On The Town!

Once upon a time, some friends decided to take a road trip to the Big Apple. Dangerous, you say? For us or for NYC?

Our friend "B" brought an article to group one night, about a gay themed play in NYC Some Men running for a short, limited engagement. It had received very good reviews and we thought it might be fun to take a train, have a nice dinner and see a play. So, off we went. Unfortunately, "B" had thrown his knee out and the doctor told him to limit his standing and walking, so we had to leave him behind.


We wanted the day be as relaxing as it could be, so we built in a lot of cushion around our activities. We took the 8:10 am train and arrived at Penn Station around 10:30 am. The weather was beautiful...hard to believe we had a Nor'easter just a couple of posts ago.










After a leisurely stroll up 7th Avenue, we arrived at Carmine's on 44th just a few minutes after it opened. Our reservations weren't until noon, but we were ready to chow down.

I was the only one who had been there before, so I gave my 2 cents about how to go about this. We ordered three entrees: chicken parmigiana, veal scallopine marsala, and the daily special, 4 Italian pastas. We also ordered what we thought was the typical antipasti, and were served with this big oval dish with a variety of cold appetizers, scrimp, scungilli, provolone, roasted peppers with fresh mozzarella finger sandwiches, and more. Not what we expected, but we devoured it anyway.

The food is served in big platters, and you'd think that six guys could finish it off? We sent a lot a food back to the kitchen and we were all stuffed! Naturally, I always leave room for dessert. I asked if anyone planned on ordering dessert, and was greeted with....no! I suggested the Titantic anyway....it's a huge dish of brownie covered ice cream with sliced strawberries, banana and pineapple, lots of whipped cream and four pirorette cookies as the smoke stacks. Only John said, he'd have a little. After a few minutes, the waiter brought 6 plates and 6 spoons. A minute later the Titanic arrived and it was every man for himself! Women and children were trampled as each man grabbed for a spoon and dove into the mountain of whipped cream and ice cream!



Not hungry for dessert? Who said that? I think this Titanic was sunk in just under 30 seconds!

We decided to work some of this off, so next was a stroll up to Central Park. It must have been in the mid seventies or so, and it seemed like everyone was in the park. It was one of those sunny Sunday afternoons in the park with George. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Our play started at 3:00 pm at the 2econd Stage Theatre (2ST)and it was the last performance in the run. The play covered issues and periods and relationships over a period of about 80 years. It begins as men gather for a wedding ceremony, and ends at that same ceremony. To quote the Playbill, "in between is the play proper--flashbacks of how the nine males in the room got there. Each has a story related to the gay life, be it AIDS, or Stonewall."

It was the type of play where you are laughing out loud one minute and your eyes are filling with tears the next. Of course, for us, one of our favorite scenes was the one set at the group support meeting. We swear someone was evesdropping on our meetings!

After the show we headed down to the Penn Station area where we were being joined by my son Joe and my daughter-in-law Joy for bite to eat before we boarded the 7:45 pm train for home. We ate at the Stage Door diner (I guess that's what you'd call it). When you are seated they bring you a dish of pickles and dishes of cole slaw. Forget the bread sticks! It was fun conversation, but the day was drawing too quickly to a close. It was fun for Joe and Joy to meet some of my friends, and my friends loved meeting them!

Next road trip? Montreal? Toronto? Bora Bora?