City Thanksgiving

Had a lovely Levinger Family Thanksgiving in New York. Arrived in Katonah to hordes of children, great food, and our heralded gift exchange. Nelson was thankfully not offended by my present of a Manchester United logo emblazoned with the logo of his former employer, AIG. I thought it was funny, and he agreed.

Went to the city on Thursday night and stayed chez Zach. Watched perhaps the worst movie in recent cinema history, Sharks in Venice. Filmed 100% in Bulgaria and using the same stock footage over and over.

Friday we ate pizza at Lombardi’s, had rice pudding a block away, shopped at several crowded stores although purchasing nothing more than a salt shaker. Went to several bars in the East Village: Niagara, Please Don’t Tell, Bourgeois Pig, had a lobster roll at Luke’s, and late night matzo ball soup and corned beef at Katz’s. There was one last bar, which I don’t remember the name of, and Ruth walked us a mile in the wrong direction, failing to realize that the empire state building is north; although she claims this was due to her distraction while playing the Question Game.

Saturday Zach’s roommate’s parents arrived, giving us some much needed extra parenting in the form of breakfast and flu shots. After our inoculation, we walked across the Brooklyn bridge, which was lovely, and Ruth explained all the intricacies of floor area ratios and their contribution to the relative building heights of Lower Manhattan.

After a snack at a farmers market, it was off to the Transit Museum, which is apparently kid-central.

However, since I also became giddy at the sight of old trains, perhaps the strollerati can’t be all wrong. One dad had his kid on a leash, and learned a lesson in the power of passive resistance. Fight on, little man! After enough infrastructure-nerding, we took the subway up to Barney Greengrass, to pay our respects to the sturgeon king. Ruth tried to get a sardine sandwich on a raisin bagel, which both the server and I simultaneously told her was not an acceptable combination. Adventurous as ever, she resolved to try it for lunch later this week.

Strolled back through Rockefeller center, which was jammed with would-be ice skaters, who instead were sitting in line. Saw the new Times Square pedestrian area and the Macy’s window installations, which reminded me of my deep seated loathing of Christmas. Got late drinks at the Flatiron lounge, which had an interesting art deco theme and was less snooty than PDT. I was somehow convinced to buy a jacket at Armani Exchange, which is a step up from the previous target of my suit buying expeditions, the Men’s Warehouse.

Sunday we took the train back to the car at White Plains and got stuck in traffic in Connecticut for most of the afternoon. Stopped at the Black Rock for oysters, crab cakes and calamari to fortify us on the long journey back to Boston.