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DT

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We blasted up to Savannah for a few days for spring break, figured north would be a little quieter, for the most part is wasn't too bad at all around the riverfront (Saint Patrick's Day proper, we stayed a few blocks away :D).

We walked, and drank, and ate, and walked more, and ate more and, well, you get it (very highly recommended: Rhett, A.Lure, Grafitto). Also did a lot of fun shopping, especially for the little G, she had a great time, lots of super cool boutique shops for art, clothes (Nourish, Earthbound) Also, several great local breweries, hahaha, Service Brewing right near where we stayed had a food truck show up, about an hour after we ate, so of course we ate again (we managed to split a Big Finn and Pork Fries :D)
 

DT

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Speaking of flying to NYC, holy shit, we scored a killer deal flying out of a local regional airport. JAX is about an hour plus 15-20 minutes of parking/walking - and we often fly out of MCO and combine that with a Universal stay-over that's around 2 hours and closer to 20-25 just to get into the airport. This is 7 miles away and one flight coming and going :oops:

So that turned out to be fantastic, land, get off place in 5 minutes, get luggage in 5 minutes, walk 60 seconds to car :D (see "What are you doing today ...").

The departure from this end on Friday was VERY delayed, so much that we wound up getting tickets for our Friday night show for Saturday afternoon/matinee, same 1/2 price, special select seats through AMEX, and we're HOPING that they at the very least give us credit on the other tickets (bummer, LMM was at the Friday premier o_O ) Wife scored great seats (1st and then 4-5th row end seats), they were all in really stellar theaters too.

We hit up some of our favorite walking spots, Bryant, Central, Turnstyle Underground, the hotel was excellent, boutique, and very modern, lots of fitness options if you're into that (like literally yoga gear in the room :D).

Saw three amazing shows, that were radically different (selected for that exact reason):

A Strange Loop (Lyceum Theatre)

A powerful show, great music, very intimate, joyful, sad, had something to say, and said it, sometimes it was very racially intense, sometimes very sexually explicit. We suspect this show is going to be huge.

From an articles on Forbes:

Apart from its strong critical reception, A Strange Loop is historic in more ways than one. It is the first musical by a Black writer to win the Pulitzer, and the first that had not yet played a Broadway stage. It is also, in no uncertain terms, brilliant.

However, it doesn’t necessarily fall into the bounds of “traditional” Broadway fare, as a self-referential, unflinching examination of race, gender, sexuality, beauty standards, and religion. Described by its own lead character, it is: “a black, queer man writing a musical about a black, queer man who’s writing a musical about a black queer man who’s writing a musical about a black queer man, etc.”

The Music Man it is not.



Company (Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre)

A classic by Stephen Sondheim, fun music, more surreal / introspective than some other "older school" shows, amazing / updated set designs, this is a revival that started in 2018 in the West End, and Patti LuPone continues her role as Joanne, if you don't know, she's a notable broadway star, has done TV, voicework, film. Neat update from the original, where the lead was Robert (Bobby) who was male, to now a female lead (Bobbie), and really illustrates something that Sondheim said just before his death:

Five days before he died, Sondheim discussed the revival's change of the lead character's gender from male (Bobby) to female (Bobbie). He expressed how theater is distinguished from film and video because "you can do it in different ways from generation to generation… What keeps theater alive is the chance always to do it differently, with not only fresh casts, but fresh viewpoints. It's not just a matter of changing pronouns, but attitudes."


The Play That Goes Wrong (New World Stages)

Amazing, at the always fun new New World Stages (we've seen several shows there, including Evil Dead: The Musical ), we laughed so hard, I mean we literally lost it a few times, we had front row seats, got called out for laughing (in a good way ... :D) I was just astounded at the physicality involved, and so many surprises, twists, turns - without revealing too much:

The fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society (Cornley University in the American version), fresh from such hits as The Lion and The Wardrobe, Cat, and James and the Peach (or James, Where's your Peach?), has received a substantial bequest and is putting on a performance of The Murder at Haversham Manor – a 1920s murder mystery play, similar to The Mousetrap, which has the right number of parts for the members. The script was written by the fictitious Susie H. K. Brideswell. During the performance, a play within a play, a plethora of disasters befall the cast ...

We scored this for the last show, it's a contribution to Broadway Cares plus a pretty cool bit of swag:

IMG_1184_1920.jpg



As always, we eat and drink ... and drink and eat ... and ... :D

Grabbed a bite here and there and everywhere, a drink anytime it presented itself, but we did a few pre-planned meals, Wife had them reserved in advance, either before we left or just early in the day so we'd know we had a seat, the first night we moved the reservation 3 times, but it was pretty stellar once we finally got there (after the aforementioned flight delay).

For our more major eats (we did some other stop and eats and sits downs, a few of our usual places in the theater district), first up, Lilly's, ate outside, between the street and sidewalk, in this island they created with tables, so fun, a little chilly. Spectacular mixed drinks, decent beer, very good food, kind of stepped up American, we had roasted sprouts, split burgers, fried pickles, an incredible lobster truffle mac and cheese.

One of our favorite places to stop for a beverage, while we hit up the park and a couple of adjacent shops (including a huge bookstore with the most incredible anime area, which is a whole floor ...), is The Porch, inside of Bryant Park, and we always order, A Huge Order of Fries, which is the actual name on the menu :)


IMG_1146_1920.jpg


(Image that stacked twice as high)

We had brunch on Sunday at The Terrace, inside The Edition, it was excellent, it was a little slow coming out (had an order/POS issue), we weren't in a rush, manager comp'ed all our drinks :D

They had one of my White Whale beers:


IMG_1151_1920.jpg



97 on BA, it's as good as it gets / as I imagined, seriously world class.

On, and the entrance to the hotel/restaurant is pretty fun:


IMG_1156_1920.jpg


o_O


Pizza? Of course, maybe more than once, but when we sat down, it was this insane pie:

IMG_1149_1920.jpg



Also, amazing timing, the New York Auto Show was this past weekend! We went 6 years ago by design, this time, just happen to be there :D And it was super close, 3 avenues away, so off we went, and it was some unexpected fun!

Snapped a few pics, won't post too many here (maybe in a car thread), but some neat stuff, I mostly was interested in the EV presence (notably missing was both Lucid and Rivian).


Upcoming VW Bus/Van, aka the ID.Buzz electric.

IMG_1166_1920.jpg



Some mind blowing displays, the background and most of the floor was LCD panels, so everything was in motion! This was the huge Subaru exhibit (the vehicle is their new EV), they had rope bridges ... and "snow" falling from the ceiling :D


IMG_1163_1920.jpg


And I love all the EV trucks on the way, that's the next major market to get into ZEV technology, and I have to say from a design standpoint, liked the Chevy better than the Ford, the latter is clean, and very nice, the Chevy has a little more EV character.


IMG_1174_1920.jpg



We ate more, saw more, did more, but I think this post is a pretty decent sample - now we have this killer air option that's ~10 minutes away, and all the flight logistics: parking, gate, luggage handling is almost like having a private aircraft - we'll be going back more often.
 

Edd

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So that turned out to be fantastic, land, get off place in 5 minutes, get luggage in 5 minutes, walk 60 seconds to car :D (see "What are you doing today ...").

The departure from this end on Friday was VERY delayed, so much that we wound up getting tickets for our Friday night show for Saturday afternoon/matinee, same 1/2 price, special select seats through AMEX, and we're HOPING that they at the very least give us credit on the other tickets (bummer, LMM was at the Friday premier o_O ) Wife scored great seats (1st and then 4-5th row end seats), they were all in really stellar theaters too.

We hit up some of our favorite walking spots, Bryant, Central, Turnstyle Underground, the hotel was excellent, boutique, and very modern, lots of fitness options if you're into that (like literally yoga gear in the room :D).

Saw three amazing shows, that were radically different (selected for that exact reason):

A Strange Loop (Lyceum Theatre)

A powerful show, great music, very intimate, joyful, sad, had something to say, and said it, sometimes it was very racially intense, sometimes very sexually explicit. We suspect this show is going to be huge.

From an articles on Forbes:

Apart from its strong critical reception, A Strange Loop is historic in more ways than one. It is the first musical by a Black writer to win the Pulitzer, and the first that had not yet played a Broadway stage. It is also, in no uncertain terms, brilliant.

However, it doesn’t necessarily fall into the bounds of “traditional” Broadway fare, as a self-referential, unflinching examination of race, gender, sexuality, beauty standards, and religion. Described by its own lead character, it is: “a black, queer man writing a musical about a black, queer man who’s writing a musical about a black queer man who’s writing a musical about a black queer man, etc.”

The Music Man it is not.



Company (Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre)

A classic by Stephen Sondheim, fun music, more surreal / introspective than some other "older school" shows, amazing / updated set designs, this is a revival that started in 2018 in the West End, and Patti LuPone continues her role as Joanne, if you don't know, she's a notable broadway star, has done TV, voicework, film. Neat update from the original, where the lead was Robert (Bobby) who was male, to now a female lead (Bobbie), and really illustrates something that Sondheim said just before his death:

Five days before he died, Sondheim discussed the revival's change of the lead character's gender from male (Bobby) to female (Bobbie). He expressed how theater is distinguished from film and video because "you can do it in different ways from generation to generation… What keeps theater alive is the chance always to do it differently, with not only fresh casts, but fresh viewpoints. It's not just a matter of changing pronouns, but attitudes."


The Play That Goes Wrong (New World Stages)

Amazing, at the always fun new New World Stages (we've seen several shows there, including Evil Dead: The Musical ), we laughed so hard, I mean we literally lost it a few times, we had front row seats, got called out for laughing (in a good way ... :D) I was just astounded at the physicality involved, and so many surprises, twists, turns - without revealing too much:

The fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society (Cornley University in the American version), fresh from such hits as The Lion and The Wardrobe, Cat, and James and the Peach (or James, Where's your Peach?), has received a substantial bequest and is putting on a performance of The Murder at Haversham Manor – a 1920s murder mystery play, similar to The Mousetrap, which has the right number of parts for the members. The script was written by the fictitious Susie H. K. Brideswell. During the performance, a play within a play, a plethora of disasters befall the cast ...

We scored this for the last show, it's a contribution to Broadway Cares plus a pretty cool bit of swag:

View attachment 13355


As always, we eat and drink ... and drink and eat ... and ... :D

Grabbed a bite here and there and everywhere, a drink anytime it presented itself, but we did a few pre-planned meals, Wife had them reserved in advance, either before we left or just early in the day so we'd know we had a seat, the first night we moved the reservation 3 times, but it was pretty stellar once we finally got there (after the aforementioned flight delay).

For our more major eats (we did some other stop and eats and sits downs, a few of our usual places in the theater district), first up, Lilly's, ate outside, between the street and sidewalk, in this island they created with tables, so fun, a little chilly. Spectacular mixed drinks, decent beer, very good food, kind of stepped up American, we had roasted sprouts, split burgers, fried pickles, an incredible lobster truffle mac and cheese.

One of our favorite places to stop for a beverage, while we hit up the park and a couple of adjacent shops (including a huge bookstore with the most incredible anime area, which is a whole floor ...), is The Porch, inside of Bryant Park, and we always order, A Huge Order of Fries, which is the actual name on the menu :)


View attachment 13352

(Image that stacked twice as high)

We had brunch on Sunday at The Terrace, inside The Edition, it was excellent, it was a little slow coming out (had an order/POS issue), we weren't in a rush, manager comp'ed all our drinks :D

They had one of my White Whale beers:


View attachment 13353


97 on BA, it's as good as it gets / as I imagined, seriously world class.

On, and the entrance to the hotel/restaurant is pretty fun:


View attachment 13354

o_O


Pizza? Of course, maybe more than once, but when we sat down, it was this insane pie:

View attachment 13358


Also, amazing timing, the New York Auto Show was this past weekend! We went 6 years ago by design, this time, just happen to be there :D And it was super close, 3 avenues away, so off we went, and it was some unexpected fun!

Snapped a few pics, won't post too many here (maybe in a car thread), but some neat stuff, I mostly was interested in the EV presence (notably missing was both Lucid and Rivian).


Upcoming VW Bus/Van, aka the ID.Buzz electric.

View attachment 13360


Some mind blowing displays, the background and most of the floor was LCD panels, so everything was in motion! This was the huge Subaru exhibit (the vehicle is their new EV), they had rope bridges ... and "snow" falling from the ceiling :D


View attachment 13362

And I love all the EV trucks on the way, that's the next major market to get into ZEV technology, and I have to say from a design standpoint, liked the Chevy better than the Ford, the latter is clean, and very nice, the Chevy has a little more EV character.


View attachment 13363


We ate more, saw more, did more, but I think this post is a pretty decent sample - now we have this killer air option that's ~10 minutes away, and all the flight logistics: parking, gate, luggage handling is almost like having a private aircraft - we'll be going back more often.
Lunch IPA is the best Maine beer I know about. It's made an hour north of here, but finally starting to hit the taps in my area.
 

DT

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Lunch IPA is the best Maine beer I know about. It's made an hour north of here, but finally starting to hit the taps in my area.

Holy smokes, it was so good, it actually exceeded my expectations (a few others I've tracked down while excellent, weren't quite the "hear a choir of angels" experience people suggested).

Though it's probably hard to separate the beer from the experience. And heck, after the manager came around and said, "drinks are on me, order up ...", it got even better :LOL:

I first saw it on Total Wine's site, but this is the state of availability:


1650404664081.png
 
D

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My best friend and I just finished planning a trip to NYC around Memorial Day weekend. We have a friend there who is attending grad school at Columbia, so we're going to visit him and his girlfriend and stay in their Manhattan apartment while we do touristy stuff around the city (I've been before, though as a teenager; my friend has never been).
 

ronntaylor

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My best friend and I just finished planning a trip to NYC around Memorial Day weekend. We have a friend there who is attending grad school at Columbia, so we're going to visit him and his girlfriend and stay in their Manhattan apartment while we do touristy stuff around the city (I've been before, though as a teenager; my friend has never been).
In the past Memorial Day weekend was a great time to be in the City. Lots of people leave and it's not as crowded. Don't know how it is since the Pandemic; I've avoided the City the last few summers. Enjoy and be safe.
 

lizkat

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My best friend and I just finished planning a trip to NYC around Memorial Day weekend. We have a friend there who is attending grad school at Columbia, so we're going to visit him and his girlfriend and stay in their Manhattan apartment while we do touristy stuff around the city (I've been before, though as a teenager; my friend has never been).

Have a great time! I loved it when out of town kin or friends would visit in the city, and it was a two-way benefit: they got to relax and not worry about getting lost, and I got to check out cool touristy things I otherwise never seemed to make time for.

I mean I'd never even been on the Staten Island ferry until one of my brothers asked what it was like after he'd landed in Brooklyn to go to Pratt. "Hmm..." I said. I was embarrassed. I'd been in the city 10 years.
 

mollyc

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My husband and I lived in NYC for two years when we were first married; he moved in July 2001 and I joined him in November 2001 after the wedding. Such a weird time to move there. We moved to CT for 8 years when we were ready to have kids, but I always enjoy going back when we can. We went last August and were supposed to go in March, but my daughter got covid instead. Slight chance we might go in a couple of weeks for a concert, but the odds are not in our favor to get tickets. I wouldn't want to live there forever, I'm too much of a country girl but I'm happy to have had the experience of living there for a time and love going back; it's just about three hours on the train for us.
 

Cmaier

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Have a great time! I loved it when out of town kin or friends would visit in the city, and it was a two-way benefit: they got to relax and not worry about getting lost, and I got to check out cool touristy things I otherwise never seemed to make time for.

I mean I'd never even been on the Staten Island ferry until one of my brothers asked what it was like after he'd landed in Brooklyn to go to Pratt. "Hmm..." I said. I was embarrassed. I'd been in the city 10 years.

My dad went to Pratt! (Electrical engineer).

We are planning to visit Brooklyn and Manhattan this summer, if some issues with my kid work out. I’m working on convincing my wife that we should move to Brooklyn when my kid goes to college in 5 or 6 years. At least then I can get Mets season tickets and see some games. :)
 

Edd

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Sedona, Arizona.

I’ve driven through AZ several times but never spent real time here. Sedona is an easy place to like. Still got a few days left but did one of the best hikes of my life yesterday and I was barely trying. The trailhead was 1.5 miles from our place and we spent a few hours wandering around jaw dropping sights before the sun really started hammering.

View from the bed around 5:30am yesterday.

5299A16E-50A5-424C-946E-44099D3A923C.jpeg


Views from the deck:

F691EB4F-EADD-4DB7-9583-CC79D8D4CDF7.jpeg


Times like these call for a real camera. I really had no interest to come here but today is the wife’s birthday so she called the shots this trip. Glad we came, it looks nothing like back home and I needed a change of scenery. First flight for me since Covid started.
 

Herdfan

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Sedona, Arizona.

I’ve driven through AZ several times but never spent real time here. Sedona is an easy place to like. Still got a few days left but did one of the best hikes of my life yesterday and I was barely trying. The trailhead was 1.5 miles from our place and we spent a few hours wandering around jaw dropping sights before the sun really started hammering.

And now you see why we are going to retire there. :)

Have you done Devil's Bridge? It is about a 45 - 60 minute hike from the TH, but worth it.

And if you really want an adventure, rent a Jeep or SXS (this will ride better) and explore Schnebly Hill Rd and Broken Arrow (Submarine Rock is really cool also).
 

Edd

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And now you see why we are going to retire there. :)

Have you done Devil's Bridge? It is about a 45 - 60 minute hike from the TH, but worth it.

And if you really want an adventure, rent a Jeep or SXS (this will ride better) and explore Schnebly Hill Rd and Broken Arrow (Submarine Rock is really cool also).
Ah, lucky you. I assume this isn’t the cheapest place to live but to retire here seems a dream. The only hike so far was around Cathedral Rock. Only a couple hikes left before we leave but Devil’s Bridge looks great, hopefully we’ll hit it. Driving to Jerome today to be a complete tourist and we have a Pink Jeep tour booked 5-8pm this week.

A big thing I commend Sedona on is the clear efforts to blend everything into the landscape. They’ve done an amazing job to my eyes. Virtual mansions are well camouflaged compared to any other place place I’ve been. I also love all the ranch houses. So much more my style than the vast majority of New England housing.

The drought situation here is downright distressing. Been warned twice by locals about smoking outside, and I’m not a smoker.

Have you been to Red Rock Cafe? We thought the brunch was great and their Bloody Mary crushed it; that’s a New Orleans level recipe.
 

Herdfan

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Ah, lucky you. I assume this isn’t the cheapest place to live but to retire here seems a dream. The only hike so far was around Cathedral Rock. Only a couple hikes left before we leave but Devil’s Bridge looks great, hopefully we’ll hit it. Driving to Jerome today to be a complete tourist and we have a Pink Jeep tour booked 5-8pm this week.

We will probably end up closer to Cottonwood than Sedona. Basically get 20-30% more house for the money, so even though we are wanting to downsize, we don't want to downsize that much. ;) You can still get the nice red rock views, but the trade-off being it about 10 degrees warmer. My wife has Sedona as a location in her weather app and the temps are very similar to where we live now in the spring through fall, but the RealFeel is very close to the temp vs here where it can be 85, but feel like 98. I am tired of being able to chew the air. Winter there is awesome. We spent a week here in January 2020 (last trip before everything shut down) and it might be 25 when you wake up, but soon warms to 50-60 and sunny. It was that trip that basically cemented the idea we wanted to live there.

You need to at least walk through the Jerome Grand Hotel. It is kind of creepy. :)

Haven't been to the Red Rock Cafe' as we usually stay at the Pinion Point and haven't wanted to fight the traffic down that way. But have heard it's good.

For breakfast, the Coffee Pot in Sedona is very good.

Depending on the Pink Jeep tour you booked, you may end up out Broken Arrow. So enjoy. :)
 

Huntn

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We are in relatively boring Minnesota hanging out on a friend’s farm. It’s very refreshing to have no one living closer than 1/2 mile. :)

490261AB-C23D-42DD-BBD6-0BA70F420F5C.jpeg
 

Herdfan

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I hope you have someone checking on your own residence while you are away.....probably not the greatest idea to advertise to all and sundry on the Internet that you are away from home right now?

My neighbors post pics from the beach every time they go and I just shake my head. Post your pics AFTER you get home.
 

Huntn

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I hope you have someone checking on your own residence while you are away.....probably not the greatest idea to advertise to all and sundry on the Internet that you are away from home right now?
Who is to say no one is at our house? :)

As a new chicken tender, I have learned that chickens are not very discerning, human = food, and hand feeding a chicken is the fastest way to their avian hearts :D

D51F9149-D20B-48C7-837F-910E011BE571.jpeg
 

DT

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Just got back from the Keys (aka, the Florida Keys), posted one pic last week but I was basically offline otherwise and mostly offshore / in the water, in some capacity.

We drove the Tesla for the first time (have driven down ICE vehicles for decades), for anyone interested in how that worked out:

https://talkedabout.com/threads/ele...chasing-modifications.2738/page-5#post-105407

So much fun as always, it's just one of the most beautiful places, the water is glorious and if you're into diving, snorkeling, boating, having an amazing water experience, it's fantastic.

For those NITK, the Keys are a group of islands off the southern coast of Florida:

1655133199676.png



Surrounded by amazing reefs, this is where John Pennekamp state park is located (specifically Key Largo), one of the more famous dive locations. We mostly don't go south of Islamorada and avoid Key West. :D

Got a super nice place, a private/VRBO condo on the ocean side, two big rooms so the little G had her own suite, balconies, and setup with nice boat parking/ramp/docks too. Super nice area, lots of trees, very natural, way off the road, so completely quiet at night.

Our sunrise from the bedroom balcony (better from the other, I'll have to get that pic from the wife):

IMG_1488_1920.jpg


The Royal Poincianas (the tree with the bright red flowers) were in bloom, and all around the condo:



IMG_1516_1920.jpg



The one pic I posted last week again:


IMG_1466_1920.jpg



We rented a boat a nice 23' Seafox CC, ran around the close reef spots, one stop that's always a must is the Alligator Reef lighthouse (above), since it was a weekday and not lobster season, nice and quiet. Anchored and hung out for a long while, some interesting fish, a few curious barracuda and a bunch of sea turtles that kept swimming right up to us.

That water is around 10' deep or so and and that clear, it's glorious. We had some great weather, a little cooler than expected for June (which was terrific). Ran out to Cheeca Rocks, very close, knocked around the bay side for a bit in the evening, that's the NW side of the islands, you see all sorts of interesting things, different critters (manatees, dolphins):

IMG_0689_1920.jpg




... an occasional boat eaten by the ferocious mangroves and being claimed by an osprey :D


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I'll post up a few more later ...


We are headed back for Christmas, already reserved the condo, while we love NYC around that time, the travel/cold/packing in winter is just a bit tough, our NYC trips are now scheduled for Spring and Fall :)
 
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