Adventurenet.net

Saturday November 2nd, 2024

It is my partner’s birthday weekend and we had planned on going out on Sunday to a couple of planned events and have a list of other nearby places of interest to fill the time, but we also realized during the week that this is the day of the New York marathon which will make things extra busy and difficult to get around, so we mixed up the plans a little bit and put the focus on going out on Saturday.

The various locations of interest have been printed out and poetically described so that Lauri won’t know exactly what she’s picking, but will have some idea of the options available.

And of course, now that Halloween is over there is a smashed pumpkin on the subway line.

The first stop selected is Argosy Book Store.

We have limited time here before our lunch reservation at Franchia Vegan Café.

Nice place, but we must eat.

Both of these drinks are fantastic.

The food is amazing as well.

Sizzling hot plate.

We also enjoyed some cake to celebrate the birthday.

I forget what this thing is called, but we went past it on our way to the next stop.

Next stop: The secret New York thing.

Lauri.

We have to do the secret New York thing at Grand Central Station.

Lauri’s interest is piqued.

There is an archway where if you whisper into one corner, the person on the other corner can hear you, even with all of the loud noises.

We must hear this with our own ears.

We could not get it to work.

Are we whispering wrong?

Heck it, let’s go see the giant pigeon.

Menacing.

Purely by coincidence we are looking at clothing and wearing down a little bit when we found a coffee serving robot.

We are after Grace & Olive.

The robot makes a good coffee, but we do feel that it is unnecessary that it asks for a tip.

Next we head to an art museum.

Back on the train a family asks if our train stops at 42nd and tell them yes, and they barely make it onto the train before the doors close.

I think they’re tourists from Spain.

I help them get to the right stop, but they’re super confused and kind of getting in folks’ way.

I hope they found what they’re looking for, but also hope they learn to step out of the way when they want to stop and look at a map or their phone.

What do you do?

Next stop: The Museum of Arts and Design

They have a Barbie thing happening right now, but it’s not all Barbie stuff.

A penis necklace.

We wander a bit more before we head to see Hamilton.

There’s a bookstore inside of this ritzy hotel, but we happened to catch it when the shopkeeper was on a break.

So we wandered through Central Park a bit.

But it is now time for the show!

We finally made it to Hamilton. This has been on Lauri’s bucket list for a long time.

There are Broadway lottery tickets that can be purchased that we’d like to take advantage of soon.

You can buy mystery tickets for about $50, but you won’t know what show you’re going to until the day of the performance.

Now that we have seen the top shows that wanted to see, we may try the roulette soon.

Sunday November 3rd, 2024

This is the day that we had originally planned to go out on birthday adventures and so we have two events planned for today, but due to the marathon we are keeping our plans for what to do in-between shows limited.

First stop: The Met Opera House. I have scheduled a tour for Lauri & I here to see behind the scenes.

Photos are not allowed during the tour, and so I only have these two pictures to show from the entrance.

This tour is an absolute delight.

These are also held earlier in the day and fit in well with plans.

We saw stages, props, costumes, dressing rooms, practice areas and so much more.

I cannon recommend this enough.

We have never put much thought into going to an opera show until this visit.

Now we’re learning about the opera nerd world where folks break down how well the singer(s) and the orchestra can be heard from various locations in the theater for the best listening experience.

A quick stop at Russ & Daughters for a quick bite and some coffee to keep us fueled throughout the day.

This is one of those places where you take a number and wait for your number to be called.

The place was pretty busy and we were about to leave due to the delay when I found discarded tickets.

I picked them up to throw them away, but noticed they were the next numbers to be called.

So we stuck around and got that human fuel thanks to a little bit of luck.

And finally the last scheduled plan for the birthday weekend: The Play That Goes Wrong.

I originally purchased these tickets because the description lists that this is a British comedy which sounds like something Lauri would like.

We did find out later from some friends that they had bit and that they didn’t much care for the show.

I have been worried all week that I got bad tickets for a bad show but this ended up being one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen.

Interesting theater that hosts this show and others.

That is to say that there are multiple shows happening at the same time as there are several rooms here.

I laughed so hard that I cried and Lauri cracked up every time I blurted out “Oh no!” when someone got hurt.

I can confirm that this play goes wrong, that you should absolutely see it and that the less you know, the better the show will be.

There are other similar plays such as Peter Pan Goes Wrong. I hope to catch another related show sometime.

If I have friends that come to visit, I’ll certainly take them to see The Play That Goes Wrong.

Truly fantastic.

Theater selfie.

Penny approves.

The Lords of Waterdeep do not.