New York

After a successful Christmas, Santa Claus takes a break 
and presides over Little Italy in NYC

In spite of all outward appearances, this blog is not dead--and it is still about Mathews County, Virginia.

But.

Somewhere leading up to Christmas week its owner was so preoccupied with incoming family, preparations for Christmas, her mother's birthday (Happy Christmas Eve Birthday, Chesapeake Bay Mother!), the ardent desire to simply hibernate, and a whirlwind trip to New York City with her children...that...

...Well, she simply didn't have time to breathe, nor clean up the post-Christmas dinner dishes blog.

(The blog owner, having provided her excuses, will now shift to first person. The excuses, however, continue.)

Since I only returned home last evening, I still haven't had time to take pictures of Mathews and likely won't until later this week.

Therefore, we continue to interrupt this blog claiming to be about Mathews to glance at a Mathews County family's trip to New York, where I forced myself to use my iPhone camera by not bringing my regular camera.

These unedited pictures support my theory that I still have lots to learn with even the iPhone camera.

(I never learned how to use my regular camera either. Auto mode is all I know.)

Let's begin.

For three years now, I've gone to New York after Christmas to visit my blog friends Daryl and Kate (and Lauren, formerly of Connecticut, who is now in Tennessee - we missed her this year).

The past two years I've taken Son Sam and Daughter Maria, both of whom have a very deep love of the city.

Aside from the opportunity to see friends and spend time with my teens, my love of New York can be summarized as follows.

Exhibit A:  Zabars on Broadway, a complex, epicurean
wonderland cleverly disguised by an uncomplicated storefront.
Our hotel was within walking distance.  Be still my heart.
Mere words cannot describe what lies within that store. 

Exhibit B (related to A):  The omnipresence of food from all nations and cultures.
J'adore. I just love the options and endless possibilities.

Exhibit C:  Quirky statues spring up out of nowhere.

See?

Exhibit D:  Crazy-cool architecture

See?

Exhibit Whatever Letter We're On:  My two love the city.

(Statue of Liberty in the background.)
Son Sam wrote a college entrance essay on his love of this city,
and I was astounded at the depth of his expression.

I was also astounded at (and grateful for) his use of
the iPhone's GPS to do all of our navigation.

Here my two favorite humans stand in Little Italy, my favorite side trip this year.

Next time I want to save room on the itinerary
 and in my stomach for a dinner in this neighborhood.

Kate and Maria at Artie's Delicatessan at 83rd and Broadway.
This and Zabars are within walking distance of Daryl's apartment and
our hotel.  Given all the driving I do in real life, being able to
walk to these fabulous places on vacation was heavenly.
Absolutely heavenly.

Daryl is the best NYC friend and hostess on the planet.
She's exceedingly patient with and forgiving of blog friends
who are so full from days of overindulgence that they order eggplant soup
instead of a reuben at a New York deli.
(Thank you, Daryl!)
Daughter, on the other hand, had her first taste of matzo ball soup.

One day we walked clear from 80th Street to Seattle, WA
across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Daughter Maria and I, neither of us strangers to long distance walking or running,
were grateful for a reprieve on the other side of the bridge.

Sam (right) continues to admire the city view.

After hoofing it across the thousand-mile Brooklyn Bridge with every other
waking person within a 50-mile radius, Daughter wanted pizza.  So we obliged.
Click here and here to read the story about Juliana's .

The views on the Brooklyn side of the bridge were really spectacular.

Speaking of spectacular, this may have been my favorite scene of all,
from Saturday's jaunt on the High Line with Daryl and Kate.

This ad for a storage company reminds me why I moved from suburban DC to Mathews
when Son and Daughter were very young. I felt too crowded in the city.
Their rural foundation was unique; they had plenty of room to flourish.
But now they are ready to spread their wings and move on to new things.

If one or both decide on New York, I'll be thrilled.
Especially if regular Little Italy cannolis might be involved.
(And I am not really a sweets sort of person, but still.  Wow.)

We thoroughly enjoyed and exhausted ourselves but actually did plenty other than eat--in spite of my spin on events.  Friday we joined Kate for a tour of NBC studios that included visits to the Saturday Night Live, NBC Nightly News and Today Show sets.  That, along with all the food, along with getting lost in Brooklyn (in this neighborhood which was absolutely fascinating) were my favorite parts.

And of course seeing good friends.

And eating.

Did I mention the food?




p.s. Thanks, Daryl, for always being the perfect hostess.  And thanks, Kate, for joining us at the end of what's been a particularly tough year.  Thank you both for spending time with us.