107 My summer vacation

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Seriously, today I am glad to be retired teacher! Teachers are back at school this week and students start on (YOU SHOULD SIT DOWN FOR THIS)--AUGUST 8! 

Yes, summer vacation is over! School starting the week before Labor Day seemed an abrupt end to summer as I was growing up, but, readers, I googled it: the official end of summer this year is not until SEPTEMBER 22! (I must be adaptable; I must be adaptable!)

The traditional back to school essay--presumably to get children to talk, write, and share --is how their summer vacations were spent. I thought you might be amused at our vacation highlights.

I love, love, love New York City. Besides, my daughter, son-in-law, and new granddaughter live on the Upper West Side. Said baby is almost two months old. This year we combined grandparenting and playing in our favorite city. 

OKAY--first things first. Here is the NYC baby girl (right now nicknamed Mini as she is a tiny little thing and looks exactly like her father’s baby pictures!) Please note the first picture book title! I am proud of the parents. Our daughter is back at work and Daddy is on “baby leave.” Points for equality in the workplace and for the amazingly super son-in-law!

Each of the ten days started with a morning diet Coke and a NY Post from my new friend located a half of long block (east –west) from our timeshare.

The timeshare is conveniently located right across the street from Carnegie Hall (56th and 7th Avenue) which means only four blocks from Central Park. You’re never too old to ride the carousel!

I do a lot of looking but not a lot of shopping at cheap knockoff vendor stands. I have a bit of a moral issue with fakes although I admit to purchasing a few of them!

Lunch a couple of days was pure indulgence on my part. Nothing better than a hot pretzel or a sidewalk Sabrett hot dog (the best brand according to me!). After lunch, it’s time to treat the pigeons or pigeon watch. They are street smart birds! Nope, not my pizza, but this little scavenger was tugging that treat up and down the street, just pecking away at it. 

At least one half day is always dedicated to the Metropolitan Museum. This year’s exhibit is worth a trip to NYC if one is interested in fashion, new technology, or haute couture. Manus x Machina features more than 150 examples of couture, avant garde, and ready-to wear. One gets a sense of the industrial revolution in clothing as cloth and clothing went from hand (manus) to machine (machina) and then the integration of the two. 

Some were just glorious detail; most fun were the 3-D printed – yes, plastic - outfits;








BUT BY FAR the most amazing were the Japanese designs by Issey Miyake (he was my new learning curve that day) wherein his designs lie flat and like a Chinese lantern open into a wearable avant garde design.

The visitors slowed here to look back and forth from flat material to the dress on the model.

Okay, enough about fashion. If you are interested The Met website has a pictorial overview and Vogue magazine did a big spread of pix. The exhibit is there through September 5.

We hit Broadway. No, we did not mortgage the house to see Hamilton (but tickets were available for $1025/). We saw the fun show about the Bottom brothers who are rivals of Shakespeare and want to start a “new” concept called the MUSICAL where people talk, then sing, then talk some more. Funny, funny show called “Something Rotten.” We also saw MOTOWN. Some 50 plus of Berry Gordy’s songs are sung, the Diana Ross actor was amazingly the reincarnation of all I remember, and a good bit of black history was woven into the storyline. 

The last evening we hit 42nd Street with all the tourists, tried to not get run over by the bicycles, and ended up at the famous comedy club, featuring the Last Comic Standing Winner. A bit bawdy, but really funny.

WE DO LOVE NYC. No wet bathing suits and sand for us!

Let us know what YOU did on YOUR SUMMER VACATION. We’d love to hear from you!

City Savvy Glenne