This and that,

 We’ve gone into Manhattan 3 times in recent weeks.  I love the cityand sometimes I miss the excitement of working there — though I do not miss the commute.  When we were in Chinatown there was a photo shoot happening on Mott Street.  

 And then there’s Times Square.

Walk through Times Square and you’re going to see all sorts of costumed characters, including at least one Statue of Liberty.  

Speaking of which, we saw an interesting variation on that theme in the courtyard of a small midtown hotel.

We ate dinner at the Margaritaville Hotel, the restaurant mixes the expected tiki vibe with the Statue of Liberty.

Yes, she’s holding a margarita.

We went to a friends’ house Sunday.  They live two miles from Republican Airport, a regional airport that can handle small jets.  From their terrace you can watch planes taking off. You know I enjoyed that.

Major League Baseball has announced next year’s schedule.  I just had to check …the Mets will play the Yankees on 9/11/2026 in Yankee Stadium.  I’m sure there won’t be an empty seat in the Stadium for tha5 game. 

As I said earlier, we’ve been going to the New York Renaissance Faire for years and years.  The Faire is held in Tuxedo, NY, in Orange County — near the New Jersey border. We take the Throg’s Neck Bridge from Queens into the Bronx.  Then we can drive west through the Bronx, take the George Washington Bridge across the Hudson into New Jersey  and take Route 17  north into New York.  Or we can drive north into Westchester and take the Tappan Zee  Mario Cuomo Bridge across the Hudson. There are several different roads we can take through Westchester, including one that goes past what Drew and I call “the E word”.

Why “the E word”?  Way back in the 80’s, Drew and I and some of our friends wanted to drive up to the Renaissance Faire on Labor Day.  We never made it to the Faire because Drew’s car broke down, and we found ourselves stranded in a town called Elmsford.  His parents had to come rescue us.  Now every time we drive past Elmsford, I swear I feel the car shudder.

It’s going to be a busy week.  We have tickets for the Ducks tomorrow, Friday and Saturday, and we’re having another barbecue on Sunday.  Gotta squeeze in that last bit of summer fun …