I'm leavin' today

I'm wrapping up a trip to New York for a conference; in between giving several talks (one was actually scheduled against a competing talk by Tony Bennett, though apparently his son/manager ended up giving it instead), attending meetings, learning about the latest dorky music gear, and even getting to hear a certain musician slash Sing Off celebrity judge speak, it's been fabulous getting to visit with the boys' uncle B and aunt J, multiple friends who live in the city, and grandma and J, who timed a trip in from Michigan to coincide with my own. Grandma and J hit many of the tourist destinations with B, but I did get to catch up with them for multiple tasty kosher meals, as well as opening weekend for the Rockefeller Center ice rink.

Of course I now tend to see most anywhere I go through the boys' eyes, and know at least one of the sights I'll be returning to the next time the whole family gets back east: the New York Transit Museum. In addition to sourcing some of their favorite toys (I had to pick up two of Uncle B and Aunt J's new subway lines, the 3 and the Q), the museum, which appropriately occupies an old subway station, had a fabulous collection of trams, trolleys, ticket collection mechanisms, buses, and (nearly missed by us) stairs down to an entire subway platform filled from end to end with a variety of trains from the 1920s to the present. Entertainingly, the subway cars' interiors had fabulous period-authentic ads; I kept feeling like I'd walked onto the set of Mad Men. All in all, definitely something the boys would be interested in!

B and I met up for a final breakfast this morning before I headed to the airport, and we picked up a substantial number of bagels as well as walking both the waterfront and the lovely High Line on yet another fabulous fall day. Oh, and as can only happen in a city of 8 million, we even ran into friends S & J, also visiting from Seattle, and supplied them with a fortifying bagel for their day's activities. The remainder are now my giant second carry-on. It's been a very good trip, but I'm very much looking forward to getting home to Meh and the boys tonight!