Wow... a before and after due to Nor'ricane Sandy!

Jerry and I had a wonderful meal at this restaurant while we were in Brooklyn a week and a half ago... Hurricane Sandy met a Nor'easter coming down from Canada... and a storm of the century spawned... sometimes know as a perfect storm happened. Lower Manhattan is devastated... and this restaurant... although terrible messed up after the storm... it is still standing... It's a Brooklyn Icon... The River Cafe!  Many, many places did not fare near as well.  We're hoping that because they knew it was coming, they had been able to get the tables, etc out.  Where we are sitting, is right where the picture with all the windows!

 

A dream of a lifetime comes true: Barbra Streisand!

What can I say? Ever since high school, I have wanted to see Barbra Streisand! And last night, I got to. The first two songs brought tears to my eyes… Not so much for what they said (which was really good), but just to realize this was a dream come true! I need to thank Jerry and Halley and Jillian for being in cahoots to make this happen!

We walked to the venue (just a bit over a mile)… nice evening and fun seeing a neighborhood yet again. As we got closer to Barclays, you could feel the excitement in the air. People were happy and looking forward to the concert. We enter the arena and were pleased with our seats. They weren’t the closest, but they gave us a great view… we didn’t even look at the jumbo-trons at all. Before the show started, folks started clapping at one point as someone was sitting down, in front of the state… LIZA MINELLI… The lady next to me said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we all got ovations for just sitting down!

Before the show started, but the lights were down, they played about a 3 minute video… Bab’s growing up, living in Brooklyn, her school years, her gawky years… yup, she had them too!... You get the feeling. It was pretty neat!

Performing with her were Il Volo and Chris Botti… AND her son, Jason. Oh my gosh, he has the most fabulous voice. He raised his own money and just produced an album on Amazon and Barbra said her new album AND his are the top sellers on Amazon. I’ll talk about him later!

After the video vignette, she started the show with “As If We Never Said Goodbye” (from Sunset Blvd) and the arena went crazy… in a good way: She changed the lyrics in places to mention, for example, “Brooklyn docks and nova lox” and “knishes.” I really wanted to remember all the little things she said… but alas, I don’t.

At another point during the concert, there was short film, from the 70’s, in which assorted Brooklynites who knew Ms. Streisand and her family back when reminisced. Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top” had new lyrics all to be a celebration of all things Brooklyn and Barbra. One lady in the film said she wish folks would quite bugging her about her nose… it was just fine! Got a giggle from the whole audience.

Chris Botti and Babs performed together…beautiful, I can’t remember all they did, but one was ‘My Funny Valentine”.

Oh yeah, the Italian teenagers, Il Volo, performed… they’re really great… but, I wanted Bab’s… and I was not disappointed.

Now, about Jason, he was a superb crooner, who I could listen to for hours. Who Knew???? Babs has not helped him make his ‘mark’… but by gosh, she was so proud of him. For her birthday earlier in the year, he created a home movie of photographs of the two of them from his infancy into adulthood, with a him singing in the background. Damn, I don’t remember the song!!!! At her birthday party, friends all wanted to know “who was that singing in the background of the film?” It was JASON! He and Bab’s sang a beautiful duet of “How Deep Is the Ocean?” He performed solo also, one of those voices that made me swoon!

At another point in the show, she talked about Marvin Hamlisch (Jule Styne too, and sang some of his also). She sang “The Way We Were,” there was a short video vignette with she and Marvin… sniff, sniff. Marvin is a talent we will miss to be sure!

I have no pictures… well, one I downloaded… and a couple with my cell phone. But, boy, do I have memories in my head and they are beautiful! Barbra came across as a real person… not a ‘star’… Oh, and she did mention that time in Central Park, when she forgot the words to a song… she said she didn’t perform live for 26 years… Guess she’s pretty human too!

We got home about midnight… a long night, a long concert and a wonderful memory! NYC…. You have made a dream come true!

 

 

 

 

 

A walk to a park and then on to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge!

We weren't sure what our day would be like... other than we had a great concert to attend that evening! After some *$, we left the hotel and headed east and found another tree oasis in this city...and the most lifelike sculpture of a service dog; from a distance, we thought it was the real thing! And lo and behold... we found another cache. Most of them here in the city, for obvious reasons, are nano caches... very, very, very small! Fun to locate none the less!

Continued on to Fort Green... was not our plan, but, wait, we had no plan! Found an interesting sculpture... just erected. Wood, 600 pieces,and the artist made it in the form of a baby(his words); reminded me of one of the upright wood puzzles you put together,  oh, and located another cache... thats the fun thing about this hobby... you see places you might not have other wise.  The park also had a huge monument to commemerate the 11,000 plus that died on the prison ships during the Revolutionary War. Now, see, if we hadn't been out geocaching, we would have missed that! The story of the prison ships... gruesome!

Next, a trip across the Brooklyn Bridge and some time near Ground Zero. The construction is going on full speed. What was sad, is seeing how 'tours' are springing up all over... you know, making a dime off of what happened. Jerry and I had been there 2 months after the initial disaster, that is what I remember. There is no resemblance of that feeling we had then anymore.

By then, we were pretty walked out (about 4 miles)... the street vendor Pretzel and Snapple was not enough to fortify us for the long walk back, so we hopped on the #4 subway and made it back home just in time to rest up before the concert!

A sculpture we found... an alligator coming out of the sewer grabbing a little kid.. now that's a sense of humor!

 

 

This oasis was pretty cool... as was that Dog sculpture! 

 

 

The monument to the Prison Ship Victims

The iconic Bridge

 

Trying to be artsy.... 

 

Ground Zero

 

Geocaching brings us to fun little neighborhoods...

Places we never would have seen if not out looking for a cache. This is a gret example!

 

 

 

Walking, Walking, Walking... loving every minute of it

A nice day for more exploring... 'cept today we turned right out of the hotel vs left as we did last evening. What a difference in neighborhoods! Have to say we enjoyed it a bunch more. Lots of cool Brownstone types homes and nicer restaurants around too. And get this, we even did some geocaching as we wandered about. Found 4 different ones... WooHoo!
Had a fabulous lunch at the River Cafe... right next to the Brooklyn Bridge, right next to the water. We even had seats next to the window, looking across to Manhattan. So many photo ops! Great meal, and look at the cute Chocolate dessert... not only was it clever in design, but tasted great too! Oh, and check out the wreid fall squash in the photo! I thought it was fake, but no, it's just a long thin crazy squash.
Got back to our room about 4:30... rested a bit, then at 6, headed back out and took a taxi to see Nancy P, a friend of Jerry's and now, I can say, a friend of mine. We had a wonderful time and she showed a bit of her neighborhood there in Grenwich Village. We were treated to a nummy dinner at the National Arts Club... located next to Gramercy Park(the only private park in the area... keys are needed to enter)  The heritage inside the building was something else.
So... back home, tired, and ready to fall asleep and rest up for the big show tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brooklyn and Bab's... the adventure begins!

Up early to get our flight to JFK... and wow... so overcast... but, with a couple minutes after takeoff, we were through the thin layer, and rewarded with a gorgeous sunrise over Mt Rainier.
Happy to say, an uneventful flight...got a cab and made our way to the Brooklyn Marriott. Spent some time walking the neighborhood before we dashed in a diner for dinner... Much, much different from Manhattan; the city has such distinct neighbohoods.
Had to share the views from our room. Looking towards Manhattan, The Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and even a longshot view of the Statue of Liberty; Also, the skinny building in process of construction is the new building where the Towers once stood... I'm not sure how I feel about another building there...no editorial comment from me... just saying..

 

 

 

 

 

The colors of fall in Minneapolis and Lake Harriett

A wonderful October day... but, boy it was cold. Did some geocaching with Halley and even found this virtual one with Elifi... a little elf that lives in the botton of a tree next to a running path. So darn cute! We also went out and found the house Mary Tyler Moore in her TV show lived in! It is currently for sale for....$2,895,000.... It's huge and pretty and way out of our league!