Travel Diary

Got to get in those miles!

Yeah, another trip across the country. And another splurge: business class on American Airlines. An early morning. A long drive to SFO. A shuttle ride and into the terminals. This time, they had a great display on stewardess outfits over the decades. At the time, that is what they were called.

As expected, I got my seat assignment at the gate. Another aisle, but I wasn’t expecting the window. Plus, when fully flat, the window person has to climb over the aisle person to get out and I got to avoid that awkwardness. The service and food were about the same as the first time I flew out, though they did offer a bagel option which oddly came with no bagel.

Once at JFK, I was now an expert at getting to downtown. A few train rides and about an hour later, I was exiting Penn Station and on the busy streets of NYC. It was also much colder now than my first trip back in October.

My hotel would be the Millennium Times Square which was right in the theatre district. In fact, “Phantom” was just across the street, though I would not be seeing that one.

The lobby seemed a little busy with many people just standing around with perhaps dejected looks on their faces. It took a long time to even get to the clerk but I soon learned that the rooms had not been cleaned yet and I would have to wait for checking in. Mind you, it was already past 4pm. I had no option but to wait. They offered to stow my backpack, but it had my work computer and I did not want to leave that anywhere that I was not sure was 100% safe. Since several of the “stowed luggage” was sitting on the floor outside the luggage room, I wasn’t completely confident in their security.

So I waited around the hotel for about an hour. Still no luck. I then asked if I could just put my stuff in the room before it was cleaned. Then I learned the rooms were not cleaned because they were not yet empty. Ah. Now we getting more to the point. It was odd that they book rooms that way but I hear it’s not uncommon.

With no idea when I could check in, I walked around a few blocks and finally got so hungry I stopped in at a Chick Fil A for a chicken sandwich and fries. I wish I could say it tasted great, but it was quite poor. I suppose I was less hungry at least. There also wasn’t any real place to eat it except for sitting on a curb edge. Oh well. Not the worst thing in the world. I then returned to the hotel, but STILL could not check in.

My buddy arrived in the area a half hour later and we just headed out to locate a show with cheap tickets. I of course had to carry my backpack with me which was starting to make my shoulders sore, though I had little choice. At each theatre, we had to show vax cards and I had to have them inspect my backpack before going in. Then we could get pricing and decide if the show and price were a good value. This was done at several places with a return to one or two of them. Finally, we opted for “Chicago” standing seats (my bag was searched for the second time). Not sure what they look for. Perhaps recording equipment or bombs?

The tickets were very inexpensive and the standing seats were fine. Just the back of the orchestra section and really, I didn’t mind standing at all if I could lean on the wall and NOT have my backpack on. Oh yeah, the hotel did call right before the show and said the room was ready. It was about 7:45pm then. I said I would check in after the show.

“Chicago” was excellent and it was nice to see it done well. I’d seen it at a university once where the quality suffered so much that we didn’t stay for the second act. I’d also seen it at a Junior College and the director made so many odd choices that it really spoiled the show as written. This time it was 100% well executed and fun to see. As well, the female dancers were in top form and quite entertaining.

The drinks, however, were outstanding only in price. I think it was about $20 for a small glass of wine and I of course had to buy one. It did come with a plastic sip cup with the show logo on it. I had received one the last time I was in NYC for buying drinks at “The Lion King.” I now had two and it wasn’t something I collected. But the cup allowed for a discounted refill, which … well, yeah, more wine please.

After the show, we grabbed some food and beers. My friend headed home and I walked around taking photos and then returned to the hotel.