The “N” train took me from 8th Street Uptown. With a change to the “1” at 42nd. My destination was 110th. This is back to when I left off yesterday and to “Tom’s Diner”, where I had resolved to have a late breakfast. On holiday, breakfast is always late for me as I try and catch up with all the lost sleep from the previous year.
The menu was extensive. I opted for “Silver Dollar Pancakes” with bacon. This was partly to ascertain what these might actually be.
I was fortunate enough to be sat at the counter, so I could see and hear exactly what was going on. When orders were taken, they were relayed to the kitchen through one of two rather elderly looking microphones. They were the brown sort that I often find at the bottom of boxes in the school stage tech room.
When I say “relayed”, what I really mean is “shouted”. This is true New-York style. Everything comes at a multitude of decibels (with no rudeness intended, just functional), and this case suffixed with “Make it Nice”. I even got a refill on my coffee without asking. It was very much breakfast perfection.
Incidentally, it turned out that “Silver Dollars” were lots of little pancakes. I found myself with nothing whatsoever to find negative about this.
Feeling well-fuelled, I got back on the “1” train heading uptown to 168th Street. Here there is the “High Bridge”. I had visited this site some years previously with Gil, and Nancy. It was opened in 1848 as part of the construction of the Croton Aqueduct. This in turn was built to take fresh water into the city from upstate, to combat cholera, and avoid a repeat of the Great Fire of 1835. It remained in service until 1955, but to this day the water in the city is surprisingly fresh. This is particularly apparent to me having spent some time in London over the years, where the water is less than fresh.
The bridge connects Manhattan to The Bronx and offers extensive views of both of these. It was restored in 2015, just a few years before I had visited previously.
I strolled over, and back enjoying the view. I also enjoyed the park on the Manhattan side, as well as the neighbourhood leading to it where many of the fire hydrants had been opened to help combat the heat.
After, the “A” train took me to the terminus at “Inwood-207” where I found myself the only person left in the carriage. Here I was on a mission to get as far north as I could without leaving Manhattan Island. I know perfectly well that there is “Marble Hill over the. This is officially part of the borough due to the cutting of a ship canal in 1897, but this is essentially the north of the Island as it stands today.
Inwood Park, which surrounds this point is very peaceful. It is mostly populated by local residents and their dogs, as well as people enjoying some weekend sports including tennis, basketball, and “pickleball”.
The “A” train took me south again from Dyckman Street. A note on the Subway at this point. On my previous visits, I was obliged to use, and top-up a “Metrocard”. This was swiped on the entrance to each station, with the correct fare deducted until a further top-up was required. Now, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is gradually changing this over to the contactless “OMNY” system, with the iconic Metrocard to be phased out. The last sales of the card will be at the end of the year.
The upshot of all this is that I simply touch my ‘phone to the reader on entry with the credit card on “Apple Wallet”. The correct fare is calculated, and deducted. It’s all very efficient and does relieve “miss-swipes”, which were common and somewhat frustrating on the older system.
Back in the Meatpacking District, I had a refreshing Bubble Tea at “Pier 57”, before heading over to Gary’s place where he’d kindly offered to take my photo. He has a business doing this on the rooftop, which looks south down the island to the new tower, “WTC1”.
Gary took my photo, and I watched him interview someone for the museum. It was interesting to see him in action, very much trying to get the best out of me, ad I am a potentially awkward subject!
I then took the “1” train back uptown to the Walter Kerr Theatre. Here I had my ticket to see “Hadestown”. My love of this musical is really thanks to June, my wonderful downstairs neighbour who saw a clip on line, and passed it to me as a show I’d probably enjoy. This was prior to my first solo visit in 2019.
On that occasion, within five minutes of the show staring, my head was telling me that this is the best show I have ever seen, bar none. The music is the most beautiful, written by Anaïs Mitchell. It is very much “folkie” in ethos. In fact Ms. Mitchell has released a number of folk albums including some featuring “Child Ballads”. Many of these I have known of most of my life. It has led to me not only seeing the show again in 2022, and today, but also sent me down the proverbial “rabbit hole” of Ms. Mitchell’s music. I am forever er grateful to June for this.
This is the first time I am seeing the show where none of the cast are those I saw in 2019. I was very much looking forward to it. I’d opted for a box stage left which offered an interesting view, and the opposite side to which I’d sat previously.
The performance was incredible. There are very few things that can move me close to tears, but this is one. “Hades” was played by a “Swing” and I thought brought a vulnerability to the role I hadn’t seen before. “Persephone” came over as even more of a “soak” than I remember and “Hermes” seemed to have more of an emotional connection to the events of the story, as opposed to a detachment I’d seen on previous occasions. I could easily see this show over, and over again.
I made my way through the crush of Times Square to the “R” train and ordered myself some chicken tenders and fries back in the East Village.
I was having the most wonderful time.
