Off on Another Adventure!

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

Today I am on the road heading to suburban St. Louis, Missouri, to meet up with Carla, a close friend from college in the 1960’s.   Carla and I lost contact for quite a few years after graduating from what was then called Southwest Missouri State College in Springfield, Missouri.  Today it is known as Missouri State University.  We reconnected fifteen years or so ago when we helped to sponsor a college trip to New York City in January of 2009. We were there when Captain Sullenberger landed his passenger jet in the East River.
 
That was my first and only trip to the Big Apple, but Carla has been a couple of times since.  Tomorrow morning we will be boarding a flight in St. Louis to revisit that amazing city.  The primary purpose of this trip will be to see a portion of a stage play that my son, Tim, has been working on.  The play is being workshopped at a large New York City theatre and presented to theatre professionals and potential backers.  I was able to see the entire play performed in Chicago this past July - and it's a good one - a musical version of "The Brass Teapot," based on the movie of the same name - which was based on a short story that was written by my very talented son!
 
Carla and I hope to see some Broadway plays while we are in NYC.  On our last trip we saw five plays in seven nights, including Lin Manuel Miranda starring in his first Broadway production “In the Heights” – back in the days before his other smash hit, “Hamilton.”   We also attended a taping of "The David Letterman Show” and were outside of ‘The Today Show” at 30 Rock where we mugged of the cameras and waved to our friends back home.  Then there was the boat ride around the Statue of Liberty, the visit to Ellis Island, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, dinner at Tavern on the Green in Central Park, a visit to the “Strawberry Fields” memorial in Central Park, and aggravating the doorman at the Dakota trying to get him to show us where John Lennon was shot – which he finally did.  
 
This time we hope to see a few more plays and explore some of the places that we missed on the last trip.   As luck would have it, Game One of the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers will be played in New York City on Friday night – our last night in town.  That should add even more excitement to our adventure!
 
We had a great time in New York City in January of 2009, and I am sure that this trip will also be memorable.  I will be posting updates from the trip in this space, so check back!