Eighth Monday after Pentecost
Lectionary texts:
Ephesians 2:1-7
Mark 6:30-34
Psalm 89: 20-37 (UMH 807)
Today us travelogue day. I have been alternating travelogues between "center of the world" places and "end of the world" places. Today it's center of the world. There are few, if any, more "center of the world" places than Times Square, New York City.
New York City has five major sections, called boroughs. They are Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. I've been to all but Staten Island. Times Square is on the island of Manhattan, which is just about the center of everything. Manhattan is laid out in a grid. Avenues run north to south and are numbered, 1st through 10th (or is it 11th). Streets run east to west and are numbered 1st to something in the early 200's. I've been on 198th.
The exception is Broadway. Broadway is a street that runs diagonally. Where Broadway meets the junction of a street and an avenue, you have a square. Times square is the largest square where Broadway meets 7th Avenue and the streets from 42d to 46th. Times Square is always crowded, primarily with tourists from all over the US and the world. Times Square is in the heart of the theater district, where Broadway shows--live dramas, comedies, and musicals--run 8 performances a week (except during the pandemic).
There are of course other parts of Manhattan that are the center of other worlds. South of Times Square about 45+ blocks is lower Manhattan, which is not laid out on a grid but has streets with names running in various directions. The most famous street in Lower Manhattan is Wall Street. It and the area around it are the financial center of the world and the location of the New York Stock Exchange.
I started going to New York regularly when I was 13. My parents would go for weekends seven or eight times a year. I would go with them two or three of those times. I continued that habit into adulthood, although with somewhat less frequency. The last few years Marianne and I have been going every two or three years. Our last trip was in October, 2019, just ahead of the Pandemic.
In my teenage years when I went with my parents, they primarily went shopping. They would turn me loose after breakfast and I would walk and walk, covering most of lower, mid-town, and upper east side Manhattan. It's hard to believe now that you would turn a 13 year old kid to roam a strange city. We always felt safe, and I could never get lost with the grid system. Our hotel, the Berkshire, was on 52d and Madison (i.e. 4th Avenue).
On my first trip I went to my first Broadway Show--My Fair Lady, starring Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. It was SRO (standing room only). I stood through the whole three and a half hours. I have been to probably 40 or so Broadway shows since then.
I never had any trouble in New York, other than occasionally in those early years New Yorkers making fun of my Southern accent. I went out to dinner with my parents each night. They had favorite restaurants, Danny's Hideaway, Seafare of the Aegean, The Brasserie, and especially Top of the Sixes. All those are gone now, replaced by innumerable others.
I had my first drink at Top of the Sixes. I was 18, which was the legal drinking age at that time. I was with my parents. My father offered to buy me my first drink. My mother was opposed. She lost. I knew nothing about drinks. Since I was in Manhattan, I ordered a Manhattan. I had no idea what was in it, although I did see a cherry in it. I managed to swallow my first sip with difficulty. It got easier, although it tasted awful. Of course, my mature, sophisticated 18 year old self didn't want to admit that. By the end of dinner I was both dizzy and extremely talkative. My mother was unhappy. I was happy. Only later did I find out what was in a Manhattan. It was Bourbon mixed with Red Vermouth. That's liquor mixed with liquor and nothing else but that single cherry.
My dad, who was a clothes horse, supreme, always took me to Brooks Brothers to buy a suit or sportcoat. There was only one Brooks Brothers then, at Madison and 44th. At home we went out to dinner most nights. My father always made me wear a coat and tie. That habit stuck with me a long time, all the way up to my retirement at the end of 2010. Since then, it's been only on Sunday.
More on New York next week. We'll go uptown to Central Park and to the second greatest art museum in the world.
Lord God,
For the great cities of the world, for their planners, and architects, and builders, and engineers,we give ou thanks. Amen.
Faithfully,
Christian
3 comments:
Your travelogue post today was very enjoyable. Our last visit to NYC was in October of 2019 also. Our 30th anniversary was that year. In 2019 we traveled to London, Chicago and New York City. During our last visit, Rick and I walked from our hotel over to Ole King Cole bar and then had dinner across the street at the Polo Bar. What a night. We’ve been to NYC many times with our daughter and as a couple. We even rang in the New Year there. (Not in Times Square but at Jazz at Lincoln Center.) I’ve started dreaming of returning next year.
I saw My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews in 1956 with a seat on the last row in the balcony--memorable!
That's amazing about My Fair Lady! I went on my first trip to New York with you of course! I'd have to say, it's a much better place to visit than to live or work. I hated working there, though I loved living in the most diverse city in the country, Jersey City. New York is changing so much now. So many people are moving out. But it has changed before. New York, until climate change puts it under water, is eternal. And then it will probably be the world's first floating city!
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