Beaches to Broadway
Normally, when we are in New York, we have just a short time so decide to stay in Midtown. This time, though we had an equally short time, we decided to stay with our friends Julie and Neil in Brooklyn and prioritize together time, and I'm so glad we did!
(This is where I admit I had been to Brooklyn just once before in my life, to go to Julie's, and I had generally looked down on it as Not Manhattan and also Way Too Hipster. This trip was a great chance to eliminate those stereotypes.)
When we arrived Thursday, the construction in LaGuardia was causing a huge transportation backup; you had to take a shuttle, which took well over 45 minute, just to get to the taxi stand, which was still better than a 90 minute wait and over $100 fee for Lyft. So we did not get to Julie's until about 7:30, but we got delicious Thai food and then got ice cream at Ample Hills and got a little driving tour of Brooklyn.
Friday we got kind of a later start and took the subway in to go to the Guggenheim (another big difference, we mostly took the subway this time when we usually took car services before; I miss the days when Gett would get you anywhere in Manhattan for $9 or under). We were really anxious to see the Hilma af Klint show, and had even joined the Walker so that we could get reciprocal admission and skip the line, which turned out to be a brilliant move. We spent several hours winding our way around the nautilus of the Guggenheim to see the show, including a run in with Austin Kleon, one of Patrick's favorite authors.
Following the Guggenheim, we had a quick refreshment stop at Alice's Tea Cup (incredibly magic, try the fairy tea!) before going to The Frick Museum. We had just been there in January, but Beatrix and I love it there (the Ingres Woman in Blue is one of my favorite paintings ever), and they had a really interesting Moroni exhibit that also features physical artifacts featured in the paintings.
From there we headed to dinner at Lillie's Victorian Establishment, which featured a great atmosphere and even better people-watching.
Finally, the piece de resistance was attending Hadestown, which was in actuality the entire reason for the trip. A couple of months back we had been listening to the 2010 concept album of the piece by Anais Mitchell, when we both had said "Gosh, I really want to see that live!" — so we ended up centering our spring break around it.
And the show did not disappoint. We felt like we knew it well, having already listened to it multiple times and having just had a discussion with our friends Dave and Dan about it (who are friends with the leads Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada, and had just seen it in previews). But experiencing it live and visually was absolutely amazing. The way the music and story have changed in focus, while retaining the strength of the writing, and doubling down on the political impact, is nothing short of transcendent. I'll have another post on it sometime soon; I'm still thinking through it now.
Waited at stage door, where Beatrix got a red carnation passed to her, and took a car home after a magic night!
(This is where I admit I had been to Brooklyn just once before in my life, to go to Julie's, and I had generally looked down on it as Not Manhattan and also Way Too Hipster. This trip was a great chance to eliminate those stereotypes.)
When we arrived Thursday, the construction in LaGuardia was causing a huge transportation backup; you had to take a shuttle, which took well over 45 minute, just to get to the taxi stand, which was still better than a 90 minute wait and over $100 fee for Lyft. So we did not get to Julie's until about 7:30, but we got delicious Thai food and then got ice cream at Ample Hills and got a little driving tour of Brooklyn.Friday we got kind of a later start and took the subway in to go to the Guggenheim (another big difference, we mostly took the subway this time when we usually took car services before; I miss the days when Gett would get you anywhere in Manhattan for $9 or under). We were really anxious to see the Hilma af Klint show, and had even joined the Walker so that we could get reciprocal admission and skip the line, which turned out to be a brilliant move. We spent several hours winding our way around the nautilus of the Guggenheim to see the show, including a run in with Austin Kleon, one of Patrick's favorite authors.
Following the Guggenheim, we had a quick refreshment stop at Alice's Tea Cup (incredibly magic, try the fairy tea!) before going to The Frick Museum. We had just been there in January, but Beatrix and I love it there (the Ingres Woman in Blue is one of my favorite paintings ever), and they had a really interesting Moroni exhibit that also features physical artifacts featured in the paintings.
From there we headed to dinner at Lillie's Victorian Establishment, which featured a great atmosphere and even better people-watching.Finally, the piece de resistance was attending Hadestown, which was in actuality the entire reason for the trip. A couple of months back we had been listening to the 2010 concept album of the piece by Anais Mitchell, when we both had said "Gosh, I really want to see that live!" — so we ended up centering our spring break around it.
And the show did not disappoint. We felt like we knew it well, having already listened to it multiple times and having just had a discussion with our friends Dave and Dan about it (who are friends with the leads Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada, and had just seen it in previews). But experiencing it live and visually was absolutely amazing. The way the music and story have changed in focus, while retaining the strength of the writing, and doubling down on the political impact, is nothing short of transcendent. I'll have another post on it sometime soon; I'm still thinking through it now.Waited at stage door, where Beatrix got a red carnation passed to her, and took a car home after a magic night!
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