DC--NYC Trip Day 8

Today was our day in the City with Elliot and Antonella. For this little excursion, we decided our rather large stroller would not do (nor would the small, ten dollar Wal-Mart stroller Gretchen was nice enough to buy us), so we packed Elliot around in our kid-carrier.

We walked and saw Radio City Music Hall,

Rockefeller Center (as you can see, the tree wasn't fully decorated. Somewhat of a dissapointment),

over to Carnegie Hall, and then to Patelson's Music House. Patelson's is a musician's paradise, and Dem and Antonella explored the premises like giddy little school girls for forty-five minutes. Dem ended up buying some Cornelius Reid books, as well as the music to Carmen.

Next stop was FAO Schwartz, which is, I must admit, one kickin' toy store. At this point, we parted ways. Dem and Antonella went to a backstage tour of the Metropolitan Opera, and Elliot and I walked fifty blocks south to see Teddy Roosevelt's birthplace at 28 E 20th St. About halfway there, Elliot became hungry, so I took out the cheerios and held them over my shoulder. Elliot would take it and put it in his mouth. We did this for about twenty-five blocks until Elliot sated and fell asleep.

Teddy's birthplace is an old, unassuming browstone.

The inside (of which I have pictures I will post shortly) was pure Victorian style, and not nearly as large as one would think one of the wealthiest New York families would have enjoyed. After the tour, I spoke with the guide and was pleased to hear Edmund Morris, who has written the first two volumes of a three-volume biography on TR, is writing the third volume now (the guide was a good source since he had spoken to Morris two weeks earlier about the third volume). Of course, this means it won't be out for another couple years, but for TR like me that have been waiting years for the third volume, this is music to our ears.

After a quick change and feeding, Elliot and I walked up Broadway to Time Square, where we met Dem and Antonella. We ate at Le Pain Quotidien, which was quite good before hopping the train back to Nel Nel's.

DC--NYC Trip Day 7

Today was my and Demaree's day in the city together. Antonella and her family graciously took care of Elliot while we galavanted. After entering the city, we decided to walk from Grand Central Station to the Frick Collection on the upper west side (70th St. and 5th Ave. to be precise). They had an Andrea Riccio (Renaissance sculptor who worked with bronze) exhibition; it was quite good.

Leaving Frick, we cut across Central Park and ate at Trattoria Sambuca on 20 West 72nd St. I had a grilled calamari appetizer (of which Dem did not partake). For the entree we had pasta with sausage and broccoli rabe. Good. For dessert we had a warm apple crumb, which was spectacular. Honestly, I believe apple pie is the quintessential Americana dessert, but this, this blew apple pie out of the water. Next time you're in New York, try this dessert. You won't be sorry.

After dinner came the main attraction: the Metropolitan Opera's rendition of the Damnation of Faust.

We had standing room only tickets, which was unfortunate because the staging was vertical, which meant we could not see some of the characters unless we crouched on our knees to get a better angle. In any case, it was a great show and we had a great time.

After a long train ride, we made it home around 2 a.m.