Summer weekend in the city

We had a great time in New York. (I kept singing the phrase “we’re on vacation” from The Light in the Piazza.) Here’s the (somewhat) quick rundown:

We arrived via Amtrak on Friday around noon and made our way to Jere‘s, which was home base for the weekend. Thom and I went out for a delicious prix-fixe lunch at Victor’s Café, a Cuban restaurant on 53rd Street. (They extended their Restaurant Week deal through the rest of the summer.) After a quick nap back at the apartment, we went to see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Circle in the Square. What fun! We had great seats on the floor, in the first row behind the lottery seats. (Aside: We watched the movie Spellbound recently. Ah, what memories. My losing word at my regional spelling bee: “reviviscence.” You never forget, do you?) After the show we went to the Duplex and had a good time at Mostly Sondheim, where we met up with Jeff and Mike. (Photo: The Hearst Tower, under construction at Eighth and West 57th.)

I’d been wanting to check out the new Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, so on Saturday we set out in that direction and on the way stopped at a deli for a quick lunch. We got to Columbus Circle and went inside the center for some window shopping. (I went into Sephora specifically to sample Alan Cumming’s new fragrance, and I have to say I’m not impressed. Maybe the scent softens on the skin, but it’s very pungent at first.) Next on the agenda was MoMA, where the highlight for me was the comprehensive Lee Friedlander exhibit. I didn’t really know anything about Friedlander beforehand (though I did recognize his photo of Miles Davis), so it was neat to “discover” his work. After our walk through some of the other galleries, we had dinner in The Bar Room at MoMA’s restaurant The Modern (my appetizer was a cucumber and mint gazpacho with crab croquettes that totally hit the spot), and then we went to see Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre. (John Bolton, the understudy for Tim Curry, played Arthur that night and did a great job.) I enjoyed it. As Camelot is a silly place, Spamalot is a silly show. (Photo: Columbus Circle, as seen from inside the Time Warner Center. [more])

On Sunday we had a long, leisurely brunch at The River Café in Brooklyn. (I’d been there a few years ago and have been wanting to go back for a special occasion ever since.) It’s a small restaurant at the edge of the East River, near the Brooklyn Bridge, so there are great views. While we were having the main course, I sneaked off to tell the hostess that it was Thom’s birthday and asked if we could arrange a little something; so after the meal they surprised Thom with a small plate of chocolate and treats with a candle. Aww. The brunch was so long and leisurely in fact that we ended up running late for The Light in the Piazza. We arrived at Lincoln Center about five minutes past curtain, so we had to wait outside and watch the monitors until the first scene (“Statues and Stories”) was over. Fortunately that was the scene we were most familiar with anyway, since we had seen a version of it on the Tonys. It’s a lovely show; the sets, costumes, music, everything comes together beautifully. Aside: We saw Spelling Bee cast members Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Derrick Baskin in the audience. As everyone was getting up for intermission, I said to Thom, “Look, isn’t that Leaf Coneybear? And Mitch Mahoney?” (Photo: The two of us enjoying the light in the [Lincoln Center] plaza. [more])

All told, a lovely (though hot) weekend in New York. That night we took the train back to D.C., weary but happy.