The World’s Longest Miracle Review, Part 3featured

After such a long day and late night yesterday, we were glad to be able to sleep in a little bit today. We had tickets to see the Broadway revival of “Hair” at 2:00pm, and since we weren’t able to pick up our tickets until 1:30pm, we were able to sleep in a bit.

We grabbed some Vitamin Water’s at the commissary in the lobby of the hotel (I’m addicted to Vitamin Water the way Mom and Stephanie are addicted to Diet Coke…grandma has no addictions LOL) and ate the scones we brought back from Alice’s. We decided to get an early start so we could see Times Square before the show and grab a quick lunch. Mom was running a bit late getting ready and getting grandma settled in, so Stephanie and I waited for her in the lobby. I like to sit in nice lobbies that give me a lot to look at, and the lobby at the Westin had an understated elegance, with high, vaulted ceilings, dark wood accents and a lot of natural light.

The pictures for today are from my point-and-shoot camera because I didn’t know whether or not the theaters in NYC allowed cameras to enter the theater (in Chicago, they generally need to be checked or left in the car because they aren’t permitted in most of the theaters). I probably could have checked before we left, but I was immersed in last-minute planning. So I left my SLR camera in the room and took my little P&S with. I was frustrated not being able to take some of the pictures the way I wanted to (I like the control I have over the SLR), and more frustrated to later find out cameras can be brought in but not used, but it was what it was.

When Mom came down, we made our way over to the PATH station, only for Mom to remember she forgot something in the room. So she ran across the street back to the hotel to grab what she forgot and Stephanie and I decided to sit in the small garden/park area in front of the PATH station.

Mom came back and we made our way through the weekend crowds down to the trains. We had one transfer from the PATH to the MTA trains, and it was quick and painless and we were soon in Times Square.

Times Square is a very lively place. We certainly don’t have anything like it in Chicago. Stephanie and I were very excited to see all of the signage, all of the lights and all of the activity. I forgot to mention it was Fleet Week when we were in NYC, which meant that Times Square was even more busy with Fleet Week events, competitions and concerts.

After a bit of exploring Times Square (and making a list of things we wanted to see there after the show), we decided to go see where the theater was. After walking the wrong way (at home, I know Lake Michigan is east and base everything off that, but I had no sense of direction in NYC), a nice New Yorker pointed us in the right direction and we found the Al Hirschfeld theater a few short blocks away. We also passed Juniors along the way, and had we known it was so easy to get to, we may have attempted to go there the previous night. We decided we probably didn’t have time to eat a sit-down meal before the show, so we decided to try to hit it after the show.

Near the theater, we found plenty of restaurants offering pre-fixe theater lunches (usually 3-courses for under $20), but we decided to grab a quick lunch at this small “food court” near the theater that seemed to offer a little bit of everything.

Naturally, it was a lot of options in a tiny, crammed space with a sitting/eating limit of 20 minutes. We quickly grabbed a table for two and an extra chair and took turns ordering our food.

Mom grabbed a slice of mushroom pizza, while Stephanie and I decided to split a slice of pizza and a Philly cheesesteak. We really wanted to try a Philly cheesesteak while driving through PA, but we were no where near Philadelphia or a cheesesteak place, so we had a non-Philly Philly cheesesteak.

The pizza was very greasy but overall fantastic. I still prefer my Chicago-style deep dish, but this was very, very good. They offered, seriously, like 30 different pizzas by the slice OR whole pie. It was hard to choose, but we settled on basic pepperoni. The pizza place also had fresh tossed salads (including a very tempting looking greek salad) and other italian fare. The cheesesteak? It was a cheesesteak. It was reminiscent of a sandwich from Great Steak in your local mall food court. But it satisfied. Ours came with fries that Mom ate.

Mushroom Pizza

Pepperoni Pizza

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

My Split

Offerings at the Pizza Place

I thought it was interesting that there’s apparently a law in NYC that everything must have nutritional information attached to it (I think sit-down restaurants are exempt because I didn’t see any of this at any of the sit-down places we went). Even the street carts have nutritional information on them. If I weren’t on vacation, seeing the calories in that Philly Cheesesteak would have given me pause before ordering it! But I was, and with all the walking and steps we were doing, I enjoyed myself.

We made our way back to the theater after lunch because it was nearing the 1:30 pickup time for our tickets. I had heard of TKTS to get discounted Broadway tickets, but Stephanie found out that via Broadway.com, they have last-minute discounted ticket sales. She found Orchestra seats in 19th row center for around $120/ticket the Monday before we left and had to call in the order. They gave us specific instructions that we could not pick up our tickets until 1:30 for the 2:00 show. It seemed to be cutting it close to me.

And I was right. The line wrapped around the corner! A nice security man pointed me where I needed to go to get my tickets and then told me to stay there and not get back in line once I got my tickets…just to go in. When I gave the woman in the ticket booth my drivers license, she looked at it, got the envelope, and said “Good news…we upgraded your tickets!” Excellent! We were upgraded to somewhere around 7th or 10th row in the center section. I was super excited to be so close. The Al Hirschfeld is a very small theater and even our original seats would have been fantastic (though partially blocked by the overhang from the balcony seats).

We had seats 102, 103 and 104 and I was hoping 101 would be empty next to me, but a large, older gentleman came and sat. And he invaded my space because he didn’t fit in his seat well. He spread out as much as he could and I was very put off. I’m of the opinion that if you don’t fit well into your seat and you have an aisle seat, you should lean into the aisle. This is why when I go see Cubs games at Wrigley Field (where there are notoriously small seats and not much space), I usually buy an extra ticket or at least, one aisle seat. I was forced to lean into Stephanie, which made her uncomfortable, too.

The new revival of Hair was absolutely fantastic. It was upbeat and heart-wrenching, hilariously funny and ultimately sad. I have nothing but great things to say about the cast. Gavin Creel, Will Swenson, Caissie Levy, Sasha Allen, Bryce Ryness, Allison Case, Kacie Sheik…they were phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. And there’s an infamous nude scene right before intermission when all of them (except one) goes fully nude. On stage. I couldn’t do it, but kudos to them (note: if you’re put off by nudity, don’t go see Hair). At the end of the show, they invite everyone up on stage to sing with the cast. I’ve never seen a more accessible cast that dances, sings and interacts with the audience, even long after the show is over. They really just hung around to talk with everyone who wanted to talk. We didn’t have much time to stick around, but I wish we did.

We headed over to a dinky souvenir shop across from the theater afterwards to grab some souvenirs. I was tempted to buy a program from the original cast of RENT (I’m obsessed with RENT…one of my all-time favorite shows with such a great message), but it was a bit pricey and the shop was sketchy. I bought a cartoon-like lithograph of Times Square and I think Stephanie grabbed some keychains or shot glasses. We didn’t spend much time there because we were hungry for some good deli, so we made our way over to Juniors.

I first heard of Junior’s when Diddy made a group of people he was making into a band go there super late at night for cheesecake. And then everyone I knew from NYC told me to go there for good cheesecake. Now, we have good cheesecake and even better Jewish deli in my corner on the North Shore of Chicago, so I was interested to see how this would match up.

It was PACKED to the gills, but despite that, we were offered a 20-minute or so wait. The wait passed pretty quickly, but we sat near the hostess and overheard many rude patrons demanding to be seated ASAP, demanding to be put above people waiting longer, whatever. I can’t believe people with that little common decency exist, but I encounter new levels of stupid everywhere I travel. Stupid exists everywhere. I found that a smile or small-talk with the hostesses really made our time pass faster and it seemed to make them feel a bit better, too, to know everyone wasn’t that crazy.

We were soon seated and we had a fantastic server who was very nice and intuitive…she’d have a new drink for us before our drinks were even empty. She brought us our menus and small plates of coleslaw, beets and pickles. Very nice. At my favorite deli’s, we just get the bread basket and pickles.

Here’s where you know you’re in a tourist trap in NYC: the prices were outrageous by what we considered normal standards. Cheese blintzes at my favorite deli in Chicago? $6. Cheese blintzes at Juniors? $12.95. Matzo ball soup in Chicago? $4. Matzo ball soup at Juniors? $6.95. Overstuffed corned beef sandwich at home? $7. Corned beef sandwich at Juniors? $11.75.

Now, this is still considered reasonably priced for dinner by our standards, but not reasonable considering the product. There is a clear price mark-up, likely due to the lure of Juniors (it is an NYC legend) and the location. It certainly isn’t gourmet by any means. Just good Jewish deli that’s more than a bit overpriced.

Mom and Stephanie both got corned beef sandwiches, which was served on two small rolls. Mom thought hers was disgusting because she had a few pieces of beef in hers that were literally all fat. Stephanie’s corned beef was nicely marbled and she really enjoyed it. I thought it was odd to have two orders of exactly the same thing so far apart in quality. Stephanie also had an overpriced bowl of Matzo ball soup, which wasn’t big enough to justify the price and was just okay. I had the cheese blintzes with cherries and sour cream (but didn’t use the sour cream) and they were, by far, amongst the best cheese blintzes I’ve ever had (including the ones grandma used to make me and the ones I’ve had at some of Chicago’s finest deli’s). They were a large portion, smooth on the inside, soft on the outside, and the bite of the tart cherries combined with the sweetness of the soft cheese filling was absolutely delicious. I could only make my way through a blintz and a half, and I wanted to take the third back to grandma to try because I knew she’d love it, too. I don’t seem to have a pic of Mom or Stephanie’s food, but I do have a picture of the cheese blintzes to drool over.

We were stuffed, but we couldn’t leave Juniors without trying some cheesecake, which oddly enough, was the only thing on the menu not marked up. We ordered a slice of the Chocolate Mousse cheesecake (I wanted the original or chocolate chip, but our server really recommended this one and Mom really wanted to try it) and at $6.75, it was less expensive than a slice of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory (we have one near our house and frequently bring home dessert from there) and the slices are much bigger. The cheesecake was sinfully rich and the three of us couldn’t finish it. I really didn’t want chocolate, so I just ate the plain cheesecake part and it lived up to its reputation. I tried a bite of the chocolate mousse cheesecake part and it was heavy and rich and any chocolate lover would melt at it’s deliciousness.

We went to the carryout part of the restaurant to grab a sandwich for grandma, and then went next door to Juniors bakery to grab some breakfast for tomorrow. They had all kinds of cookies, cakes and baked goods. We grabbed some muffins, croissants and a slice of lemon poppy seed bread for me.

After dinner, we made a few quick stops at the MTV Store and Toys R Us. Stephanie wanted to buy a souvenir at the MTV Store, and I wanted to see the indoor ferris wheel at Toys R Us. The MTV store was small and didn’t have much merchandise, and the Toys R Us was overhyped, so it was a pretty quick visit to both and a few more minutes in Times Square before we headed back to Jersey City.

After getting back to the hotel, we just all kind of chilled out and re-packed our suitcases and got everything ready for embarkation tomorrow morning. We had a Shop Rite behind the hotel and a Target a few blocks away, but we didn’t necessitate a visit to either because I think for the first time ever, everyone remembered to pack everything they needed!

Around 10:30pm or 11:00pm, I wanted a snack and I still hadn’t had a New York hot dog or any real street food and Stephanie wanted ice cream, so we went outside to see if the street vendor or the ice cream guy was still parked by the PATH station across the street. The street vendor was gone, but they Mr. Frosty truck was still parked and the lines were LONG.

If you live in New York or Jersey City, I’m jealous that you can walk a few blocks and find a Mr. Frosty truck. They have EVERYTHING. They have normal fare that the local ice cream man sells (like my favorite, Screwballs), but also handmade, hand-packed ice cream in five million flavors, soft serve, sundaes, shakes, italian ice…it’s an ice cream lovers paradise in a truck!

Mom got a cup of pistachio ice cream and grandma got a cup of strawberry ice cream, both of which were creamy and delicious, and Stephanie and I both got cups of strawberry italian ice, which was frosty and fresh and more like a sorbet than an italian ice. It was very refreshing on the hot, balmy night. The prices weren’t that bad (I think it was around $4 for a large italian ice), either.

Strawberry Italian Ice

We enjoyed our frosty sweet treats outside for a bit, but the air was thick and hot with a storm front forecasted to come in the next afternoon, so we headed back inside to shower, watch TV and get ready for the big day tomorrow.

Up next: Welcome Home! Embarkation and Day One Onboard the Carnival Miracle!