Slow to rise. Slept in… to all of 7:45, but I kept resting until 10! My legs were grateful. Another announcement about testing the fire alarms, but I figured what will be, will be. Never did hear any alarms; glad I didn’t hustle.
I packed up dirty clothes and miscellaneous, meditated, ate apple pie for breakfast, showered, carefully packed my little bag for a day of adventures. Created this crazy but comfy outfit. Remembered sunscreen!
My dawdling means a couple things won’t get seen today but that’s okay.
Before leaving, I got a text from Phyllis about our photo together. And I realized I hadn’t posted it myself. So that turned into a long post on FB:
Yesterday’s walking finally dirtied up my far-too-white sneakers. I finally on day 3 bought some sunscreen (reminder, Cindy, the rest of the world has sunshine too, not just Florida!).
A photo I forgot to post yesterday is me and Phyllis Jo Kubey EA on a subway to Brooklyn with the map behind us. Phyllis and I originally met on Twitter, bonded over taxes and a silly walking game called Pikmin, met in NYC last year for lunch, and hung out at a conference in Chicago last summer.
She’s a great companion for adventures in her hometown, and one of the most gregarious members of our TaxTwitter/@TaxRetreat group.
And she eased my anxiety about the NYC subway. I wasn’t scared of it, just aware that ticketing and figuring out where to go can be a little anxiety-producing. But NYC has made it insanely easy for a one-ride purchase — just tap your credit card at the turnstile. That’s it! No tokens (I’m old!) or cards to buy (a la Washington DC about 13 years ago). Phyllis took care of what line and what stop so easy breezy travel day for me.
Having just said all that: I’ll take the subway to the Met today! Way cheaper than Ubering.
… and so I took the subway. Paying was easy. Took me a minute to figure out which lines and that I needed a shuttle (a very short train line) to Grand Central Station. I *almost* got on a train going the wrong way, but I figured it out.
more cool art in subway: 
Walked to museum, found a building with stunning doors.
Saw the Sargent in Paris exhibit which was fantastic.
then discovered a cafe in the museum that I hadn’t found before: overlooking the entrance hall. The sushi isn’t as good as I remember (ate it obsessively the last two years). The atmosphere is cool and resting is nice.
next up: Rembrandt, contemporary stuff on roof, Casper Friedrich exhibit, and the Met store!
saw Rembrandts, my old pals.
Went to rooftop for some contemporary artist. Supposedly “sound sculptures” but they made no noise. And were uninteresting to look at. But the views were magnificent.
Saw Casper Friedrich. It was nice. But underwhelming after the Sargents. Caught an uber back because the subway was a longer walk and took longer since it was rush hour. I still missed the happy hour at hotel. Oh well.
Times Square was NUTSO tonight, cause there’s a fight — like a planned televised fight, not a riot fight — happening, so roads and a piece of Times Square are closed and there’s no crowd control and it’s crazy. I was stuck in a crowd moving up the sidewalk, hemmed in by fencing. and getting tighter and tighter and then total gridlock. And I started to panic so I turned around. As I made my way back through the crowd, I heard others (now behind me)saying it was closed and to turn back. But literally no one listened to them or me. ðĪ·ðž♀️
I made it back to 43rd finally, went all the way around the block. And am now having a lovely rummy drink at Sardis…. Like 100 feet around the corner from where I’d been stuck. Whew.
*deep breaths*
A $19 drink + tip — Tipsy Mermaid — is a better deal than what it costs for a drink at the theater. Which I’ve happily done at my last two shows. But I wanted to go to Sardis, across the street from Broadhurst Theater.
Saw Boop! Soooo… I don’t read up a ton on broadway shows that I’m seeing. Or I forget what I read in recommendations. I like the surprise! I’d heard good things about Boop. And I *guessed* it was about the real woman who inspired Betty Boop. …
But … no.
It is about the cartoon Betty Boop who turns real.
And the cast … is very very very white. It is cute. The lead actress is *phenomenal*! But the show? Not real deep. I am entertained. But it’s not cutting edge, and it’s not gonna be memorable.
But the star? Jasmine Amy Rogers… she’s gonna be a star. She was best thing about the show Boop! A well deserved Tony nod for her.
Times Square was still chaos. But I’d promised myself chocolates or ice cream. Max Brenner was very expensive and … eh. So I went for ice cream at Van Leeuwens.
and listened to the Hum of Times Square one more time.
Gave a very sweet self-described homeless man $20.
And good night!
