Goodbye NYC

 Off to New Jersey we go. We're flying out of Newark today. Of course it took us all of 20 minutes to get here, due to the holiday lack of traffic

Exiting times square

Madam Tussad

NYC

Off to Jersey 

Under the river

The last show of the trip... Carousel

This was a star-studded cast with Renee Fleming singing and Justin Peck doing choreography. A classic throwback show that was visually appealing and musically spot-on. The dancing was something spectacular, almost what you would expect at the ballet, they flowed like water across the stage totally graceful.  I do not have many pictures due to the very stern usher that was standing right next to us. Some of our fellow show-goers were saying that they had a headache just from listening to her and her stern voice. She would not even allow me to take a picture of the playbill that was sitting in my lap!

Ready to go in

Playbills and marquee 

High tea at the Ritz Carlton

 Putting on the Ritz so to speak at our high tea. The lobby of the Ritz Carlton, just south of Central Park, was one of the smallest that we've seen in a long time.  It was still very nice with great artwork and a very elegant British style. We had a lovely high tea with each of us getting her own particular type of tea. Leslie got the green cherry blossom I got the T-blend and Abbey got the lemon. The tiny sandwiches were great and then at the end we got our dessert items plus a tray of macaroons for Abbey's birthday. It came with a candle, once again, which has been the theme so far this weekend. It ended with an impromptu fashion shoot with Abbey in the lobby.

Pinky's up

Hail to the queen 

Lovely dishes

The sandwiches ranged from chicken salad to Salmon mousse to beetroot and cucumber sandwiches

The desserts...we ate a few before I could get a picture 

Old school elegance 

Tut tut quite right cheerio 

Happy Macaroon Birthday 

New pants suit

I learned the difference between a romper and a pants suit today

Abbey's birthday dinner

We wanted to do something special for Abbey's birthday so we decided to take her out and splurge at the grill. It's located in the former Four Seasons Hotel Landmark Restaurant. It's been recently renovated and was top-notch to say the least. Leslie got the Dover sole and Abbey and I both got the prime rib. The prime rib part was just the center cut and then they gave us the bones which were chargrilled on a separate plate. I have never had it that way before I ever had fresh ground horseradish. Abbey also ordered a Shirley Temple with fancy black cherries.   The ambiance was classic old-school New York. Tuxedos on the waiters and white jackets and everybody else was looking very very dapper. The soundtrack was old classic blues and jazz.  This was one of our top 5 New York dining experiences.

Classy 

Custom made dishes 

The Dover Sole being deboned by Maya

The prime rib cart

Lots of fresh ground horseradish

Yummy charred bone

Happy Birthday Indeed

Dessert table

More tasty items

Yummy

Lemon chiffon cake

Extra black cherries 

Dear Evan Hansen, you make me cry! .

Yes the play made me cry like a baby. It was very emotional and very well-acted. The theater was tiny which was appropriate for such an intimate show. If you don't know what it's about it's about teen suicide, angst, isolstion and the ability to reach out.  Its also about the pitfalls that come about from that. We loved the show and at the end we stood in line again for autographs. Most of the stars came out this time which was good because Abbey got her playbills signed.

Playbills galore 

Outside the theater

Evan Hansen in the crowd

Get that sharpie going

Autographs 

Conner the troubled youth

One of the most happy Abbeys

Allana

All signed

The set was sparce

Late start due to extended sleepiness

I don't know how it happened but I was able to sleep till 10 a.m. this morning. I finally woke up and of course was the first one up! Needless to say we did not make it to our 10:30 brunch reservation. No problem because it turned out the rwservation was 10:30 p.m., oops. We still had a lovely lunch at 12 at the Bluefin right On Times Square.  The interior was quite fancy and I got a high-quality Burger. Turns out it was National Burger day so it's only half price. Abby got waffles and Leslie got an avocado toast! We threw in a sushi roll just for good balance. Then it's off to the M&M store.

My burger branded with the I love New York logo

Very cool 3D sculpted wall

And who's that down at the end?

We all got M&M analyzation done. Abby got dark pink

Her dark pink represented a sense of curiosity about the world

Leslie was quite excited to get pink as her color. It showed intelligence and compassion

My analysis indicated that I was orange. It said that I was nervous, nervous that everyone would already eat the peanut M&Ms

But I don't even eat M&Ms?

27 days out time for a test run of our travel gear in New York City

We had the opportunity to take our "air quotes" niece, Abbey G, up to New York City for some adventures. Leslie flew up on Thursday and they went to the ballet.  I flew up Friday after the graduation and we went to Hamilton! Might as well start out at the top and then work our way down as far as I'm concerned. It was a fabulous show a great theatrical experience and even better the second time. We stayed afterwards for signatures and such but not many people came out the stage door. It was after midnight when we got back to the hotel which was a very long night for all of us.

Dance like no one is taking your picture

Styling

Ballet time 

So privileged to travel with such beautiful gals

Alexander Hamilton that is 

The stage in the background 

Fun with silhouettes 

Hamilton post autograph

Ready to sign