After a long, hard winter in South Dakota, it’s time for a break. I’m tired and haven’t been feeling well, and a getaway seems like just the thing I need.
My best friend and her mother invite me to tag along on a bargain trip they’ve found online, which provides a bright spot in my spring calendar. The tour leaves from New York, so we make plans to meet in the city for a couple of days before crossing the pond to Morocco.
New York is magnetic. It’s loud and mildly obnoxious, vibrant and colorful, and a little in-your-face in a way that most other cities can’t get away with as skillfully.
With only a couple of days in town, I have to decide what to squeeze into my short timeline. The best approach seems to me to be not to have a plan. As much as I’d like to get to the 9-11 Memorial and a few of my favorite places, I’d really like to just go for a walk. As we flew in, I could see how green the city already is. Spring has reached the East Coast much earlier than at home. I’m leaving a forecast for snow behind me and grasping at the chance for warmth and sun, and a stroll in springtime air, even in the midst of a concrete jungle.
Even with a little drizzle, the city provides endless opportunities for walking. Between long stretches of corridor-like views of Midtown streets, we duck into some of our favorite places for momentary reprieve from the rain.
Grand Central Station and it’s market and underground food hall have always been one of my favorite places to wander. It’s a slice of urban life like no other. People rush to and fro on their way to work, or home, or to catch a train to somewhere else. I have to dart through the sea of people in the great hall to find a spot for a photo.
While the rain has reduced the number of people on the streets slightly, it has created a hazard. Spatially-unaware people bump into us as we stroll, one of them snagging my coat with a metal point at the outer edge of her umbrella. Someone could lose an eye out here.
Sharon and Heather were here just a few months ago on another of their adventures, and had hoped to squeeze in breakfast at a popular new spot in town but weren’t able to make it work. So Sharon was kind enough to add an incredible surprise to this trip for the three of us. The world-renown jeweler, and inspiration for the movie, has opened a small cafe on its 4th floor, so you actually can have “breakfast at Tiffany’s”, or lunch or tea, if you prefer.
The intimate robins-egg blue room seats perhaps two dozen people at small tables with matching blue linen chairs and banquette seating, and ours overlooks the corner of 5th Avenue and E. 57th.
Thank you, Sharon, for arranging this lovely experience for us.
We stop at the TKTS line in Times Square to see what shows might be offering discounted tickets for the day or evening. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child just opened the weekend before and sounds incredible, but we can’t squeeze it into our short trip. Come From Away is playing too and there’s a great deal on three seats, but it doesn’t quite work with our schedule either. It’s a show about grounded flights and plane loads of people just after 9-11 that were generously taken in by communities in Newfoundland. Newfoundland and it’s amazing residents hold a special place in my heart, and I’d love to see the show…maybe another time.
After fitting in as much as we care to in our short time here, it’s time for the real trip to begin. We pack our bags and grab a cab to JFK, and start making our way east (well, actually south and then east, but that didn’t sound as nice).
Sturgis Chick 
Here you go again, taking us along on a fabulous tour of another part of the world! I anxiously await your next post!
Here you go again letting me tour another fascinating part of the world with you you through words and pictures! I anxiously await your next post!