July 2021: Return of Mom and Dad Returning
Before I write my post about most of July, why don’t I write this important post about Mom and Dad’s first visit to New York since November 2019? (Can you believe it’s been 21 months since my last post where I ate around the city with Mom and Dad?)
JULY 30: In the late morning, Mom and Dad show up in my courtyard courtesy of the MTA.
We had a little lunch at Taqueria Emilio…
Then we went down and saw new train station, visited the lemon grove, walked the Highline, visited Little Island, and walked through Chelsea Market before hiking down to…
Carbone! I certainly am fortunate that my folks are always glad to have a Carbone dinner. We love giant menus!
Then we walked through Washington Square Park, dipped into the Strand for the last 2 minutes before it closed that night (anyone want a copy of Ulysses?), and then headed back to my apartment after checking on the little folks inside the 8th Avenue subway stop.
JULY 31: Got up and went to Choc for some Saturday morning pastries, then Mom and Dad went to the Met for 3+ hours while I attended my Arno Schmidt class and rode my bike and stuff. Then we went down to the Financial district for dinner at Crown Shy and had a bit of a Financial District walkaround, paying particular attention to the heroes of the Canyon of Heroes.
AUGUST 1: SUNDAY! Begin with a train ride to the Upper West Side Daily Provisions (that there will soon be 4 Daily Provisions in Manhattan is wonderful news for my folks) where they ate breakfast sandwiches while I enjoyed a roast beef. Then we went down to the Center gallery where Mom noticed her hometown neighbors were major donors. Then visited the lawn at Lincoln Center before heading to Union Square church.
Now, Surprise! The reason Mom and Dad had come to town was my ward’s bishopric was being reorganized and I was going to be the new second counselor. Here I am with the irreplaceable outgoing Bangs, who will be dearly missed. After church we visited a certain rooftop that shall not be named and went up to the new Dominique Ansel to pick up breakfast for Monday and sat around Madison Square Park a little bit.
Then we went down to Emily’s for Brussels sprouts, a hot katsu sandwich, and pizzas.
AUGUST 2nd: Monday went from “what are we going to do?” to “wow, we did a lot'“ real fast. Started the day by walking up broadway to Van Cortland Park.
Then we took a nice long subway ride down to Thai Diner for a wonderful lunch.
Then, over the course of 3 or 4 hours, we did a lot of thing between Soho and Koreatown, but apparently I only have a picture of some of the pen shopping we did?
And for our final meal? Finally! Dinner at Her Name is Han. Super excellent Korean home cooking. Then we made our way over to Penn Station and back on up to Inwood.
AUGUST 3: And Wow, the visit ends when Mom and Dad grab a 3:45am Uber outside my apartment! It’s a jarring thing to witness, but even more jarring when I realize I’ll be doing it myself in just a couple of days. But maybe I’ll be lazy and take a 4 o clock car? Thanks for coming back, Mom & Dad!
