It's been quite the whirlwind weekend thus far...The past two days have seen my parents and I in 4 different states (MA, RI, CT, NY) for a grand total of 12 hours in the car: that's 25%, for those of you keeping score at home. Yesterday, mom and I drove TW down to Providence--just for kicks--and then decided to continue on down to Newport to see how the other half lived, or at least how they lived a hundred years ago. After getting some very good advice, although it was barely understandble through the thick RI accent (think Family Guy, sped up) we ended up with a "three mansions for $25" deal. We viewed the Elms, Breakers and Marble Houses; by the end of the day, we decided that they knew a thing or two about building impossibly intricate, and huge, houses! Newport's absolutely beautiful, and there are at least 15 other houses that we didn't even get a chance to check out...next time you're in southern RI, give it a chance.
Yesterday was the crown jewel in this particular vacation. We headed down to NYC to see "Speed-the-Plow" starring Raul Esparza, Jeremy Piven and Elisabeth Moss. It was my first play on Broadway, I know--crazy, and I loved every minute. Spitfire dialogue, intricate characters, philosophically crazy plot that appealed to my inner nerd, and a set that blew me away. Overall the effect of watching the play, from the 2nd-to-last row no less, felt like sitting in a chair and having it injecting right into your spine--very Matrix like!
Afterwards we went to Les Halles for a late lunch/early dinner...We were supposed to hit up a Jean Georges restaurant prior to the show, but that was just a pie-in-the-sky idea...obviously not a feasible one. Les Halles is an Anthony Bourdain restaurant, so the star chef quota was fulfilled...and rightfully so, the dinner was delicious: three separate steaks, all cooked to perfection, and all scarfed down in record time.
On the 3-hour drive back, we saw quite a collection of oddities: in addition to the numerous idiots passing us, and everyone else, in the right lane, and the one idiot zooming in and out leaving-the-city traffic at an idiotic speed, the piece-de-resistance was the flaming car. This car was in the opposing lane of traffic, thank god, and it was completely on fire: from top to bottom, inside to out, with flames at least 7-feet tall--it looked like a movie set, I'd never seen anything like that!
All in all, it was a successful trip. My parents have a few lower-body ailments that impair their ability to get up and down steps, or long walks in general, but they soldiered through and enjoyed the quick zip down to NYC...how could they not? A superstar play, a superstar chef, and a superstar driver/escort to and from to Manhattan (that's me, by the way, celexo)...they loved it!
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So, it's quite interesting that no blogs equals no work on the dissertation the past two days. I'll try to rectify that today/tonight. We're hitting up dim sum this morning, and then TW's concert and dinner with the Cousin tonight...maybe I can get some editing down.
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Update: Just got back from China Pearl for dim sum. It was superb as always, and it's always nice to have a personal tour guide, in the form of Al--thanks buddy, you're always appreciated! I'm supremely stuffed now, but have a few solid hours booked here on the couch and then at TW's concert today at 3PM. Fun times! See you on the other side...
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1 comment:
It sounds like you're having so much fun! I've been to those mansions in Newport - glad you thought they were amazing. Didn't they film the Gatsby movie in one of them? I'll put Les Halles on my list for next time - I love Bourdain.
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