What Are You Doing For Excitement Today?

[Janet Harrington]

My excitement today was when my grandson backed into the neighbor's gas line. Made gas spew. It was the place where the meter would be if there had been a meter on it. Called the sheriff's office. Got a fast response from the chief and from Kevin Mitchell. Called the fire department off. This was on Kevin's property, so everything was good. Glad the dispatch got ahold of Jetta really fast even though Kevin got it plugged off right away. Hardly any damage, but spewing gas is always so loud. That was the Harrington household's excitement.

[Ms Bear]

Not the horse that I picked either but it was a good race.  Wonder if he win the triple.

Janet, I am glad everything worked out okay. 

I am getting ready to go look for the moon, it was still to low when I looked out a few minutes ago.  Should be above the trees by now.

[Janet Harrington]

The moon is beautiful. I hope everyone gets to see it at least once tonight..

[greatguns]

I'll Have Another was good to my purse today!

[Bonnie M.]

The moon is bright and beautiful out here, too.  It has a large ring around it.

[Diane Amberg]

  
 Warning...Trip Diary ahead.

  We made it back home! It was a wonderful trip. The Wilmington, Del. station was still as spotless as ever, with friendly people everywhere, just one quick photo ID check as we picked up our boarding passes.There was no poking, or prodding and just a few security people unobtrusively watching. They did quietly hustle off one fellow who appeared to be a street vagrant, who I think they knew. Al had lots of help when he needed it and everyone was just as friendly as could be.
  Penn Station in New York was very busy with folks from all over the world going and coming. Very clean. There were Amtrack security people around, but never really noticeable. Several had dogs who sniffed everyone as they wandered around. There were a good many NYPD there also, but not intimidating. The Red Cap took us from the train right to the taxi stand and hailed a taxi for us. Great service!
  It was a nice partly cloudy day for the short ride to our Hilton Hotel NYC at 56th St. and 6th Ave. We were right in the heart of midtown Manhattan, close to most everything we were interested in seeing.
 Al had a scooter delivered to the hotel, so after we settled in (23rd floor) we went one and a half blocks to the Carnegie Deli and restaurant for late lunch. I wasn't sure we would be able to eat before they closed. HA! They're open from 6:30 Am to 4:00 Am. It's a favorite spot for the theater crowd to go after a show... Eating in NY does not have to be very expensive. Ya just ask the locals and they share all their favorite spots.
 We got a "Woody Allen" sandwich to split. A real New York deli sandwich! The thing was a monstrous 6 inches tall  (really!) cut corner to corner, packed to overflowing with tender lean Pastrami and Corned Beef, a big bowl of various dill pickles on the side, and a big jar of their own homemade spicy brown mustard. It could easily feed four hungry people.  Al also ordered a dish of Derma, which is hard to describe, but very good... Ground and spiced grain cooked in natural sausage casings. Would you believe Jewish  haggis?  Anyway, Al enjoyed his half of that sandwich..I doggie bagged a lot of my half, which Al ate for a snack later. The place was full of young happy people from everywhere ,a real tower of Babel. The waiters were real pros and almost too attentive. Very friendly too, wanting everyone to have a good time. In fact, I never a saw grumpy person anywhere.  The locals were very helpful and nobody was ever short or snappy.
 Some of Al's meals were provided at his conference and I wandered all the little shops and stands and had good bagels and cream cheese, and bacon and eggs on a big Kaiser roll. For dinner we hit the local Halal ( Muslim kosher)  falafal carts for spicy lamb and rice and Gyros.. We also had all kinds of fresh sushi and sansumi and some other kinds of deli sandwiches at the local take away delis....and pastries too from the bakeries. For once I didn't have to worry too much about eating. I walked for miles and miles.
I checked out the little shops and fancier places inside the hotels too. The sounds and sights and smells of the city were first rate. All the cooking odors of all the international foods and spices were outstanding. And NYC water tastes very good, comes down from the mountains.
 I thought about hopping a tour bus by myself, but decided to wait for Al to finish his sessions so we could go see things together.  We saw Madison Square Garden,Times Square, with lots of people sitting at little outdoor cafe tables.... Central Park and on and on. I'd seen them all before, but it was nice to see things  still  so clean. When I was a kid some areas were rather trashy, even in the theater district. All cleaned up now.The theaters have their big signs up, as do the studios where people like Jon Stewart and others do their shows.That was fun to see.
 We did go down to Ground Zero and took the tour of the memorial area. LOTS of security there and we had to take off coats, purses etc, to be tubbed and x-rayed.They did take knives and things, but you could check them and reclaim them on the way out
The 9-11 museum is still under construction but the two fountains, perhaps better called water features, that take up the footprints of the north and south towers are completed and running (WOW.)  They are huge flat sided walls that start where the people stand (you can put your hands underneath the top ledges and feel the water) and drop straight down, covered with continuous waterfalls tumbling down inside into a bottomless dark square hole. You cannot see the bottom.
 The names carved along the angled, chest high sides of the fountains are completed. It's beneath them that you can reach under and feel the water. Everyone who died that day is there, including Shanksville PA and the Pentagon. I was able to find the names of the people who meant something to me, including a Newark young man, Matt Flocco who died at the Pentagon.
The new Tower One has recently been topped off, as I'm sure you saw on TV, but much work is still going on there and at several other buildings that are slowly rising.
 Tower one has a very shiny wall  finish that reflects every airplane that flies up the river. I found that very unsettling, as I'm sure was intended. There were lots of people there visiting the memorial ,many with tears in their eyes. Me too.
There were a lot of children and I was pleased to see that the ones who were old enough seemed to get it.They were very well behaved and interested.  It has a park like atmosphere with lots of new trees planted and quite a bit of grass.
There is one tree left called the Survivor Tree that was the only stump left of all the trees that were in the World Trade Center area. It has been nursed back to health and is a popular place for people to stop and reflect on all that happened there.   A number of nice granite blocks have been placed all around the site so people can sit and chat or just remember.
We stopped at the memorial gift shop just before we hailed a taxi back and I got a book on the memorial and a few other doodads.
Al enjoyed all the conference speakers. Lawrence O'Donnell was the last one. He did his morning show and came over from the studio to talk. (He's still doing his school desk program for those of you who know about that.) Al enjoyed hearing him. Said he was very funny too.  The train ride back was very uneventful. Got a nice turkey Gouda wrap on the buffet car to eat on the way home. All in all a fun time. I do love New York!

[Janet Harrington]

What a wonderful trip you had. I have never had the desire to go to NYC, but you sure made it come alive for me. Thanks.

[farmgal67357]

So glad you got to eat at the Carnegie Deli. They know how to make sammies!!!! You can't get your mouth to open big enough to get the dang thing in!!!! I LOVE their Rubens. Ah, memories........
Lisa, who's jonesing for a bagel now.....

[greatguns]

What a wonderful trip!  Thanks for sharing.

[Wilma]

Like Janet, I have never had any desire to go to NYC, but, Diane, I almost wish that I had been there with you.  Thanks for sharing.