2022 Trip to New York

 Our trip to New York City, which began on Thursday, September 22, exceeded the high expectations I had for it.  I spent a lot of quality time with my family:  my daughter Rachel, her husband Mike, my grandchildren Nate and Leo, my son Bret and his fiancée Pam.

The two flights with American Airlines to and from JFK Airport were smooth, but I wish the stewards and stewardesses would learn some Portuguese.  How many Brazilians on the planes understood, "chicken or pasta?"

On the flight to New York, I watched the films The Big Chill (1983) with Kevin Kline and Glenn Close and Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing (1989).  On the return trip, I watched The Bucket List (2007) with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and Father of the Bride (1950) with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor.  

On the first Friday, we arrived at our hotel, Courtyard by Marriott, on East 92nd Street.  The location was great, a short walk from my daughter's penthouse apartment.  However, there was no breakfast, no laundry service and worse, a bath tub instead of a walk in shower.

On the first day, we had breakfast at the Midnight Express Diner on the corner of East 89th Street and Second Avenue.  Cristina and I both had pancakes with maple syrup.  We returned for lunch later.

After breakfast, we walked to the Wells Fargo branch on East 86th Street to attempt to open bank accounts.  Unfortunately, we could not as we were not permanent residents of the USA.  Truist and First Horizon banks had no such restriction.  I don't understand why a bank would lock out potential customers.

We then went to a nearby Gristedes supermarket where we bought My-T-Fine chocolate pudding (an old brand from my youth) plus other items.  

Later we went to Rachel's lovely apartment on East 90th Street to especially see my grandsons for the first time in more than three years.  Mike cooked a wonderful chicken dinner plus two side dishes.  We also received sweatshirts that had been waiting for us since Nate's bar mitzvah (2020).

On Saturday afternoon at Rachel's, we watched on TV the Michigan (Rachel's alma mater) against Maryland (Bret's) college football game which was very competitive.  Coincidentally, Bret also gave me a sweatshirt.  I love sweatshirts.  At night we all went to Luke's Bar & Grill on Third Avenue.  I enjoyed the Mike Wallace (late great TV journalist) meatloaf with mashed potatoes.

On Sunday, we (along with Pam's father Ron) had brunch at the Barking Dog restaurant at the corner of East 94th Street and Third Avenue.  I had a delicious pastrami sandwich on rye bread with mustard and melted swiss cheese.

For Sunday night Rachel had bought tickets for us (Rachel, Mike, Leo, Bret, Cristina and me) to go to Yankee Stadium to watch the Yankee-Red Sox baseball game.  There was great interest as the Yankee's Aaron Judge was trying to break the American League's single season home run record (61).  He went one (hit) for two (at bats) plus a walk, but no home run.  

After six innings, a terrible rain storm broke out stopping the game (Yankees won 2-0) and sending thousands of fans running to the exits and home.  Mike was our hero finding a taxi, but not before we were all soaking wet.

Monday, I had lunch with Bret back at the diner.  I couldn't resist the apple pie on the dessert menu.  As it was the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), Mike cooked a lovely brisket for us all.  His cooking was better than any restaurant we went to.

Tuesday, while Cristina went shopping, I took Nate and Leo to a local sushi restaurant so we could get to know each other better.  Afterwards, we watched one of my favorite movies (and one they had never seen), High Noon (1952) with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly.  Nate and Leo both said they enjoyed the movie.

Wednesday, we took a taxi to Herald Square and shopped at H&M and Macy's, where I bought another sweatshirt.  Cristina and I had lunch at Just Salad, one of many restaurants in the store.  Wednesday night we had dinner at The Back Room at Delizia, a restaurant at the corner of East 92nd Street and Second Avenue.  It is a pizzeria in front and a dining room in the back.  I had a delicious veal scallopini.  There was a pianist there who played a Brazilian song.

Thursday, we went to Men's Wearhouse on Madison Avenue and 45th Street to be fitted for a tuxedo I will wear at Bret and Pam's wedding next May in St. Augustine, FL.  We then walked to Barnes & Noble on Fifth Avenue where I bought two books: Lessons by Ian McEwen and American Pastoral by Philip Roth.  After lunch at Panera Bread we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral.  We celebrated Leo's 12th birthday with a delicious banana cake.   

Friday, we went to the New Balance store on Third Avenue where I bought a new pair of walking shoes plus sweat pants.  Then, it was lunch at Ess-a-Bagel, where Cristina and I always have a plain bagel with cream cheese, nova and tomato.  Then it was on to Bath and Body Works and more shopping.  For dinner, we were joined by Rachel and Mike (Nate and Leo had made their own plans) at Delizia where a jazz trio was playing.  I had tilapia.

Saturday, after a wet morning, we spent the day with Rachel, Mike, Nate and Leo.  We all ate dinner at the nearby diner.

Sunday, back at Rachel's for lunch until 3 PM when they started to prepare for a kids party re: Leo's birthday.  Dinner was at Chez Nicks, a very nice restaurant around the corner from the hotel on York Avenue.  I had the butternut squash agnolotti.  In spite of the perfect sidewalks in New York (unlike Sao Paulo), on our way back from the restaurant, I tripped over my own feet and fell into some bushes.  I'm OK.

Monday, after lunch at the Barking Dog, we ordered a car service (Carmel) which showed up on time and got us to JFK for our flight to Sao Paulo.  We had reserved a car (call 7) to pick us up at JFK on our arrival in New York, but they didn't show up.  

Finally, the taxi driver we requested to pick us up at Guarulhos Tuesday morning was there.  Looking forward to next May's trip to St. Augustine where I will be with my family again.