Start Spreading The News!

Well Denny’s 70^th birthday was this year, July 16^th to be exact, and we had a wonderful family celebration.  Our son Jeff, his wife Rose and our three grandsons Ollie, Joe and Vinnie were here along with our son Craig and my niece Meghan

We wanted this year, this birthday to be the best he’s ever had. I put together a “memory book” filled with birthday wishes and memories and pictures from family and friends.  Rose and I had more fun working on it together and the book was bulging by the time we had the last note in.  To say Denny was “moved” is an understatement. He heard from his children and grandchildren, old college buds, friends we made while in Rock Island, Lansing, California and Henderson, cigar buddies, golfing partners and sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews.  It’s really pretty amazing reading through an album like that, your whole life right there before you.

Jeff also honored a wish his dad has had for some time and that is to grow a couple of avocado trees in his yard.  They just don’t grow here in the desert. So now he has two avocado trees growing in Fullerton in Jeff’s back yard.  One of the things lost when we moved here from California was a geode Denny had and wanted to give to the boys one day, the boys surprised him with a new one.  It really was a fun weekend and birthday celebration.  

This weekend the two of us are in New York City! Like I said, we’re doing this birthday up good.  New York never changes, with all its deli’s, Irish pubs, theaters and the beautiful Central Park.  Like many trips, there would be sites to be seen that would take lots more than the three days we had.

Thursday evening, our first night there, we found our spot on 50^th and 8^th that we discovered on our last visit.  It’s a big courtyard behind the “Worldwide Plaza” that surrounds “Mother Burgers” and “Blockheads” restaurant.  Lots of folks were sitting and talking, kids eating ice cream, young lovers hugging and kissing.  It looks like it would be a great place for the locals to meet after work.  We picked up a bottle of wine from the shop across the street and Denny brought a cigar.  It wasn’t long and he was told there was no smoking.  It was hard to find a place for him to enjoy a cigar, there seemed to be just small areas where you would see a sign on a building that would say “smoking here only” hard to enjoy a cigar standing in front of a building.

We stopped in a cigar shop that night on our way back to the hotel and were told the place to smoke a cigar was The Carnegie Club, on 56^th and 6^th - just across from Carnegie Hall.  We decided we would go there the next evening, we knew it would probably be expensive but heck, one only turns 70 once, right?

A must do for us when we’re in New York is always Central Park, and since it was hot and humid, really hot and humid we took one of the bike rides through the park, you know the kind, where the guide peddles and we’re sitting behind him in the seat for two.

The best part of it all was he took us to the John Lennon Memorial. We've been to the park maybe three times before but never have we seen this part. Actually, the area he took us to is called Strawberry Fields. It's between 71st. and 74th Streets and is a large 2 1/2 acre area of Central Park that pays tribute to just John Lennon. He and Yoko Ono lived in the Dakota apartments just across the street from this area of the park and she still lives there. I have a picture below, construction is being done on it right now, but that is where he was when he was shot in 1980 in front of his own home.

There is the iconic black and white “Imagine” mosaic designed by a team of artists from Naples Italy, it lies in the center of Strawberry Fields, named after his songs “Strawberry Fields Forever.“  There was a man playing the guitar while we were there, playing Imagine, and other songs by Lennon.  We were glad we spent the money to have a guided tour.  We would never have found it on our own.

After our hour with our guide ZaZa, we walked all around the midtown area. We found Carnegie Hall and we ate at the “Majestic Deli.” In all the times we’ve been to New York, we’ve never eaten at the Carnegie Deli, it’s evidently the most popular one as there is always a long line of folks waiting to get in. It was just too hot to wait this weekend. The Pastrami sandwich at Majestic was delicious.

The Carnegie Club was dark when we walked in about 8PM Friday night, with beautiful small lights and candles, the young woman who greeted us was wearing a lovely black dress and long white pearls down the front.  Her hair was pulled back and up.  She seated us and brought us a menu for cigars, drinks and food. The other young lady who served us also had on a black dress with white pearls. The overstuffed leather chairs and couches were so welcoming and made for a cozy, intimate atmosphere in which to listen to the three piece jazz group, a guitar, bass and female singer.

Denny ordered a cigar from the menu, she brought it to him, lit it with a long match and brought us our drinks.  There were lots of couples, and a party of 12 young men celebrating a bachelor night.  I’m telling you I began to feel as though I were in the midst of a Woody Allen movie.  It was all so elegant.

I was curious to see what was upstairs, so I took a minute to explore.  There was more seating and fewer people.  There were two different areas along the way that were like libraries, beautiful shelves and books.  After visiting for a while with the couple behind us, the four of us decided to move upstairs.  The Carnegie Club is a real treasure for cigar smokers.  I would never have believed I would have been comfortable surrounded by cigar smokers indoors but this was a wonderful experience.  It was 1 AM when we headed back to our hotel.

We took the on and off city bus tour the next day, Saturday and Johnny the guide was wonderful.  He explained the rhyme and reason to the street numbers.  He told us how 5^th Avenue went right down the middle of Manhattan and the even - numbered streets went east and the odd numbers went west, lower numbered streets meant you were going south, larger numbers were going north.  It really does make more sense to have a number system rather than names of streets. For instance the name of our street in Henderson is Baton Rouge and one of our neighboring streets is Evening Star, now what relationship does that have to each other?

The whole city has historical significance and the buildings tell a story.  The older buildings go back as far as the 1700’s and were built with iron and had large windows. The newer, more contemporary ones were made of steel.  I found it fascinating.

Johnny told us he was a Communications major in college and “ended up as a bus tour guide.” as though that was something less than he should have become.  I can’t think of anywhere or anything that he could be doing that would be serving his community in a better way.  He knows New York City up and down, inside and out and there wasn’t a question he couldn’t answer.  He knew the city and its people, the history, and the best places to shop.  He was knowledgeable, informative, funny and entertaining.

We got off at the Ground Zero Site, now called the Freedom Tower. WOW! Beautiful. We walked around the grounds, and decided not to wait in the long line of people going in to see the museum.  We saw the tower itself, which is just extraordinary, and there is a building next to the World Trade Center, in the shape of dove’s wings.  That’s where you see Denny standing with the flag behind him.  St. Paul’s Church is amazingly gorgeous along with the grounds and the cemetery.

The subway system is very convenient and we got back to the hotel in time for a nap and to get ready for our reservation at Morton’s Steak House.  Delicious to say the least. We both had the Center Cut Prime Ribeye, sautéed mushrooms and the chopped salad was great. They knew it was Denny’s B.D. so they brought a complimentary dessert, bread pudding and took our picture and gave it to us.  

We walked back to the hotel after dinner, thinking it would help to walk off some of this big meal we had just eaten, but actually, I’m thinking it will take more than just one night to work off all the food and good wine, and desserts we enjoyed on this birthday weekend in New York.

I certainly can’t write without mentioning the hotel.  The Hilton is always our choice of hotels and they were especially kind to us this visit.  Our room was upgraded and Denny received a nice “Happy Birthday Card” along with a chocolate cake for two and chocolate covered strawberries. There was always something going on in the lobby so it was fun just coming back after a day of being out.  Both Friday and Saturday nights there was a Hennessy tasting which was fun.  We had complimentary drinks and h'ordeuvres in the evening and breakfast in the morning.  It’s good to be with the Birthday boy.

I wasn’t ready to leave at all when our last morning came and talked Denny into a quick trip over to Bryant Park.  We drove by it on our bus tour the day before and I was hoping we’d get back to it.  It is located just behind the New York Library. There are lots of events going on. Children were having a Chess tournament, people were playing backgammon, there is a putting green and a beautiful carrousel, tai chi and yoga.  There is a Reading Room and walking meditation groups.  I will definitely make that one of our first stops next visit. So now it was onward to Penn Station and the airport.  

I’m just so grateful to be celebrating 70 with this guy, we’re healthy, happy and planning lots more for next year.  Start Spreading the News - New York is always a good idea!

Swiss Artist Dazzles The Desert

                       

No, your eyes are not deceiving you!  This amazing splash of color is really standing there in the middle of the desert!

This exhibition is called the “Seven Magic Mountains” and sits just south of Las Vegas near Jean Nevada.  The 33 boulders weigh an average of 40,000 pounds each and were cut with chisels, grinders and jackhammers, and brought to us by the creative mind of Ugo Rondinone.  The artist was born in Switzerland, is of Italian descent and currently lives in New York.

The process involved cutting and shaping each boulder so they would be stackable. Underneath the ground is a foundation of concrete and reinforced steel, which prevents them from sinking under their own weight.

The art work has been described as a “mental trinity” covering the natural world, romanticism and existentialism.  The display will be here in this location until 2018. I’m not sure where it goes from here, but one totem will live on in Las Vegas and will be owned by and installed at the MGM Resorts International Park on the strip.

We visited the display one rainy, foggy morning.  From the gravel parking lot just off the highway there is a dirt path that takes you the 500 yards to the boulders.  Posted along the winding path are signs, warning you to stay on the path because of venomous snakes.

If you're driving from Southern California it’s worth it to pull off and have a look.  If you’re a local, it is only a 20 minute drive down the 15 freeway off Las Vegas Blvd.

Pretty spectacular!

Heaven On Earth

Since I last wrote,  we discovered some additional treasures with our friends Ed & Jean Morken, including playing golf at the Big Island Country Club.  The course was one of the most interesting we've ever played.  There is a lot of water that comes into play, actually, there are nine holes over water.  The signature hole is a spectacular island green.  The course sits about 2500 feet above the Kona Coast.  The skies were overcast most of the day, making it a perfect day for golf, not too hot, it did sprinkle at times, but never turned into anything. 

There was an abundance of wildlife along the fairways.  I did a little research because the Hawaiian wildlife seemed strange to me. When I saw hundreds of little yellow birds, I thought of my Mom, her favorite song was always, "Yellow Bird."  I was leaning out of the cart every chance I got trying to snap one good shot of them before they would fly away.  Then there were the Hawaiian Geese, (Nene's) baby lambs and sheep, black goats and beautiful big turkeys strutting their colorful feathers.  There were times when we were hitting our ball with a turkey or sheep standing right there next to us.

There were a couple of very unique trees throughout, one being the Monkey Pod Tree, that looks a lot like a member of the Bonsai family and the Hong Kong Orchid.

We've visited a number of remarkable places over the past couple of days.  Hapuna Beach and Mauna Kea Beach are two of the few white sand beaches on the west coast of the Big Island. 

Hapuna Beach has been named the Number One beach in America by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine.  There's a park associated with Hapuna Beach, free to residents of Hawaii and $5 for visitors, and a picnic area, camping, restrooms and showers.  The beach has a smoothie bar, snack shack and nice restrooms for changing into your bathing suit.  There were a lot of people boogie boarding and body surfing.  The waves were big, as they have been throughout our whole trip.  It's located just between the Mauna Kea Resort and the Mauna Lani Resort on the Kohala coastline. 

There's a walking trail that runs behind Hapuna Beach along the cliffs and you can see the island of Maui on a clear day.  We stopped by Mauna Kea and viewed their fabulous golf course and took pictures of the private beach they have for residents.  Just for the fun of it, we checked to see what the nightly rate to stay there was,  and found out it was $450/night!  Yikes!  We won't be staying there anytime soon, however we did have a drink in their ocean front bar, The Copper Bar.  

We found a real hidden treasure along the way home that we wouldn't have found on our own.  Thanks to the Valet at the Mauna Kea, he suggested eating at the Pesto Café.  It's in the Kawaihae Shopping Center.  The menu features fresh local seafood, pizzas, salads and has an Asian flavor for pastas and risottos.  Jean and I had the Hebi fish on a salad.  Hebi is a spearfish and they describe it as a nutty, citrus and chicken-like.  It's firm and cooks up white.  

We've eaten a lot of fish on this trip, but still not having had our fill, stopped at the Hale I'A Da Fish House after lunch.  Our friends Rod and Sandy Kehl recommended this little hole in the wall, renowned for fresh fish.  Jean picked up some Monchong to cook for dinner the next night.   

The beautiful Kona Sheraton was another place we stopped and got in on some more great views.

We were finishing up our packing this morning when I looked at my phone to find an email from United Airlines.  It said our flight was going to be delayed and we wouldn't be leaving now until the following day.  So... sadly we are forced to spend another whole day in Paradise.  We are very grateful that Ed and Jean were staying an additional two nights, so our accommodations were not impacted.  Imagine the poor folks that had checked out of their hotel.

Oh well, you have to take what life throws at you.  Did I mention that United upgraded us to First Class for our inconvenience on our return flights to Las Vegas?