Day 6. Christmas in NY and a Big Decision 12/25/21
Merry Merry –
We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner at Temple Court, the elegant restaurant inside The Beekman. After some good bubbly, I chose the chestnut-stuffed agnolotti with black truffles and shaved brussel sprouts, followed by duck with some kind of mustard spaetzle (sp?) and ice cream with poached pear; Mike had some kind of radicchio and beet and horseradish salad followed by scallops and then the same dessert as mine. Service was impeccable and it was great to merely take the elevator up to our room at the end of the meal.
We had been trying to figure out the best way to be safe given Covid and the rise of Omicron and the declaration that NY is the US epicenter (although many say it is moving west). After a lot of soul searching, we have decided to return to the Bay Area on Tuesday night (December 28th), so we’ve been scurrying around trying to cancel some reservations and change others. We’ll miss being in NY for my birthday (and it will probably be only the second time in decades that we will be home for New Years – the first time being last year during the pandemic when it was pre-vaccine.) Now we just have to hope and keep fingers crossed that our flight will not be cancelled. We shall see. If it does get canceled, we’ve got tickets for a back up flight but then we’d need to start all over again with reservations for hotels and holiday dinners.
We’ve moved most activities around and will have three jam packed days beginning tomorrow.
It was a rainy Christmas Day in NY; in the high 40s and rain most of the day. We had breakfast/brunch at Pastis (another one of my faves in NY) and then we headed up to Westchester (Croton-on-Hudson to be exact) to spend most of the day with our godchildren. It’s about an hour drive and it was interesting to see how many changes and how much development has occurred at the western edge of Manhattan, along the Hudson. Growing up, the Manhattan part of a trip to Westchester included the West Side Highway –- an elevated highway that was probably obsolete by the time it was built. It couldn’t accommodate trucks and the exits were very curvy as I recall. Eventually, the elevated highway (which was a real eyesore from the ground) had to be replaced. There was an incident in the 1970s when the weight of a dump truck carrying asphalt (I think) which was to be used to repair the highway actually collapsed the highway and a car followed the truck into the hole. Miraculously, no one was hurt. But after that, the highway was closed, and then plans began to emerge as to how to replace this critical throughfare. And a 6-lane surface road was created.
Our visit was very low key and not too long since we wanted to head back to the city before 6. We had seen everyone in June and Roberta (aka Bobbie) is in grad school at USC so she has been up to the Bay Area a few times and was there for Thanksgiving. After a nice present exchange we all took a walk in the neighborhood to get exercise for ourselves and the two dogs. Roberta’s dog (Rooster) and the family’s new dog (Thea) are getting along fine! Some champagne and cheese and lots of conversation, including about films since 12-year-old Harry has become quite a film buff. Ada’s hoping Oberlin returns to in-person classes, and everyone is settling in to being together for the holidays. It was truly wonderful to see everyone thriving.
We drove back to Manhattan in the mist (rain had let up but it was one of those damp days) and at about 8 pm headed out for… you guessed it – Chinese food! As a child we used to go out looking at Christmas decorations in the neighborhood and then for Chinese food; it has been said that Christmas (Eve? Day?) is the busiest day at Chinese restaurants (other than Chinese New Year). It’s quite traditional for Jews to go out for Chinese food at Christmas. The story (fact or fiction?) is that Jewish immigrants in NY lived in the same neighborhoods as Chinese immigrants and on Christmas most restaurants were closed, except for Chinese restaurants. During Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings she told the Senate committee that she was at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas and Chuck Schumer concurred!
As a kid, the big meal was probably something like Cantonese spare ribs and chow mein. Mike and I opted for Hunan Slurp, a small, contemporary place on 1st Ave and 5th or 6th street. It has a pretty eclectic menu that includes dishes with frogs, pig feet, various tongues, and numerous parts of the animal; they have shredded potato with duck eggs and some pretty interesting vegetable dishes – very different from the kind of Chinese food we had as kids. Following dinner we returned to the hotel. Another Christmas completed,.
All the best and hope you had a wonderful holiday.
Fern
Fern's Travel Notes 