Visitors 6: The Last Day in the City

Thursday, September 18, 2008:

After the grueling forced march the day before, Mom and Keith are beginning to wonder if this visit was a good idea. Here, while Mom sits, shaking in fear at the caught of being caught in the doors of a PATH Train, Keith actually looks at me and says, "This had better be good, God-boy."

After a quick lunch in Grand Central Station we stop in a food market in the station. I don't think I would have much use for, nor can I afford the upside down tree...

...but just look at the delicious looking food...



Not a bad spread for a train station. Mom is less impressed than I am. Growing tired of the crowds she screams, "All of you back off... Just back off! What do you think this is? Grand Central Station?" She has finally realized that she's not in Festus anymore. I decide to calm her down with a little trip to a waterside park.

We hop on the 5 train to the Bowling Green Station. In Battery Park we come across this broken sculpture salvaged from the wreckage of the WTC and turned into a memorial complete with an eternal flame.

The Church and the world collide in this spot. This little church is dwarfed by skyscrapers, but the Holy Eucharist continues to be celebrated here at this shrine to Elizabeth Seton, the United States' first saint...


On this last day, the skies are beautiful and there is a cool breeze, so the sun feels particularly pleasant. Lady Liberty poses so that Keith can get her picture.

Then this boat says, "TOO LATE!"


But, though I'm now a Jersey-boy, I still know some New Yorker secrets. We'll get her picture. Just a short walk away is the Staten Island Ferry station, newly refurbished.

As you can see, Keith is happy to find something clean in the city.

The ferry is free and offers great views of the lower Manhattan Skyline. It's riders are also now required to leave the boat, walk in a circle and get back on. This means that we actually set foot on Staten Island and so have hit all five boroughs this trip! Woo-hoo!

Mom is finally calming down. Keith, though, is having a Navy flashback, which would be okay if he could just remember where he met that dancer 40 years ago...

Here comes the parallel Ferry...


And finally we see her again in all her glory...


Mom's so impressed that she even stands up to take a closer look.

We're nearly back to Manhattan...

Quite a view...

Quite a city...

And Keith has captured the whole thing in his cameras. Make sure they show you. And here's a tip: If you don't want to see the video, don't go to Mom's on Thanksgiving.

Almost back into port...

The day ends as one might expect. We get on the Spring Valley express train... the ONE train that doesn't stop in Westwood. When Lisa and I realize it, we all jump off in Oradell. It's a somber moment. Harsh words are exchanged. Mom and Keith have to pack up so they can leave in the morning and we don't know how we're going to get home...


But Lisa, getting tired of the killjoy attitude, pulls a few Mojitos out of her magical orange purse and soon things don't seem so bad...

THE END

Epilogue...

Mom and Keith are probably wishing they had a few more Mojitos.

The next morning they left, but early that morning, the GPS in the Cadillac developed artificial intelligence (didn't we all know that would happen), and an attitude. Tired of listening to Keith arguing with her, she led them across the George Washington Bridge and into the Bronx.

They haven't been seen or heard from since.

Visitors 5: The forced march...

Wednesday, September 17:

Lisa is back to work so we were on our own for most of the day.

But Mom finally got to ride the train into the city... As you can see, she is bursting with excitement.


We do go to meet Lisa for lunch, however. But I have foolishly chosen place to eat that's pretty far from where Lisa works. The day's forced march begins... Still, we get a chance to catch our breath on the subway platform.

Finally we make it up to Sassy's Sliders... essentially a White Castle that serves not only beef, but also turkey, chicken and veggie sliders, not to mention sweet potato fries. For a non-beef-eater who never thought he'd be able to eat a slider again, this place is heaven.

Unfortunately there are exactly nine seats in the place, so Keith and I stood to eat ours. Whatever. They just slide down more easily. Another satisfied customer...

Lisa rushes back to work and I decide that it might be nice for Mom and Keith to see central park. I also know that there is a subway station across the park, so the forced march begins again. After a short trip from 86th street to 79th street down Madison Avenue (with a brief stop in Williams Sonoma), we begin the harrowing journey across Central Park.

I didn't take many pictures of Mom here. I didn't think you should see her in the state she was in. Pale. Clammy. Bent over. Screaming, "Where are we? Where are we going? I'm not going to make it. Are we going in circles?" Not a pretty sight.

So, about half way we stopped at Belvedere (sp?) Castle...

Here she caught a second wind to begin the journey again.

I think the view helped.


On the other side of the park we stopped to rest a minute...

...in front of the history museum...

...made our way down into the subway where Mom finally collapsed.

So, Keith and I each grabbed a couple of limbs and dragged her onto the C train.

She recovered enough to pay her respects at Ground Zero and St. Paul's chapel. I'm still not quite comfortable taking pictures at these sacred sites. Mom and Keith have some, so feel free to ask to see theirs.

But being in Saint Paul's, seeing people of so many different backgrounds stop, bless themselves with the holy water in the font, light a candle at the 9/11 shrine, kneel to pray at the altar all make me feel good about being an Episcopalian... Not something I always feel these days. I'm grateful for God's work in that place and the ministry done there.

From there Mom recovered enough that we could make our way down Fulton Street to the South Street Sea Port and up to the food court. I just wanted something to drink. Mom needed sustenance, (now who's the one wanting to eat all of the time?) so we got a slice of pizza.

After, we went out on the deck to look at the Brooklyn Bridge.



Mom got a bit distracted when she saw the IKEA shuttle to the IKEA in Brooklyn. I grabbed her by the ankles when she jumped over the rail and Keith helped me pull her back up as she mumbled something about more oatmeal crisp cookies and lingonberry preserves...


Keith began to size up the situation... assessing which in his arsenal of cameras he would use, working through the shots he wanted, the angles, the lighting, etc....

And then he began. Several hours later mom began to wish she had made it onto the IKEA shuttle boat. Even that she were back in central park.


I think this is the shot he was going for more or less. I'm sure his looks much better.

Finally, we met back up with Lisa in the village for a birthday dinner at a Japanese place there (Sushi Mamba I think it's called).

Everyone was quite satisfied.



I only ordered enough Sushi for six or seven people, which was good since there were only four of us and Keith didn't really eat it. Especially since we walked back up the block to Cones again. A little known fact: Ice Cream isn't really filling. It melts inside of you and just finds places in the cracks between the other food. It's true. Look it up.

Exhausted and full we jumped on the train back to Westwood.



To be continued...