The Greatest City in the World*

Remember that brain reboot I needed? A nap was nice, but this past weekend I found an even better way to push reset. Early on Thursday morning Bryan drove me to the local airport where I caught a bus into New York City. That's where I met up with my dear friend Brett, the other half of my two-person book club, who had flown out from Utah for an adventure. We spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and a bit of Sunday packing in as much history, delicious food, deep conversation, walking/subway-ing/running, and Broadway as possible.

It was fantastic!

Want details? Here's what Thursday looked like:

After we found each other near Bryant Park, we walked to our hotel just half a block away from the iconic New York Public Library. Then we grabbed bagels for breakfast at Zuckers. I decided it was my job to take pictures of each place we ate. I missed two, but did well otherwise.

After that we booked it down to City Hall Park for a Revolutionary War walking tour. This is when we learned that Lyft is not effective in NYC. We stuck to our feet and the subway for the rest of the weekend.

Photo credit: Brett

We learned lots of cool facts and saw the graves of Alexander and Eliza Hamilton. One of the things we learned was that our year of reading about the Revolutionary War (2017) helped us sound like historians. We shared some knowledge our tour guide didn't have. I guess all that reading I do has some benefits.

Photo credit: Brett

We walked by Federal Hall. The next day we came back and actually went inside.

Photo credit: Brett

As soon as the tour (which I enjoyed a lot) was over, we hurried to the subway station to get to the next event on our itinerary. We had a traveling lunch of some delicious New York style pizza. And no, I didn't take a picture of this place, so I have no idea what it was called.

Photo credit: Brett

We made it to our first (yes, first) Broadway show of the weekend. Moulin Rouge was my choice.

Unfortunately, it's not one that I can recommend. 

The music is mostly great, lots of fun mashups of modern pop songs, and the sets were amazing. The choreography and costumes however, well, I spent a lot of time studying the ceiling of the theater rather than watching what was happening on stage. Afterward we learned that we had both thought about leaving, but didn't. The movie is rated PG-13, and so was the play, but a much stronger PG-13. Also, the speakers were all turned up so high, my head was pounding by the time we left the theater.

Photo credit: Brett

After Moulin Rouge we needed food. We went to Los Tacos No. 1, a hole-in-the-wall place that a friend in my ward had recommended. It was amazing! Seriously some of the best food we had all weekend.

They only had like four things on the menu, including tacos and quesadillas. Here's one of Brett's tacos, and look, I'm in the background waiting for my order.

Photo credit: Brett

After eating we finally checked into the hotel and rested for a few minutes. Then we headed to our second Broadway show of the week. I am thrilled to report that Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird made up for the disappointment of Moulin Rouge. It was incredible!

Jeff Daniels played Atticus Finch, which was cool, but the most interesting part for me was how he portrayed the character. It was as if Mr. Daniels had followed around my father-in-law doing a character study. The way he moved, delivered his lines, sat, sighed, it was like I was watching Bryan's dad on stage. So, surprise Ron, it turns out you're actually Atticus Finch.

Photo credit: Brett

After the wonderful play, we got our tired selves to the hotel and slept the restful slumber of two moms on breaks from their kids. Ah, sleep.

*What am I quoting?