*Sauro's sandwiches, so New York, impossible to replicate on the west coast
*Del Chicco Market's fabulous wood-fired pizza
*Dave, the Manhattan Residence Inn maintenance man who, when called about our room's malfunctioning refrigerator, diagnosed the problem adroitly. I, the causal factor, needing to use the hair dryer, had mistakenly unplugged the appliance earlier in the day, thinking the cord belonged to the coffeemaker. He was gracious. I was mortified.
*Three Japanese tourists in front of our NY hotel who pose patiently as Henry uses their camera to capture them and the city. The daughter explains that her parents know only two phrases in English. They are 'Thank you.' and 'Excuse me.' That's a very good start.
*At Citifield during the Mets game, the Jumbotron focuses on a young woman and her small daughter. Photos of her husband, a Staff Sergeant assigned to Kabul, flash across the screen. The next camera shot is on the sergeant himself walking toward his family and their emotional embrace. I want this reunion repeated again and again until all our service members are home permanently.
*Searching in store after store to find a gyroscope for our neighbor girls and listening in amazement as salespeople think we're seeking a telescope or have no idea what a gyroscope might be.
*Arriving at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to find lines that herald a three hour wait. The Alexander McQueen exhibit is the draw.
*Learning more about dinosaurs in half an hour than in a lifetime from a retired elementary school teacher who is a volunteer docent at the Museum of Natural History. Peeking at possible skin colors which might have covered these behemoths; studying bones, breathing processes, teeth, brain sizes and favorite leaves of such long ago herbivores.
*From our 33rd floor room windows, watching the Empire State Building welcome a new day, light the dark sky, and disappear behind heavy clouds.
*Glancing out the windows to see the Macy's sign on the 34th Street landmark.
*Recognizing Whoopi Goldberg's distinctive voice as she introduces us to the heavens at the Hayden Planetarium.
*Noticing a family at the Natural History Museum cafeteria as its members strive to eat most of America's favorite foods in one sitting. A cheeseburger, French fries, hot dog, taco, macaroni and cheese, and Caesar salad were among their selections. Food immersion.
*Spying this menu item at the Catch of the Day restaurant at Citifield: Grilled Shrimp PoBoy with Creole Mustard on Ciabatta, $15.
*Celebrating 100 years of the New York Public Library's main building where the exhibit included:
**Cuneiforms from Mesopotamia, circa 3rd to 2nd
millennium BCE
**Malcolm X's briefcase, journal from 1964, and
personal copy of the Qur'an
**Jack Kerouac's notebook from 1949-52, his glasses,
pipe and harmonica
**A 1493 dated letter from Christopher Columbus
published in a book printed that year
**Virginia Woolf's walking stick and 1941 diary
**Ernest Hemingway's draft of his Nobel Prize
acceptance speech
**One of Mao's 'Little Red Books'
**Karl Marx's "Das Kapital" in Russian, published
in 1872
(How can anyone argue that libraries are no longer relevant?)
*German Chocolate Cake gelato gleefully consumed with only a twinge of guilt
*The sight of an ecru maxi dress draped upon a stately young woman who evidently had forgotten she chose black thong underwear that day. Or perhaps not.
*Sharing a subway car with a cute pug and his/her master as well as an entire field hockey team and their sticks
*Evenings reading "Pride and Prejudice" in the hotel room while Henry enjoys the world available on his IPad
*Buildings with shapes that should be able to talk and share their histories with lush green spaces
*Languages that can't be deciphered, emitted from fascinating faces
*Pondering the family that offered German passports, yet spoke Portuguese, to the Macy's Customer Service staff
*Longing to be able to sample nearly every type of bread stacked in Zaro's display case
*Realizing that gladiator sandals and heels have conquered NY's foot fashionistas
*Sipping Nantucket Nectar's refreshing Pineapple/Orange /Guava drink and being glad it isn't available in my town
*Meeting Deborah from Singapore when she offers to take our picture with Weatherly. Later learning that she and her husband have law degrees from England and own seven stores whose primary stock is Italian shoes.
These snippets will stay with us.
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