A Trip to Long Island and NYC

Port Jefferson on the north side of Long Island

View from our beach

A Welk shell on the seawall in front of our house

Lucky me! I flew on Southwest award miles to Long Island to spend a week in a house bayside at Port Jefferson (northside of Long Island) at the invitation of my friend, Sister Patricia.  Sister Patricia was celebrating her 50th Jubilee as a member of the Daughters of Wisdom.

Sister Patricia and I at the Montfort Center in Bay Shore, Long Island

Star of the Sea House in Belle Terre

She was able to use the Star of the Sea house in Belle Terre and invited members of her family and friends to stay there while celebrating Sister Patricia's Golden Jubilee.  I arrived August 2nd and was provided a room on the 3rd floor with excellent views of the harbor. Friends and family from near and far were there. Her sister, Dora, from Maine supervised the food and activities. Her other sisters, Mae (along with her partner, Ana) was there from Brazil and Rachael was there from Maine. They prepared all our meals and made sure we wanted for nothing.  Patricia's brothers Morris (with his wife Rina),  Chuck, and Emery (with his wife Cynthia) arrived from Maine the same evening. Rachael's husband, Mike, and Patricia's nieces also were there.  The house had 10 bedrooms so everyone had a bed who wished to stay at the Star of the Sea house. Patricia's friends from when she lived in Longmont, Colorado were there: Sandy and her family and, also, Denise, who taught jewelry-making to anyone who wanted to learn.

Denise and Patricia

Ana (from Brazil) with Patricia (brother Chuck looking on)

On Saturday, August 3rd, there was a Mass and Celebration and Luncheon for the Daughters of Wisdom Jubilants at the Spiritual Center in Bay Shore. On Sunday, August 4th, we had a big party at the Star of the Sea with nearly 50 celebrants. It was a wonderful day for Sister Patricia and everyone who attended.

The weather remained sunny and beautiful and a group of those of us who remained past the weekend walked to Port Jefferson on Monday for dinner. Walking along the beach, we saw Horseshoe Crabs washed ashore.

Horseshoe Crab

These are apparently common to these waters, but as a West Coast girl, I had never seen these strange creatures before.

Sunset on the harbor was spectacular

Dinner in Port Jefferson

The pier at Port Jefferson

On Wednesday, we took the Long Island Railroad to NYC to see The Lion King at the Minskoff Theatre and to enjoy the many pleasures of the City. Lion King had wonderful costuming, some great ensemble numbers, terrific pageantry (especially of the animals walking down the aisles), an outstanding voice in Durban, South African native Buyi Zama (playing Rafiki), some impromptu comedic exchanges to make us laugh, an evil Scar (Garth Saxe) who gave a properly evil performance even though he seemed to be channeling Tim Curry's Dr. Frank-n-Furter voice from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Well, what can I say about this musical that has been going for 15 years on the strength of the Disney brand and the patronage of hundreds of thousands of excited Broadway fans under the age of 12?  It was a cartoon originally, and thereby it isn't a particularly strong story.  Some scenes, especially of the young Simba, are snoozers.  My apologies to all you devout Lion King fans, but I think I would have enjoyed a more adult musical for the price of these tickets.

Dora, Mae, and Ana in NYC

A wax figure of the shaman Rafiki
 (my favorite performer in the Lion King)
in the Lion King Theatre lobby

We walked to the Chelsea District to see the new Hi-Line elevated park and new shops.  Sister Patricia and I enjoyed dinner at a French restaurant called La Luncheonette at 10th Ave and 18th Street.  It's been there 25 years and it had lovely staff and great food. We enjoyed an Avocado Salad with Creamy Lemon Vinaigrette dressing, Trout with Shitake Mushrooms, and a Creme Caramel dessert.  We grabbed a cab back to Penn Station and took the 8:44 PM train back to Long Island, arriving about 11PM.

I left Long Island's MacArthur Airport Thursday before 2PM for BWI and was disappointed that my Southwest flight was delayed (for the second time that week!) at Baltimore. I must have spend nine hours all told at BWI.  Positive things did happen to me during the airport wait. I enjoyed softshell crab and Maryland crab cakes at the airport restaurant and I completed 25 chapters of Moby Dick listening to an audio book of this great American classic. Nevertheless, I resolved to not use this airport as a hub for Southwest airlines again if I could help it.  I finally arrived at the Albuquerque Sunport 10 and a half hours later (12:30 AM EDT) to find Ron waiting for me.  I was very happy to get back to New Mexico. Nice to travel, even nicer to return home!