Continuing in Holiday Mode

Two winters ago we saw a wonderful play, "Opus," by Michael Hollinger, when it opened in Philadelphia. Michael's lovely wife Megan teaches at the school where I work, and she had told us a bit about the play, so we decided we had to see it. Turned out to be about the best play we'd ever seen. It is about the highs and lows of a string quartet, and as we watched it, we kept thinking how much Tom, our violist son, would enjoy it.

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This spring Megan told me that "Opus" would be opening in New York this season. We pressed Tom and Anastasia to find a date that they could come up. They arrived mid-day yesterday and we left for NYC in the early afternoon. Traffic was horrible, and we were quite pressed for time. We made it to the play with minutes to spare. T&A liked it as much as we had hoped they would.

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We don't go to New York very often. On the odd occasion that we do, if we're spending the night, we always try to stay at The Algonquin. I'd known of the hotel for ever, it seems, but we never stayed there until about five years ago. It was everything we had hoped for -- it is a small hotel, and not glamorous and sparkly like some of the Westins. Instead, it is elegant and familiar. The lobby is done in shades of caramel, eggplant, dark green, and mahogany (oooh -- do I feel a quilt coming on?) and makes one think of dear William Morris. The walls in the corridors are papered with old "New Yorker" cartoons; perusing them makes the wait for the elevator quite pleasant. The rooms aren't large at all, but are beautifully appointed and we love the elegant old bathrooms -- the one last night had a marble vanity. We love to eat at the Round Table and have become partial to the Caesar Salad there. Their Eggs Benedict measure up to Honna's and my standards quite easily. I like to stay at the same hotel or B&B each time I visit a place. It certainly feels right to have The Algonquin be "our place" in New York.

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Got home about twenty-four hours after we'd left. T&A have headed south again; they will be spending tonight with Amy and Andrew in Alexandria and return to Richmond tomorrow. And tomorrow we, too, leave again for another couple of days of holiday! Stay tuned . . . .