Christmas Out East, Part 2

We left Tobyhanna in stages.

First Keith, Lori, Sara and Josh left because they had to get Josh back to his apartment and they wanted to settle in a bit at their own place before we got there. And then after a bit of looking about (“Did anyone find that last piece of the puzzle? No? Well, maybe we’ll leave a note for the host”) we left as well but only as far as the World’s Strangest ShopRite because they sold Cooper Sharp cheese there and we needed to stock up.

Cooper Sharp is a mild sandwich cheese that will never win any awards but it improves everything you put it on and it tastes like my childhood because my house was never without it when I was growing up. My dad would sooner have updated his Bermudas than run out of Cooper Sharp. They make it in Green Bay these days but you cannot buy it anywhere in the Central Time Zone, let alone Wisconsin, so we take our opportunities when we can. I left Kim, Lauren, and Oliver in the van and went to the Glacial Deli Counter to place my order and when I got back we’d all aged into retirement but we had our cheese.

We also stopped at the Sheetz on the way out of town for gas, sandwiches, and snacks because we could. It’s not Wawa but it’s not bad, and soon we were on our way east to Jersey City.

Kind of.

It turned out a good chunk of I-80 had gone missing the day before and this would require us to make a detour. We sailed along the highway until at some point the GPS told us to take the next exit and then we spent a fair bit of the next forty minutes or so winding our way along ever smaller roads through ever smaller north Jersey towns in a long parade of bewildered highway refugees until like magic the interstate reappeared and we got back on, only to find ourselves in Newark not long afterward because it turned out that the “copy and paste” function on my phone only works for one line at a time and my brother’s street address has an exact duplicate right by the Rutgers campus, which is not where he actually lives.

Some creative language, a blocked railroad crossing, and at least one “it’ll reroute us if I just get moving” later, we were back on our way and eventually – after an extensive tour of Jersey City that included inching our way past a very large mosque just as Friday prayers were letting out – we made it to their apartment where we didn’t do much of anything for a while, which is just what vacations are supposed to be. The cat was not impressed, but then cats never are.

We spent a fair amount of time just admiring the view from their windows.

That’s Ellis Island on the left. My Italian ancestors came through there in the early 20th century. A lot of people’s ancestors did, in this country. We are a nation of immigrants regardless of the braying of the jackasses these days, and a lot of it happened right there. If you believe in that sort of thing, it’s a place with a lot of energy. Even if you don’t, it’s a place with a lot of history. The Statue of Liberty is on the right and in the background you can see the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. If you turn in a slightly different direction, you get another great view.

We ended up going for a walk around the waterfront for a bit, and it was every bit as lovely at ground level.

Lauren and Sara wandered up to Hoboken for the evening, leaving their elders to spend the night drinking Irish whiskey and singing along to Keith’s Spotify playlists and who got the better of that deal, really?

The next day Lauren and I went to Newark Airport to pick up Aleksia, a mission that might have been easier had the cell phone lot not been located in Newark, Delaware (which is spelled the same but pronounced differently and – I cannot emphasize this enough – is NOWHERE NEAR the terminals at the Newark [NJ] Airport) but it was nice to spend the time together and eventually we found Aleksia and a joyous reunion it was. On our return the two of them immediately grabbed Sara and headed off into Manhattan for a day of thrift shops and interesting food while Kim took the opportunity to go to the Whitney Museum to look at the art without me there to worry about. Keith and I found groceries and wines and spent the day relaxing. Eventually those of us in the apartment walked a few blocks through the Dickensian mists of Jersey City and met Kim at a local bistro for a lovely dinner.

Did you know they’ve re-invented Gnip Gnop? And not a moment too soon, I say. Those of you who are not AARP members probably have no idea what I’m talking about but for anyone who was a child in the 1970s Gnip Gnop was the ultimate indoor game – fast-paced, reasonably exciting, and loud enough to wake the dead. It was the perfect Christmas gift for kids and it inspired years of regret in our parents and we loved it. The new version is much quieter, as befits our advanced age, but enjoyable nonetheless.

There was also gingerbread, because why not.

Oliver left early the next day. Picking up Aleksia had convinced us that Uber was the way to go so we’d gotten that arranged and he was scheduled to be picked up at an Ungodly Early Hour. I saw him off at the lobby before heading back to bed, but in the end the plane was delayed about four hours and he could have just slept in a bit but you never know about these things. Eventually he found his way to Charlotte and had a lovely time with Dustin there.

Our day started slowly after that, gathered around the table sharing stories until we realized that we were going to be late to visit Ellen, Rob, and Quinn out in Yonkers so off we went. We ended up at a lovely little Mexican restaurant and then went back to their house for cookies and gin (which made sense at the time).

We got back to the apartment around 8 which was just enough time for Lauren and Aleksia to change clothes and head out to Manhattan to explore the clubs there, which – being young and adventurous – they did until the wee hours. It’s good to be young and adventurous. The parental generation had a relaxing evening at home after that, and everyone had the good time they wanted.

We’d planned to visit our friends Josh and Abby the next day, but by this point whatever crud Oliver had caught in the Poconos had started to migrate outwards and several of us had minor colds – not enough to keep us from doing anything, but more than enough to cause legitimate concern for someone who makes a living with his voice and had several important showcase events coming up in the near future. We will simply have to visit another time!

Instead, Keith, Lori, Kim, and I went out to Harold’s Restaurant to have lunch with Lori’s parents and a lovely time was had catching up with each other. It had been a while, after all.

If you’ve never been to Harold’s you should go, as it is an experience. They have a pickle bar, for example, which is perhaps the best thing I have ever seen in a restaurant. It is exactly what it says it is, and every restaurant should have one. I may need to install one in my own home. All hail the pickle bar, I say.

Also, when you look at the menu the first thing you do is gasp at the prices of the sandwiches, and the second thing you do is realize that each of these sandwiches is labeled as serving up to eight hungry adults so you only need to order one. The third thing you do is figure out once the sandwich arrives that it will actually feed everyone in your entire family and most of your neighbors for the next several days. This, it turns out, is a good thing. Rolane and Steve are Harold’s veterans so they guided us toward a mountain of corned beef and rye and we feasted. We didn’t even get to the desserts, which they have in a case by the entrance and which operate on the same basic principle.

After returning to the apartment long enough to catch our breath we ventured back out because we’d never taken a water taxi before and it looked like it would be interesting. Kim, Keith, Lori, Lauren, Aleksia and I took the City Ferry over to the financial district just across the harbor, and while Keith and Lori went back after that the rest of us wandered past the small ice rink, through the giant mall with the Jo Malone store that Kim loved, and over to the World Trade Center Memorial.

It’s big, the memorial, as befits a large complex and an even larger event. The reflecting pool is really nice and they list the names of those who died on the outside of the wall surrounding it because those are the people who deserve to be remembered. I remember that day all too well. A lot has happened since, but the memory is there.

The white thing in the back that looks like a whale’s tail is called the Oculus, and it is quintessentially American that the largest part of the memorial to the events of 9/11 is basically a high-end shopping mall. 10/10. No notes. Buy things or the terrorists win, as we were told at the time. It’s a really nice shopping mall as these things go, though – clean, bright, and welcoming – and there are train and subway stations underneath so there’s that. You can get around the place pretty easily, and it goes on for blocks and blocks.

Lauren and Aleksia decided that they were going to venture off to the Color Factory at that point, so they hopped on a subway and headed on their way. They had a grand time of it, from what they said, and in the end they made another stop and came back with cannoli for everyone so win all around I say.

Kim and I took a different subway (there is no better way to get to know a city than to ride its public transportation, and the New York subway system is really good that way) up to 14th Street and walked through the Chelsea Market to the Highline Park – a greenspace sort of pedestrian walkway on what was once an overhead rail line. We strolled along the park for a couple of blocks, admiring the views, before climbing back down to the street level.

On the way back to the subway we stopped at a street vendor for a snack. New York is a vibrant city, and you just sort of soak in it as you go. Eventually we found the subway station and with it some interesting art. The joy of brass is that you can always see where people have been fondling it. There are no secrets in brass.

When we got back to the apartment we discovered that there were drones outside of the window. Lots of them. Apparently they were practicing for some New Year’s Eve-related event, one that we never did see, though whether that was because the actual event was scheduled for elsewhere or that it was a stormy night for the holiday we’re not sure. But we had a grand time watching them go through their routines, which they repeated at least four times. I hope they got to do their show for real somewhere, after all that work.

We had plans for New Year’s, being in the shadow of New York City, so despite the fact that the forecast called for rain we headed into the city once again – this time on the City Ferry, which is a slightly different water taxi line that runs more frequently, costs less, and has nicer seating than the first one. We wandered down to the dock and a pleasant man with his young son asked us where we were from because it was 50F and I was wearing an unzipped windbreaker so I clearly wasn’t a local. “Yeah,” I said, “we live in Wisconsin. This isn’t cold to us.”

We made our way through the mall and the Oculus and into the city itself, where we set out to find various sites that Kim had read about on Atlas Obscura. The first one was the Bartholomew Sidewalk Clock which we eventually discovered embedded by a street corner though it was no longer working and had since been papered over. From there we wandered up into the city, passing through several interesting neighborhoods and St. Paul’s Chapel. I also managed to find a soft pretzel that the vendor agreed to put mustard on, so I was a happy Philadelphian adrift in the Big Apple.

Our last Atlas Obscura site was the Mmuseumm, which is billed as the world’s smallest museum. It sits in a freight elevator that once opened to the street and you can see it through a couple of small windows cut into the metal gate. When you look inside there are a couple of little things in motion, and you stare at them for a bit and then say to yourself, “Yes, I have seen the Mmuseumm.” It’s rather charming, in its way.

We had dinner reservations in Little Italy – me, Kim, Lauren, Aleksia, Keith, Lori, Sara, my cousin Chris and his husband Chris – so our trajectory kept bending that way, except that our path took us through Chinatown and there’s a lot to see there too. We visited a couple of shops, and Kim wanted to pregame dinner and get a small bowl of noodles in an actual New York Chinatown restaurant so eventually we found one that would sell us such a bowl. Lauren and Aleksia had made their way into the city by then and found us there. Three cheers for GPS and location services.

From there we wandered the couple of blocks over to the restaurant, stopping at a produce vendor along the way. Lauren reported that the lychee was very good. The thing I love about cities like New York is that they are always busy – there is always a crowd of people and a wave of activities that you can be part of or just observe, and walking along in the middle of that has a definite energy to it. I miss that energy.

The restaurant was about half a block from the produce vendor, it turned out. We’d gone there once before on a New Year’s Eve about a decade or so ago and while it had been redecorated since then the food was just as tasty as it had been earlier. We had a lovely time sharing food and conversation before we scattered off to our various destinations afterward. Chris and Chris headed off to do their own things. Lauren and Aleksia changed into nicer outfits and went to a hotel dance party for New Year’s, which lasted well into the night and was, by all accounts, a grand time. Kim and I took the subway back to the Oculus and found the Eataly store – a repository of Italian goods and groceries – to stock up with tasties, before making our way back to the apartment where Keith and Lori were waiting. It was a rainy walk from the PATH station, but not a bad one.

The storm hit in earnest not long after we got back, but we were cozy inside and eventually it passed. At midnight they set off the fireworks over the harbor, and it was quite a show. The water was covered with boats, and the fireworks went on for a good long while.

New Years’s Day was a bit quieter. Chris and Chris came over. I made chili and we had the panettone from Eataly for dessert. We played games and hung out. It was a very nice way to begin a new year, really.

The next day we packed up the van and headed west, me, Kim, and Aleksia. It was the kind of uneventful drive you hope to have when you do that sort of thing, and we mostly listened to an audiobook that Kim had found and stopped here and there for meals. Lauren stayed behind for a couple of hours then went to the airport for the next leg of her holiday, visiting a friend who now lives in Madrid. She has been having a good time and we look forward to seeing her when she gets back.

Oliver is back now, and at some point we will have a slightly delayed birthday celebration for him. The cat seems to have figured out that we’re here for real again – object permanence is not really a thing with cats, so for the first few days after we returned every time we’d go out of sight or go to bed she’d suddenly realize that we weren’t directly in her line of vision and then start crying in a pathetic sort of way. She’s a sweet cat, but rather dim even as cats go. Kim and I have been back to work and we are returning to our regularly scheduled lives, already in progress.

But it was a good trip.