The time has finally come to head north. Tomorrow I will be on my way to New York City
for the third time in my life. My first
two trips I was a child in an adult world, but this time around I get to be the
adult and make my own choices. Well,
most of them anyway. My younger
companions have some ideas of their own.
My first NYC tour was c. 1972, I think. It was only a pass through on our way to
visit my Italian aunt in Rhode Island. I
remember a green station wagon filled beyond capacity with my mother, sisters,
brother or two, and cousin or two. I
also remember something about chiropractic treatments being performed in the
car. A chiropractic treatment was something
my daddy made up that didn’t have anything to do with spinal adjustment but all
to do with gas. Maybe my brothers will
expand on that in the comments section.
The only landmark I recall was the Statue of Liberty from all angles because
my mother was lost and driving in circles.
I’ve heard my oldest sister was terrified of the city so we were not
allowed to stop and get out of the car.
Two years later my mother, her best friend, and her sister, Rita
set out on another trip to see the Italian aunt, and my brother and I were swept
along. This time NYC was not just a pass
through. My hazy memory recalls going to
Radio City Music Hall to see a show, Good Night Irene, and a movie called The
Tamarind Seed. My mother and the adults
enjoyed this, but I provided my own entertainment by sleeping through it
all. We also went to a game show taping,
and an up close viewing of the Statue of Liberty. I can’t believe my mother actually got on a
boat. She would not allow me to go
inside the statue, nor would she allow me to go to the top of the Empire State
Building, but I think we did get to go up a little ways. Even with the limitations I am grateful for
having had the experience with my mother.
This time around my travel companions will include my two
sisters, the pesky one and the middle child, and two of my nieces. I don’t have special names for them, but give
me a week sharing a hotel room with them and I’ll come up with something.
Other than the annual Cousin Reunion and the Sunburn Tour of
Florida c. 1981 I haven’t been on vacation with my both my sisters since that
first pass through in ’72. This trip
will be on a Blue plane with assigned seating, not a green station wagon filled
beyond capacity. Our Broadway plans
include Once and Wicked (mmm, Wicked). I
will be making a return trip to Radio City Music Hall, but this time Cirque du
Soleil Zarkana will be providing the entertainment, not Julie Andrews and Omar
Sharif. I think I can manage to stay
awake.
Ellis Island and the 9/11 Memorial are also on my agenda,
but that is it. I am not planning the
rest of my time. I’ll leave that to the
two nieces who have their own agendas and tag along. Knowing them as I do, I feel certain there
will be much shopping and many cupcakes in my near future. I just hope I don’t embarrass them with my
fanny pack, camera around my neck, and socks and sandals. I love you, girls!
Good times ahead.
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