Today was our anniversary. We had a great evening. For dinner we went to Keens Steakhouse which dates itself to 1885. It did shut down for a brief period but reopened in the early 80′s. It claims to have, and really who is going to dispute this, “the largest collection of churchwarden pipes in the world.” More importantly, it has great food. Katherine started with a Martini while I had a Perfect Manhattan then she went with the oysters while I had the kale salad. We split the Mutton Chop (26 oz), and had sides of excellent fries and creamed spinach. As frequently happens when we eat out, Katherine had worked with the Executive Chef, Bill Rodgers. He came out and spoke with us for some time and provided us with a few delightful lagniappes.
We first discovered Keen’s when we moved to Manhattan. We lived around the corner. After dinner we went back to the old building which has NOT changed. The front door was still open so people could access the Karaoke Bar on the second floor, so we just walked up to our old apartment.
Where our New York began
Then we decided to see if the roof door was still open…
It was:
Herald Square to the right
Empire State up and to the left
The stairway was as beautiful as ever
A truly fun night.
But that wasn’t all there was to our anniversary. Katherine had managed to pull some strings with the weather gods and arranged a little fly- bye for me…
As soon as I saw the Enterprise take off from DC, I hopped the subway and went up to Riverbank State Park. I positioned myself on the highest corner down at the south end (138th Street). Two other folks were there when I arrived. Within 20 minutes another 15 or 20 people showed up so we had quite the little community. I was following NASA’s Twitter feed and MSNBC, someone else had a live video feed so we knew when she was coming. First she went up river at 1500 hundred feet…
Then circled and came down river…
Flew around the Statue of Liberty and then over New Jersey…
and then she headed back over the river to go to Queens. What I did not realize was…
…The flight path was over 138th Street! ………….i.e ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
Damn fine anniversary gift.
May 9th, 2012 at 9:59 am
Belated Happy Anniversary! Loved the photos of the Enterprise…and felt a sense of sadness that now we are left with only memories of those days.
April 30th, 2012 at 9:44 pm
RSJ Spectacular pics. Great photosThanks.R&J
May 2nd, 2012 at 10:17 am
Thanks!
April 29th, 2012 at 8:04 am
Belated happy anniversary! What a day!!! That bunch of photos is a treasure!
Great thing to do, to visit your old apartment … quite a view you had there, from the rooftop! No roof access here … unfortunately.
April 30th, 2012 at 12:15 am
Thank you. The shuttle was a wonder and a sadness.
The visit…It was strange and wonderful. The interior hasn’t changed in all these years…which is terrifying in its own way!
April 29th, 2012 at 7:22 am
Thanks for sharing. That was a very enjoyable treat for all!
April 30th, 2012 at 12:13 am
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for all your comments.
April 28th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Happy Anniversary, Robert & Katherine.
April 30th, 2012 at 12:12 am
Thank you! How goes the training?
May 1st, 2012 at 9:09 am
I am in the “taper” portion of my training now. Will not run a distance greater than 12-15 miles from here until the start of the Hudson run. Am doing an easy 10 today from the Upper East Side down to the Brooklyn Bridge and back. I’m starting to get excited!
April 28th, 2012 at 11:19 am
Almost made me wish I lived again in NYC. Well almost. At least I wished I could visit a bit more often. Happy Annie.
April 30th, 2012 at 12:12 am
Thanks.
April 28th, 2012 at 10:26 am
Well…it was about 37 degrees with a 25mph wind…
April 28th, 2012 at 10:21 am
MTM wants to know if you had ‘coffee’ on the roof for old times sake. Happy Anniversary!