfast, and made good time to Newark to return the hire car before getting a taxi to our Midtown hotel, the same one we where stayed in December 2019. My upgrade karma kicked in (again) as we checked in before heading out to see what had changed in the neighbourhood.

One of our first port of calls was lululemon where my beloved spent so much we got a discount. I do think the company should make him an Ambassador! He also scored in Uniqlo but that was much less painful on the wallet. My sisters ,who regard shopping as an art form, were delighted to hear of his exploits.

There was just time for a wash and brush up before dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant where we’ve previously dined, which I had pre-booked. Just as well as the place was buzzing. I had a ringside seat with a great view of the kitchen. The food,  atmosphere and margaritas were great.
All marriages involve the “C” word (compromise) and Wednesday was a perfect example. Ever since that unfortunate exhibition at the Guggenheim, I almost have to drag my beloved kicking and screaming to any exhibitions or museums of Modern Art. This day he was prepared to indulge me with not one but two exhibitions.

Firstly, one of Jean-Michel Basquiat. My beloved was somewhat intrigued as one of his fellow business club members had made rather a lot of money from this artist’s works. Neither of us knew much about him and the exhibition presented by his family was (for me) a revelation.

I then dragged my beloved to the Witney where, apart from the Edward Hopper works, much was not to his taste. We wandered back to the hotel via the Highline. The evening’s compromise involved me attending a Broadway Musical. My beloved loves musicals but I hate them. The only reason I agreed to go was because the leading man in Music Man is Hugh Jackman, and he didn’t disappoint the full house.

Thursday my beloved had an early business meeting over breakfast on the Lower Eastside. I confess I was happy to have a lie in and breakfast in the hotel. I had managed to secure an early dinner at a well-known plant-based restaurant so thereafter we had half a day of just wandering around Madison with plenty of window shopping. Dinner was spectacular.

Friday and my beloved had yet another business meeting over breakfast followed by another one over lunch! I headed for MoMa – there’s only so much modern art he’ll tolerate. We joined forces again early afternoon for yet another stroll around nowhere in particular and ended up having cocktails and dinner in the St Regis bar, the birthplace of the Bloody Mary.

TBH we stuck with our usual Aperol Spritzs to wash down our lobster rolls. You see, we’re like a couple of cuckoos. We stay somewhere nice but then hangout, drink and eat at all the nicer places close by.

Saturday dawned fair but not so warm as my beloved trotted off for yet another breakfast meeting before we walked down to the flower festival in the Meat Packing District. We’d previously walked back from there via the High Line and Hudson Yards, after a visit to the Witney. This time we went directly down 7th and back via 8th.

Lyssy in the City had kindly told me about the event but then we’d also seen the announcements when we were walking back from the Witney. There were stalls with florists demonstrating their expertise, numerous floral displays which were wilting from the heat – a bit like us. The best displays were those hosted by the upmarket shops in the area. We had a mosey round the shops while we were there before ambling back. There was a huge market on 8th ave largely purveying a variety of cooked food stuffs but nothing which tempted us to linger.

That evening we ate out at a nearby large Greek restaurant which had recently opened – more delicious seafood. Our last day in New York started overcast but brightened on our amble to the South Street Seaport, providing a total contrast to the previous weekend. After a fine brunch, I finally relented and bought a cookery book in a nearby independent bookshop. I think I’ve exercised enormous restraint on the cookery book front this trip.

All too soon we were speeding back to Newark and our red-eye flight back home. I slept almost the entire trip arriving feeling refreshed, not so my beloved. Our driver Christophe was waiting to whisk us back home. I resisted the urge to tackle the enormous pile of washing and ironing until the following day.

(Part I of our #adventureusa was posted yesterday)

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21 Comments on “Postcard from USA: Part II”

  4. Indeed NJ is flat the garden state, and barrens desert area as well in the south by Vineland and the Pagans lol! Nice rides indeed

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  8. Thanks for the shoutout 🙂 Sounds like you had a wonderful time in the city! We live one block north of Wall Street and love walked through Battery Park and the Seaport District. I’m so glad you saw the Music Man and got to see Hugh. I know him and Sutton both had covid at different times recently.

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  10. Pingback: One from the vaults: Things my beloved says – Celine Dion’s in town! – View from the Back

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