Fun in NYC

My son, Kurt, lives in Portland, OR, so very far away from me. But he does come home for Christmas every year for a few days and it has been our tradition to spend one day in the City. His fight home was on the 28th, early in the morning from LGA, so he opted to stay the night in the city and take the train from there to the airport in the morning.

We took the train in and walked, so much walking, to his hotel to leaves his bags. He used a wonderful app called Hotel Tonight where you can get very low rates for a room that would usually be much higher, but you have to do it the day of. The later in the day, the rates go lower.

From there we took the subway (so confusing, but I just followed him) to Greenwich Village for the restaurant he had chosen. We also do this every year. He is a real foodie and he searches around to find something special. The restaurant was Via Carota and you can read the New Yorker Magazine's review here. It was fabulous, pricey but not toooooo bad for NYC prices. It was on a list of the 100 best restaurants in NY, in a city with over 10,000 restaurants. It was small and very casual, but the food was beyond delicious.

From there we took an Uber to the High Line where he had never been. I had been a couple of years ago. If you don't know about it, it was formally an abandoned elevated railroad track on the west side of NYC that has been transformed into an incredible linear park in the sky with artwork, horticulture, and great views of the city, the harbor and the Hudson River. Lady Liberty was visible in the far distance.You can read about the High Line here. It was a beautiful day with temps in the 40's and no wind so it was perfect day for walking. It was quite crowded, but then everything is during this holiday season.

Here you can see how crowded it was.

Of course at this time of the year there was little growing, but in other season it is full of flowers and grasses. In this shot you can see some of the actual track.

We started the walk about midway on the High Line and got off for a brief tour of The Chelsea Market. Quite an experience and VERY crowded. We didn't buy anything, but you could spend the day there shopping and eating, so many little eateries.

We got back on the High Line and ended our walk at the Whitney. Neither of us had ever been and they are in their relatively new building. My son very wisely got tickets ahead of time online. There was a line a block long, 5 people deep, but with our tickets on his phone we just walked right in.

The museum is really something, very modern and in spite of the crowds we had no trouble seeing it all. The special exhibit was Andy Warhol and his work dominated most of the museum, except for the top floors that had their permanent collection.

I'm sure you will recognize this Jasper Johns Flag.

Of course this very large piece caught my eye, part of an an exhibit by Kevin Beasley on the top floor. Fiber Art!! Detail below.

By that time, around 4, we were both beat. Our day had started at 8 when we left for the train to the city. He went back to his hotel and I went back to Grand Central Terminal for the ride back to CT, where I had left my car. I didn't realize how tired my feet were until I sat down on the train. We did pound a lot of pavement. It was another delightful day in NY and so nice to be able to spend it with my son.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!