Minnesota might not seem like a glitzy vacation destination to a lot of people but it was number one on Callie's list. You see, Callie's BFF, Meilani Felix, resides in Anoka, Minnesota, about 20 minutes north of Minneapolis, with her Mom, Felicia and her grandparents. Meilani attended Callie's school the past 2 years but moved back to Minnesota indefinitely this past March. Minnesota also boasts Major League Baseball's newest crown jewel, Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins, in it's first year of existence.
We flew Delta out of LAX on Wednesday morning, July 15th. Felicia and Meilani were waiting for us at the airport. They took us to lunch at the Turtle Bread Company on Chicago Ave. As if Callie and Meilani had to reaffirm their friendship, they both ordered the same thing, a margherita grilled cheese sandwich on fresh artisan bread. While we enjoyed lunch by a window, the Minnesota skies opened up. This was no California shower storm, it was a deluge, but by the time we finished lunch and bought some ice cream, the rain had disappeared as quickly as it came.
After checking into our hotel, the Sheraton Midtown, Felicia gave us a driving tour of Minneapolis including the Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, our first glimpse of Target Field, and Felicia's alma mater, the University of Minnesota. Our tour concluded in the other twin city, St. Paul, where we saw the Excel Energy Center, home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild and the State Capitol building. Felicia dropped us off at the Science Museum of Minnesota because Meilani had soccer practice and Callie and I had a date with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are on loan to the Science Museum of Minnesota. The Scrolls are over 2000 years old. They were found in caves along the Dead Sea in 1947 and are considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time, certainly of the religious variety. Up close, they aren't that exciting. For one thing, they're not written in English and it's difficult to read them since they're written on little pieces of parchment and kept under extremely low lighting in order to protect them.
I sort of knew what bus to take to get back to the hotel from St. Paul but when I saw a taxi drive by, I asked how much he would charge us. The $20.00 cab ride was a bargain considering the bus was going to take an hour due to the 64 stops along the route. For dinner, we explored the Midtown Global Market housed in the old Sears building adjacent to our hotel. With a wide variety of options before us, we decided on noodles at Pham's Deli, not recommended.
The two weary Los Angelenos retired early in anticipation of seeing Meilani again Thursday morning. However, that plan fell through. Felicia hadn't felt very well when she picked us up and her worst fears were realized. She was too sick to get out of bed, much less take Meilani to Minneapolis, so Callie and I put off the mall and came up with a new plan. We decided to explore downtown Minneapolis and head to the Mill City Museum.
One of the best features of the Midtown Sheraton is a free shuttle within a 5 mile radius of the hotel. Our shuttle driver that Thursday morning was Mike. He was courteous while showing us Mall of America Field, formerly the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome, the home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and the former home of the Twins. Thankfully, Mike also showed us a parking garage, the Minneapolis Armory, which had been the Minneapolis Lakers home arena during the 1959-60 season, their last before moving to Los Angeles.
Mike also suggested we check out the Guthrie Theater, a beautiful building with some of the best views in Minneapolis of the Mississippi River, the Stone Arch Bridge and St. Anthony Falls. It was an absolutely incredible day and since the Guthrie is right next to the Mill City Museum, we took Mike up on his suggestion. The views were truly spectacular.
Before we explored the Mill City Museum, we peeked outside a courtyard and saw a few segues. Segues are those futuristic motorized scooters you might have seen a mall cop riding. Minneapolis offers a Segue Tour of the Mississippi River for $80 a person. I’d seen it advertised on the Internet and even though the tour is 2-3 hours, I was frugal and decided that wasn’t for me and Callie. But we could try out the Segues...for free. First Callie, then I, took short rides on a Segue. They change direction according to the pressure of your feet. Callie would have been fine. I don’t think I would have survived the 3 hour tour. I’m sure I would have ended up as just another piece of flotsam on the Mississippi.
Minneapolis is nicknamed the Mill City because the banks of the Mississippi were dotted with mills in the early part of the 20th century and those mills cranked out flour for the entire world. The museum used to be an actual mill. In fact, it used to be the largest and most technologically advanced mill of its time, but further advances made it obsolete in 1965 and the building was severely damaged by fire in 1991. The Minnesota Historical Society decided to clean up the old mill and turn it into a museum. The best part of the Mill City Museum is the Flour Tower elevator ride, an 8 story ride in an elevator cab which shows you different settings in the mill as it existed in its heyday and features voices of people who actually worked in the mill. Before leaving the museum, Callie and I were given a small piece of bread made in their baking lab. It was tasty and reminded us, it was time for lunch.
Cal and I enjoy the the TV show "Man Vs Food" and a while ago we'd seen an episode where Adam, the show's host, visited Minneapolis. The scene that stuck with us was filmed in Matt's Bar, home of the Juicy Lucy. A Juicy Lucy is a cheeseburger but the wrinkle is that the cheese is cooked completely enclosed between 2 beef patties. The hotel shuttle picked us up as we walked down Portland Ave and took us directly to Matt's. Our excitement was palpable. Matt's was nice and cool inside and we took seats at bar stools right in front of the grill. There's a brief moment of panic when you bite into a Juicy Lucy because the cheese oozes out and it's hot but it's also delicious. We were hooked and we walked out knowing we'd be regulars if Matt's Bar were to open up a Burbank location.
We walked back to the hotel in order to digest our Lucy's and we awaited Meilani's arrival. Felicia's close friend, Royal, was kind enough to pick Meilani up from Anoka and bring her to us in Minneapolis. When they arrived, Royal happily agreed to take the three of us to the Walker Art Center adjacent to the Minnesota Scultpure Garden. The Sculpture Garden houses a variety of sculptures including a giant spoon with a giant cherry resting in it which has become somewhat of a Minnesota icon.
Before we entered the actual Art Center, we noticed a group of people congregating outside the entrance next to a wide expanse of lawn which featured artists constructing two hanging egg-like cocoons made of sticks that you could actually climb into. Both Callie and Meilani did but they soon noticed other folks sitting at a table drawing pictures. Anyone was welcome to help build the stick huts and anyone was welcome to sit and draw. The folks who ran this Thursday night get together at the Art Center also had a fun bean bag tossing game, soccer balls, and hula hoops for the kids, all of which Callie and Meilani sampled.
An hour or two later, we found the inside of the Art Center filled with works of art which varied from paintings and sculptures to seat cushions decorated into elaborate maps. The girls wandered through the museum so happy just to be together. They loved an exhibit where you took your shoes off, went inside a dark room and hung in a hammock.
We called the hotel shuttle to pick us up but we were too late to have dinner at the Midtown Global Market, which shuts down at 8pm, so we grabbed a bite at Los Ocampo, a Mexican place close to the Sheraton before the 3 of us went to bed, tired and happy.
I wish I could accurately describe the giddiness of the two tweens on Thursday morning when we set out for Mall of America. They were practically holding hands and jumping up and down. This is why we'd scrapped the Mall plan the day before. Callie wanted to enjoy the mall with Meilani. I'm not much of a shopper. Despite the fact I grew up going to the Sherman Oaks Galleria and its less famous but still there cousin, The Fashion Square, I'm not really a mall guy. I knew they'd be happy but the girls sheer ebullience caught me by surprise. I love when my daughter surprises me. The last time was when I walked into her room and saw a picture of Taylor Lautner, the Twilight werewolf, he of the six pack abs, with no shirt, on her wall. Ah, Parenthood. There's a light rail train that runs along Hiawatha Ave which runs from Target Field to the Mall of the America. We had the hotel shuttle take us to the Lake St/Midtown station and took the train South for about 25 minutes and we were there. I kid you not. Callie and Meilani sprinted the last 30 yards into the mall.
While on the train, Callie had noticed an advertisement for the aquarium at the Mall of America, Underwater Adventures. We saved $9.00 by showing our Twins' tickets. The aquarium is basically a long winding path with tanks on every side of you, very similar to the Shark Exhibit at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas.
Next was the amusement park. It was humongous. Rollercoasters everywhere, 3 or 4 of them intertwined but with the tracks multi-colored so you could keep track of the path of the coaster you were considering. The girls settled on the Pepsi Orange Streak, a thrill ride. I waited for them.
After some mall food, lunch and dessert, we hit the shops. We probably covered a tenth of the mall, window shopping and looking for a photo booth for the girls, but after 3-4 hours of the Mall of America, it was time to head back to the hotel, the bff's didn't even put up a fight. We still had a Twins game to go to that night, not to mention pizza before the game at the locally famous Pizza Luce in the Warehouse District around the corner from Target Field.
Before going on vacation, I always research the destination city on the Internet beforehand. One of my surefire certain googles is "best pizza in....". Pizza Luce popped up right away in Minneapolis. I have a high school friend, Brian Lucewicz, who's been called "Luce" for years, so Pizza Luce had me at the name.
Another close high school friend, Carl Randazzo, has been living in Minnesota for years along with his wife, Terri and their 2 sons, CJ and John. They were meeting us at Pizza Luce! There I was, sipping a draft Blue Moon leaving a message for Brian Lucewicz when Carl and the gang walked in. A better looking, more fit, family of four would be hard to find. Carl had been an all-league linebacker in high school and he still looked the part. We relived the past over beer and pizza. We made fun of high school friends not present but later admitted to them we'd been talking smack behind their backs. In short, we had a great time, a warm reunion that felt like we'd seen each other last week instead of 15 years ago.
The Randazzos walked us right to the turnstiles of Target Field. We posed for some pictures along the way, one of me crouching like a catcher behind Harmon Killebrew, while walking toward the stadium via the 6th St ramp. From the outside, Target Field is checkered squares of various shades of brown. From the inside, it's immaculate and it has that new stadium smell we all love, in this case pork chops on a stick, Kramarczuk's sausages, juicy lucy's, Cuban sandwiches, and more overwhelmed our olfactory senses.
Our seats had been bought months before. We were 16 rows behind home plate. Francisco Liriano pitched the twins to victory and hometown hero, Joe Mauer, had a couple of RBI's. On the way to the mall, I'd asked Callie and Meilani if they could name a Twin and Meilani came through with Mauer. He's the defending AL MVP and a former #1 overall pick of the Twins out of nearby Cretin-Derham High School in St. Paul. The number of Mauer jerseys in the crowd was staggering. Callie wore the Twins t-shirt Meilani had sent her weeks before.
Meilani stayed a second night with us at the hotel. I let the girls sleep in Saturday morning because of the late night at the ballgame and the fact Meilani's soccer team, the Vipers, had a semi-final match up against crosstown rival, Blaine at 5pm.
When they did wake up, the 3 of us enjoyed a complimentary breakfast in the hotel restaurant, due to a couple of lapses in service, before setting out for Minnehaha Falls via the light rail. Minnehaha creek runs from Lake Minnetonka to the Mississippi and features the 53 foot falls. It's only about a 5-10 minute walk from the light rail station and it's well worth the time.
There we were gazing wondrously at the Falls from about 60 feet away after going down a set of stairs, when Meilani noticed a big spider hiding in a drain pipe. Now, there were other people close by admiring the Falls and anyone leaning their posterior against the wall near this pipe would have been at serious risk so we found a long stick, and I insisted it be a looooong stick. The first couple of submissions were duly rejected. I gently nudged the spider out of the pipe onto the ground. Callie and Meilani squealed which caused the other 10 tourists viewing the Falls to turn and look at the spider. From where I stood, I saw maybe 15 people gesticulating, ooohing and aaahing, with 100% of their focus and attention on this giant spider with the Minnehaha Falls, in all their incredible natural beauty, serving as a backdrop. It was a moment I'll never forget. For a good half a minute no one gave a hoot about the Falls they'd come to see. To be fair, the spider was huge. I half expected Hagrid of Harry Potter fame to walk up and make sure we didn't harm it(we didn't).
The plan for us to get to Anoka and Meilani to her soccer game was to hop on the light rail to Target Field and take the North Star line to Anoka. The only problem was I'd misread the schedule on the Internet and the train to Anoka didn't leave til almost 2 hours later than I had thought. Luckily, I realized my mistake right away and it was Royal again to the rescue. He picked us up, cool as the other side of the pillow, and took us to Anoka.
Felicia's parents' house in Anoka is more like a mansion. It's literally a stone's throw from the mighty Mississippi. However, we stayed inside because the skies outside were black and foreboding. The game would actually be delayed by a lightning storm. Parents and players were asked to return to their cars for about 20 minutes so there would be fewer human beings outside for the bolts of lightning to strike.
Amazingly, the skies cleared a bit and the game started about 45 minutes late. The Vipers finally put away a feisty Blaine squad after twice taking leads only to have Blaine tie the game. Meilani's solid midfield play was a key to the victory and Callie, who had bonded with the Vipers during the lightning delay, watched every minute in breathless anticipation.
Felicia drove us to Noodles and Co. for the post game, good bye meal. Callie and I first discovered Noodles and Co in Colorado last summer. When we learned there was one in Encinitas, we shared a memorable family dinner there in late 2009, including my Dad. The Wisconsin Mac N Cheese is fantastic and Callie likes the pad thai too but she doesn't like saying good bye to her best friend. Royal was taking us back to Minneapolis and a few tears fell when we parted from Meilani and Felicia, who had done so much for us during our stay.
However, our vacation wasn't quite over yet. On the way to Minneapolis in Royal's truck, Felicia called to tell us a tornado was going to hit Anoka in a few minutes. What? I was just there an hour or so ago for a girls' soccer game! It was true. Felicia, her Mom, and Meilani all went down to the storm cellar while Royal calmly drove us back to the Mill City. North Minneapolis took a bit of a beating that night. Our hotel was in South Minneapolis but we watched the skies from our hotel room while we packed. I worried a little bit about our flight in the morning but we made it home fine.
We had a wonderful time. Thank you to Felicia, Royal, Meilani, and the Randazzos for making us feel at home in the Twin Cities.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
NYC Vacation Recap
We arrived home from our New York vacation on Sunday, June 6th. Marie-Helene was the grand prize winner of the LA Times Holiday sweepstakes, on her 40th birthday no less and we finally got to enjoy the spoils of her victory, and spoil them we did, in style. Our travelling party also included Melody Guzman since the trip Marie-Helene won was for 4 people.
The four of us began our trip Sunday morning, May 30th. We flew out of Burbank, a luxury we'd rarely afforded ourselves in the past, and it was so easy we may never go back. We also flew Jet Blue, another treat considering each seat has a television for the passenger's viewing pleasure.
My cousin, Andy Gandolfo, picked us up at JFK and took us to our hotel, the Midtown Holiday Inn. He pulled an Olga when the security guard insisted he do another loop around the airport since we didn't have our bags yet. Instead of complying with the law, Andrew pulled ahead about 75 yards and waited for us. Once we'd checked into our room, we piled back into Andy's Dodge Neon and drove down 9th Ave to Abingdon Square where Marie-Helene's eagle eye helped Andy find a recently vacated parking spot.
The purpose of our trip into the village was pizza. We walked down Bleecker St looking for Bleecker St Pizza, a pizzeria Andy's brother in law, John Hughes, had recommended. From the outside it looked more like a stand, and it was, with some people walking up and buying slices but we needed a large Nona Maria, the signature pie and an old family recipe. We grabbed some ice cold beers out of the fridge and had barely chosen a table, one of maybe four in the restaurant, when the guy said our pizza was ready. "What? I ordered about a minute ago", I said in mock Brooklyn surprise. I guess they had been making a pie for slices but with no one waiting, it was all ours. It was fantastic, probably my new favorite, unseating Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge. We all agreed it was easily among the best pizza we'd ever had. For those of you who don't believe in love at first sight, I saw the light in Melody's eyes when she looked longingly at the oceans of tomato red sauce with large flat islands of buffalo mozzarella cheese speckled with foliage of basil. Like Michael Corleone upon seeing the beautiful Sicilian girl Apollonia while hiding out in Italy, Mel had been struck by the thunderbolt. A quiet Burbank girl had fallen and fallen hard for New York Pizza.
Not even close to satisfied we continued our journey down Bleecker St and went to John's on Bleecker, another highly rated famous pizzeria in Manhattan. Marie-Helene, Callie and I had been there before and like the previous time, I bypassed a long line of people waiting for a table, and ordered a large cheese pizza to go as well as a couple of beers for Mel and I while we waited. On the way in, one brash New Yorker I bustled past snorted, "there's a line" while another chipped in with "who does HE know?” I looked the closest dissenter in the eye and said "I'm ordering (pause) to go". Before Mel and I finished our beers, the pizza was ready. We took it outside to the others, sat on a bench and the five of us devoured it.
The girls quickly picked a gelato place for dessert and a long sight seeing walk was soon needed. We walked south to Canal St and turned left where a myriad of vendors descended upon us while we walked eastward. At Mulberry St, we turned left, straight into the heart of Little Italy. The place was jumping .We walked along entranced by the crowd. We pointed out Ferrara's Bakery where my grandfather had worked soon after getting off the boat and then happened upon a street fair in honor of St Antonio, complete with carnival booths and stands selling every Italian delicacy imaginable and some (deep fried Oreos) not so Italian delicacies.
We said our good bye to Andrew and introduced Mel to the NYC subway system. We bought metro cards good for 7 days of unlimited travel and took the train to Columbus Circle. We stocked up on some supplies at the Whole Foods Market in the Time Warner Center and went back to our room for the evening.
The next day was an early start, at least for us, given the 3 hour time difference between the coasts. We had tickets to the Yankees' Memorial Day tilt with the Cleveland Indians but before the game we were due to meet my cousins for a little tailgate party. Anna Hughes, Andy's sister, and her husband John were also going to the game along with another cousin, Craig Steeneck, and his wife Sally. Before the tailgate, our mini group of 4 had tried to get in to view Monument Park at Yankee Stadium but we were shut out. Apparently, they don't let you in, back out again and then back in again for the game and that's precisely what we needed to do. I might have been able to make it happen but an announcement had just been made that there would be no more visitors to Monument Park that day due to the overflow Memorial Day crowd. It always closes 45 minutes before the game and I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to see it.
The tailgate was awesome; cold beer, hot dogs, and some Rose and Joe's pizza I'd asked Anna to bring from under the train station in Astoria. It was hot and humid as it would prove to be all week long but our seats were in the shade and the Yankees broke open the game when the Indians intentionally walked Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez made them pay with the 20th grand slam of his career. Robinson Cano followed with another homer and the Yanks cruised the rest of the way. A funny moment occurred when Craig called us in the 9th inning to tell us to head to the parking lot but he didn't realize we had already walked down to the section where their seats were, so I quickly took a seat directly behind him and had a brief phone conversation with him without his realizing I was close enough to touch him.
We all went from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to Astoria in Queens where Anna and John live, for a post game party. Anna's potatoes with cheese and plain breadcrumbs were a huge hit and the 8 game attendees were joined by Andy, Andy and Anna's older brother Joey, and Anna and John's son, John and his wife Karen, whose wedding we'd attended in Chicago a few summers back. Anna and John's cousin reunion parties were already legendary and this one did not disappoint. The conversation ranged from sports to television to relatives to memories and back to sports again. Andy took us back into the city and we crawled contentedly into bed after a perfect Memorial Day, unless you count not seeing Monument Park.
Early Tuesday morning Callie and I set out on an adventurous family visit. My Aunt Jean (Gilda), Craig's Mom, lives at the Emeritus in Paramus, New Jersey. To get there we took the 163 from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Times Square, a 45 minute ride. Despite arriving early and buying our tickets, we almost missed the bus. We were waiting at the appointed gate when a bus drove by and stopped at the gate in front of ours, with no one around to ask, I decided to go ask the bus drive to make sure it wasn't the 163. It was. Callie and I ate part of the sandwiches we'd bought at a place we know on 9th Ave between 57th and 58th. Callie's was a caprese sandwich on a French roll with a little pesto. She raved about it and soon we were dropped off a block or so from the Emeritus on Paramus Road.
Aunt Jean greeted us with a large smile, a hug, a kiss, and a few tears but the tears soon gave way to laughs and smiles as we went outside to wait for Aunt Frances, who had been the wife of my late Uncle Armand. Aunt Jean's mind, as always, was sharp as a tack and Aunt Frances is no less amazing. She drove to the Emeritus from her home in nearby Emerson. Aunt Jean's lunch time came around and we all joined her inside and met a 93yr old woman who had been imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp where she had lost her family. Despite that immense hardship, the woman allowed herself to laugh and bond with Callie. Aunt Jean's positive nature won the day as she told the woman in no uncertain terms to stop thinking about sad things and enjoy the day. We talked a while longer after lunch and said our good byes. Callie and I had a little excitement trying to figure out where the bus would pick us up but we eventually hailed the 163 as it was going past us on Paramus Rd. The driver stopped and we got on. Strange but effective.
For dinner that night we took Mel to Grimaldi's and the post meal walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We continued our walk to Ground Zero and decided to check out Union Square and 14th St. Callie bought a cute t-shirt, the periodic table of texting, and then we went to try the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, recommended by none other than Oprah Winfrey. We politely asked the waiter if he would waive the $8.50 per person sitting fee and bring us 2 of them and he did. I wasn't as impressed as the 3 girls. Our next stop was the Le Meridien Hotel Burger Joint where we split 2 cheeseburgers among the 4 of us and eventually made our way back to the hotel, our bellies full and happy.
Wednesday was the day we checked out of the Midtown Holiday Inn but before doing so, MH and Callie enjoyed the pool and Mel did some shopping. We decided to save the cab fare and hoof it to the Westin Times Square on 8th Ave and 43rd St, an easy walk made a bit more challenging with our wheel able luggage. After checking in we took the train to Mott St and Parisi's Italian deli, an internet find, and wow, did it come through. We bought 3 sandwiches, an Italian cold cut, a chicken parmigiana, and a meatball parmigiana and wolfed them down at a park on the corner of Spring and Mulberry. Normal people would have stopped eating but we split a rice pudding for dessert. Marie-Helene then bought a chocolate cupcake and a chocolate croissant at a bookstore and Mel bought some Mac N Cheese at a Mac Bar in Soho.
Wednesday night we had a date with Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater right across the street from the Westin. Our seats were fantastic, 7th row stage left. We all were hypnotized by the Broadway play. The sets, the costumes, the songs, the sheer talent of all the dancers in perfect step. Tremendous. Afterward we strolled down 7th Ave through the crowd of theater goers walking around Times Square and had a late night snack at the Carnegie Deli.
Thursday we took the Q train to Brighton Beach and walked along the boardwalk to Coney Island. After some hot dogs from Nathans, Callie debated whether or not to take on the famous Cyclone roller coaster. Wisely, she decided against it and we took our leave of Coney Island. The plan for the way home was to exit the train at Ave J and check out Di Fara pizza. We'd learned about Di Fara from an article my sister, Terry, sent me. Sadly, it was closed that day so we headed for Bleecker St Pizza to try and recreate the experience of our first day in the city. Once again, the pizza was excellent and we did some shopping along Bleecker St and hit the same Gelato place. Bleecker St in Greenwich Village is probably our favorite place in the city.
MH and Mel went on a shopping excursion while Callie and I went back to rest up for that night's Laker game which happened to be Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. Andy happens to be the biggest Laker fan I know even though he lives in Brooklyn so he came to the city for the 9pm tip off and we met up at the ESPN Zone in Times Square. The place was a madhouse. We ended up on the top floor in the arcade, normally a place for kids but on this night, the bar was packed, standing room only, while the game played out on television. I guzzled Corona's while the Laker and Celtics waged war in the first half. Callie and MH played a little wire hockey nearby. Unfortunately, the top floor arcade sent us packing at halftime because it was reserved for a private party. No worries, we went to the Westin and watched the 2nd half with Mel, a little cramped in the room but elated with the Lakers' eventual victory.
Callie developed a slight fever that night and sent me out for throat lozenges at 4am to the 24hr Duane Reade pharmacy across the street. There were still revelers on the street, even at 4am, but this was a seedier crowd. Callie was still slightly under the weather on Friday but the Metropolitan Museum of Art was on the docket. We enjoyed an Egyptian exhibit which made us feel better about not going to see the King Tut exhibit in Times Square, a bamboo structure exhibit on the roof, a statue of Perseus holding Medusa's head, a Picasso exhibit, and many other breathtaking works of art. We might have stayed longer but Callie was tired and we were going to Citifield and the Mets' game that night. But before going back to the Westin we stopped for what else, pizza, at Patsy's on 60th. Patsy's had once been Patsy Grimaldi's but had broken off from Grimaldi's and had to change their name so that now there's a "Patsy's" and a "Grimaldi's". The girls loved Patsy's but I wasn't so thrilled. Maybe it was the amount of pizza I had been eating but the truth is, Mel, she of the full heart, had actually made two other unauthorized pizza purchases at non-researched locales while out shopping.
The 7 train to Citifield in Queens was much easier than the last time we'd taken it to Shea. Andy was waiting for us along with John Hughes and Andy's 2 sons, 16yr old 6'3 Richie and 10yr old Andrew. MH was happy to find poutine (a French fries/gravy/cheese curd concoction) called Disco Frites at Citifield. In the baseball game, the Mets came back to beat the Florida Marlins. Once back in Times Square, we showed Mel the humongous Toys R Us before I ushered Callie up to bed.
Saturday morning we went back to Queens, this time to Astoria and Mojave Restaurant on 31st St where Anna's youngest son, Patrick, a New York City cop in the Bayside precinct joined us with his girlfriend, Beth. The food was delicious and so was the walk around the old neighborhood I had been as smitten with as a young boy. First, to Rosario's, the Italian store where Anna buys her sausage. Who did we see there but Joey, her brother? We walked down Ditmars eastward a bit and then back up Ditmars to Le Guli's where John treated us to the best Italian Ice. Done eating, right? Wrong. The last stop was Rose and Joe's, the little bakery under the El. This time the pizza was fresh and hot. Asking Anna to lug it to Yankee Stadium had been a mistake on my part. This was what I remembered. Right out of the oven it rivals Bleecker St, Johns, Grimaldis, etc and we all shared a couple of slices despite the fact we'd eaten less than an hour before and had just had Italian ice.
The N train took us back to Manhattan and we took Mel on a walk through Central Park. We enjoyed the Pond and went to a playground Callie enjoyed on our first trip to the city a few years ago. Similar to what happened at the Burger Joint in the Le Meridien Hotel, Callie remembered the playground as soon as she saw it. I had fun jogging her memories like that. We watched a bit of a softball game and then escaped the heat in the Time Warner Center. I left the girls so they could shop and walked home down 8th Ave to pack.
Our last night in the city consisted of a walk southward to Madison Square Garden and then to the world's largest department store, Macy's. MH was thrilled by the wooden escalators which jogged a memory from my childhood and one of the rare trips into the city I'd made with my Mom and Aunt Gloria to see the Empire State Building and the store where my Uncle Armand worked, Macy's. Mel bought a Coach purse and we admired the majestic Empire State Building from 34th and Broadway.
I think the girls could have stayed another week in New York City. We were treated wonderfully and ate like kings. What a place! What a city! I can't imagine a bigger, more impressive location. Surely, Manhattan must be at the forefront of great places on Earth. It has the energy and excitement of Las Vegas but spread out over miles and miles. And Las Vegas excites mainly the gambler whereas New York speaks to everyone. She certainly spoke to us. I'll never ever eat more pizza over a 7 day period than the 7 days we just passed on vacation and that's only the beginning; beloved family, 2 baseball games, Central Park, Broadway, Times Square, Ground Zero, Little Italy, Soho, 14th St, 5th Ave, Coney Island, Astoria, Greenwich Village, Serendipity, the Met. What a week! What a vacation!
The four of us began our trip Sunday morning, May 30th. We flew out of Burbank, a luxury we'd rarely afforded ourselves in the past, and it was so easy we may never go back. We also flew Jet Blue, another treat considering each seat has a television for the passenger's viewing pleasure.
My cousin, Andy Gandolfo, picked us up at JFK and took us to our hotel, the Midtown Holiday Inn. He pulled an Olga when the security guard insisted he do another loop around the airport since we didn't have our bags yet. Instead of complying with the law, Andrew pulled ahead about 75 yards and waited for us. Once we'd checked into our room, we piled back into Andy's Dodge Neon and drove down 9th Ave to Abingdon Square where Marie-Helene's eagle eye helped Andy find a recently vacated parking spot.
The purpose of our trip into the village was pizza. We walked down Bleecker St looking for Bleecker St Pizza, a pizzeria Andy's brother in law, John Hughes, had recommended. From the outside it looked more like a stand, and it was, with some people walking up and buying slices but we needed a large Nona Maria, the signature pie and an old family recipe. We grabbed some ice cold beers out of the fridge and had barely chosen a table, one of maybe four in the restaurant, when the guy said our pizza was ready. "What? I ordered about a minute ago", I said in mock Brooklyn surprise. I guess they had been making a pie for slices but with no one waiting, it was all ours. It was fantastic, probably my new favorite, unseating Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge. We all agreed it was easily among the best pizza we'd ever had. For those of you who don't believe in love at first sight, I saw the light in Melody's eyes when she looked longingly at the oceans of tomato red sauce with large flat islands of buffalo mozzarella cheese speckled with foliage of basil. Like Michael Corleone upon seeing the beautiful Sicilian girl Apollonia while hiding out in Italy, Mel had been struck by the thunderbolt. A quiet Burbank girl had fallen and fallen hard for New York Pizza.
Not even close to satisfied we continued our journey down Bleecker St and went to John's on Bleecker, another highly rated famous pizzeria in Manhattan. Marie-Helene, Callie and I had been there before and like the previous time, I bypassed a long line of people waiting for a table, and ordered a large cheese pizza to go as well as a couple of beers for Mel and I while we waited. On the way in, one brash New Yorker I bustled past snorted, "there's a line" while another chipped in with "who does HE know?” I looked the closest dissenter in the eye and said "I'm ordering (pause) to go". Before Mel and I finished our beers, the pizza was ready. We took it outside to the others, sat on a bench and the five of us devoured it.
The girls quickly picked a gelato place for dessert and a long sight seeing walk was soon needed. We walked south to Canal St and turned left where a myriad of vendors descended upon us while we walked eastward. At Mulberry St, we turned left, straight into the heart of Little Italy. The place was jumping .We walked along entranced by the crowd. We pointed out Ferrara's Bakery where my grandfather had worked soon after getting off the boat and then happened upon a street fair in honor of St Antonio, complete with carnival booths and stands selling every Italian delicacy imaginable and some (deep fried Oreos) not so Italian delicacies.
We said our good bye to Andrew and introduced Mel to the NYC subway system. We bought metro cards good for 7 days of unlimited travel and took the train to Columbus Circle. We stocked up on some supplies at the Whole Foods Market in the Time Warner Center and went back to our room for the evening.
The next day was an early start, at least for us, given the 3 hour time difference between the coasts. We had tickets to the Yankees' Memorial Day tilt with the Cleveland Indians but before the game we were due to meet my cousins for a little tailgate party. Anna Hughes, Andy's sister, and her husband John were also going to the game along with another cousin, Craig Steeneck, and his wife Sally. Before the tailgate, our mini group of 4 had tried to get in to view Monument Park at Yankee Stadium but we were shut out. Apparently, they don't let you in, back out again and then back in again for the game and that's precisely what we needed to do. I might have been able to make it happen but an announcement had just been made that there would be no more visitors to Monument Park that day due to the overflow Memorial Day crowd. It always closes 45 minutes before the game and I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to see it.
The tailgate was awesome; cold beer, hot dogs, and some Rose and Joe's pizza I'd asked Anna to bring from under the train station in Astoria. It was hot and humid as it would prove to be all week long but our seats were in the shade and the Yankees broke open the game when the Indians intentionally walked Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez made them pay with the 20th grand slam of his career. Robinson Cano followed with another homer and the Yanks cruised the rest of the way. A funny moment occurred when Craig called us in the 9th inning to tell us to head to the parking lot but he didn't realize we had already walked down to the section where their seats were, so I quickly took a seat directly behind him and had a brief phone conversation with him without his realizing I was close enough to touch him.
We all went from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to Astoria in Queens where Anna and John live, for a post game party. Anna's potatoes with cheese and plain breadcrumbs were a huge hit and the 8 game attendees were joined by Andy, Andy and Anna's older brother Joey, and Anna and John's son, John and his wife Karen, whose wedding we'd attended in Chicago a few summers back. Anna and John's cousin reunion parties were already legendary and this one did not disappoint. The conversation ranged from sports to television to relatives to memories and back to sports again. Andy took us back into the city and we crawled contentedly into bed after a perfect Memorial Day, unless you count not seeing Monument Park.
Early Tuesday morning Callie and I set out on an adventurous family visit. My Aunt Jean (Gilda), Craig's Mom, lives at the Emeritus in Paramus, New Jersey. To get there we took the 163 from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Times Square, a 45 minute ride. Despite arriving early and buying our tickets, we almost missed the bus. We were waiting at the appointed gate when a bus drove by and stopped at the gate in front of ours, with no one around to ask, I decided to go ask the bus drive to make sure it wasn't the 163. It was. Callie and I ate part of the sandwiches we'd bought at a place we know on 9th Ave between 57th and 58th. Callie's was a caprese sandwich on a French roll with a little pesto. She raved about it and soon we were dropped off a block or so from the Emeritus on Paramus Road.
Aunt Jean greeted us with a large smile, a hug, a kiss, and a few tears but the tears soon gave way to laughs and smiles as we went outside to wait for Aunt Frances, who had been the wife of my late Uncle Armand. Aunt Jean's mind, as always, was sharp as a tack and Aunt Frances is no less amazing. She drove to the Emeritus from her home in nearby Emerson. Aunt Jean's lunch time came around and we all joined her inside and met a 93yr old woman who had been imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp where she had lost her family. Despite that immense hardship, the woman allowed herself to laugh and bond with Callie. Aunt Jean's positive nature won the day as she told the woman in no uncertain terms to stop thinking about sad things and enjoy the day. We talked a while longer after lunch and said our good byes. Callie and I had a little excitement trying to figure out where the bus would pick us up but we eventually hailed the 163 as it was going past us on Paramus Rd. The driver stopped and we got on. Strange but effective.
For dinner that night we took Mel to Grimaldi's and the post meal walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. We continued our walk to Ground Zero and decided to check out Union Square and 14th St. Callie bought a cute t-shirt, the periodic table of texting, and then we went to try the frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity, recommended by none other than Oprah Winfrey. We politely asked the waiter if he would waive the $8.50 per person sitting fee and bring us 2 of them and he did. I wasn't as impressed as the 3 girls. Our next stop was the Le Meridien Hotel Burger Joint where we split 2 cheeseburgers among the 4 of us and eventually made our way back to the hotel, our bellies full and happy.
Wednesday was the day we checked out of the Midtown Holiday Inn but before doing so, MH and Callie enjoyed the pool and Mel did some shopping. We decided to save the cab fare and hoof it to the Westin Times Square on 8th Ave and 43rd St, an easy walk made a bit more challenging with our wheel able luggage. After checking in we took the train to Mott St and Parisi's Italian deli, an internet find, and wow, did it come through. We bought 3 sandwiches, an Italian cold cut, a chicken parmigiana, and a meatball parmigiana and wolfed them down at a park on the corner of Spring and Mulberry. Normal people would have stopped eating but we split a rice pudding for dessert. Marie-Helene then bought a chocolate cupcake and a chocolate croissant at a bookstore and Mel bought some Mac N Cheese at a Mac Bar in Soho.
Wednesday night we had a date with Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater right across the street from the Westin. Our seats were fantastic, 7th row stage left. We all were hypnotized by the Broadway play. The sets, the costumes, the songs, the sheer talent of all the dancers in perfect step. Tremendous. Afterward we strolled down 7th Ave through the crowd of theater goers walking around Times Square and had a late night snack at the Carnegie Deli.
Thursday we took the Q train to Brighton Beach and walked along the boardwalk to Coney Island. After some hot dogs from Nathans, Callie debated whether or not to take on the famous Cyclone roller coaster. Wisely, she decided against it and we took our leave of Coney Island. The plan for the way home was to exit the train at Ave J and check out Di Fara pizza. We'd learned about Di Fara from an article my sister, Terry, sent me. Sadly, it was closed that day so we headed for Bleecker St Pizza to try and recreate the experience of our first day in the city. Once again, the pizza was excellent and we did some shopping along Bleecker St and hit the same Gelato place. Bleecker St in Greenwich Village is probably our favorite place in the city.
MH and Mel went on a shopping excursion while Callie and I went back to rest up for that night's Laker game which happened to be Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. Andy happens to be the biggest Laker fan I know even though he lives in Brooklyn so he came to the city for the 9pm tip off and we met up at the ESPN Zone in Times Square. The place was a madhouse. We ended up on the top floor in the arcade, normally a place for kids but on this night, the bar was packed, standing room only, while the game played out on television. I guzzled Corona's while the Laker and Celtics waged war in the first half. Callie and MH played a little wire hockey nearby. Unfortunately, the top floor arcade sent us packing at halftime because it was reserved for a private party. No worries, we went to the Westin and watched the 2nd half with Mel, a little cramped in the room but elated with the Lakers' eventual victory.
Callie developed a slight fever that night and sent me out for throat lozenges at 4am to the 24hr Duane Reade pharmacy across the street. There were still revelers on the street, even at 4am, but this was a seedier crowd. Callie was still slightly under the weather on Friday but the Metropolitan Museum of Art was on the docket. We enjoyed an Egyptian exhibit which made us feel better about not going to see the King Tut exhibit in Times Square, a bamboo structure exhibit on the roof, a statue of Perseus holding Medusa's head, a Picasso exhibit, and many other breathtaking works of art. We might have stayed longer but Callie was tired and we were going to Citifield and the Mets' game that night. But before going back to the Westin we stopped for what else, pizza, at Patsy's on 60th. Patsy's had once been Patsy Grimaldi's but had broken off from Grimaldi's and had to change their name so that now there's a "Patsy's" and a "Grimaldi's". The girls loved Patsy's but I wasn't so thrilled. Maybe it was the amount of pizza I had been eating but the truth is, Mel, she of the full heart, had actually made two other unauthorized pizza purchases at non-researched locales while out shopping.
The 7 train to Citifield in Queens was much easier than the last time we'd taken it to Shea. Andy was waiting for us along with John Hughes and Andy's 2 sons, 16yr old 6'3 Richie and 10yr old Andrew. MH was happy to find poutine (a French fries/gravy/cheese curd concoction) called Disco Frites at Citifield. In the baseball game, the Mets came back to beat the Florida Marlins. Once back in Times Square, we showed Mel the humongous Toys R Us before I ushered Callie up to bed.
Saturday morning we went back to Queens, this time to Astoria and Mojave Restaurant on 31st St where Anna's youngest son, Patrick, a New York City cop in the Bayside precinct joined us with his girlfriend, Beth. The food was delicious and so was the walk around the old neighborhood I had been as smitten with as a young boy. First, to Rosario's, the Italian store where Anna buys her sausage. Who did we see there but Joey, her brother? We walked down Ditmars eastward a bit and then back up Ditmars to Le Guli's where John treated us to the best Italian Ice. Done eating, right? Wrong. The last stop was Rose and Joe's, the little bakery under the El. This time the pizza was fresh and hot. Asking Anna to lug it to Yankee Stadium had been a mistake on my part. This was what I remembered. Right out of the oven it rivals Bleecker St, Johns, Grimaldis, etc and we all shared a couple of slices despite the fact we'd eaten less than an hour before and had just had Italian ice.
The N train took us back to Manhattan and we took Mel on a walk through Central Park. We enjoyed the Pond and went to a playground Callie enjoyed on our first trip to the city a few years ago. Similar to what happened at the Burger Joint in the Le Meridien Hotel, Callie remembered the playground as soon as she saw it. I had fun jogging her memories like that. We watched a bit of a softball game and then escaped the heat in the Time Warner Center. I left the girls so they could shop and walked home down 8th Ave to pack.
Our last night in the city consisted of a walk southward to Madison Square Garden and then to the world's largest department store, Macy's. MH was thrilled by the wooden escalators which jogged a memory from my childhood and one of the rare trips into the city I'd made with my Mom and Aunt Gloria to see the Empire State Building and the store where my Uncle Armand worked, Macy's. Mel bought a Coach purse and we admired the majestic Empire State Building from 34th and Broadway.
I think the girls could have stayed another week in New York City. We were treated wonderfully and ate like kings. What a place! What a city! I can't imagine a bigger, more impressive location. Surely, Manhattan must be at the forefront of great places on Earth. It has the energy and excitement of Las Vegas but spread out over miles and miles. And Las Vegas excites mainly the gambler whereas New York speaks to everyone. She certainly spoke to us. I'll never ever eat more pizza over a 7 day period than the 7 days we just passed on vacation and that's only the beginning; beloved family, 2 baseball games, Central Park, Broadway, Times Square, Ground Zero, Little Italy, Soho, 14th St, 5th Ave, Coney Island, Astoria, Greenwich Village, Serendipity, the Met. What a week! What a vacation!
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