At least we began our last day in style. In order to speed up the morning packing process Erin had the brilliant idea to order breakfast in bed. Room service was provided by the great little diner across the street we enjoyed a couple days ago. Prompt and tasty.
We packed our bags, checked out of our room and left our bags at the front desk during our final excursion. Running low on time we hailed a cab to take us to the Met Art Museum. I thought for a moment we were in the midst of a high-speed chase and was half expecting the bad guys to pull along side. No, apparently swerving into oncoming traffic to get around the truck in front of you while narrowly avoiding the lane changing minivan is customary driving etiquette. We arrived at the Met just as the color returned to Erin’s face and knuckles.
The Met was under construction leaving some of the exhibits a bit underwhelming. Not to mention getting around the museum was a rather difficult. One of the photography exhibits was well worth the harrowing experience getting there and all the construction. I was most impressed with the photographers from the late 1800’s early 1900’s. The pictures themselves were awe inspiring but coupled with the challenges they faced in making the prints and I am still overwhelmed.
One was a black and white poster-sized photo of a forest out west. Simple. Classic. The label and background information revealed the 30 x 20 print was created before there was an enlargment process. The ridiculously oversized negatives were shot on a huge camera and then developed on location with a traveling dark room. All in the unforgiving and untamed frontier west. Unfathomable in an era of pocket cameras and instant gratification of digital formats.
A few more exhibits and we headed across Central Park to the Natural History Museum. A movie (free with our City Pass) and some strolling around the planets for some pictures. (I still can’t believe there’s no Pluto). Then a few preplanned photo ops from A Night at the Museum and we were on our way
Back at the hotel we retrieved our bags and started preparing for our trip to the airport. My stomach sank. Is that reporter on the lobby tv calling from a plane? Did that scrolling ticker just mention FAA computers being down? I’m not all that surprised knowing my luck with air travel the last few years. We watched in disbelief for a few minutes then headed out the door. Watching the mess televised wasn’t getting us home any faster.
The remainder of the trip home was rather uneventful; just us and our fellow travelers sharing the experience of airport delays.
All Things Dave 