Lincoln Tunnel with Astroturf not carpet

Today was a day to wander around New York City. Brian and Carol arrived this morning and we spent the day exploring with them. Greg met them on the Highline and took a nice walk while Amy went to TKTS in search of matinee tickets. Unfortunately, they sold out the show we wanted right before Amy got to the front of the line. Given it was a weekend, the choices were slim. We decided to pivot and make other plans.

We met up at Juniors for lunch. Amy had matzoh ball soup and Greg had a salad. Greg wanted to save room for their traditional New York cheesecake. It was a smart choice.

After lunch, we decided to check out the Whitney Museum. Amy had never been there before. Greg‘s cousin Suellen Rocca was an artist, and the museum recently acquired a painting by her that Greg wanted to see.

Overall we were impressed by the collection. There was an exhibit on Alexander Calder’s Circus. He made wire models that represented circus acts. There was a movie made in 1961 of him performing with the wire figures. Greg enjoyed it enough to get a copy of the movie! There were other pictures that impressed us because of the medium. There was a picture on plywood that used the grain of the wood to create texture in the sunset. There was a picture of the Lincoln Tunnel that was painted on Astroturf.* Overall a really fun collection at the Whitney.

After the museum, we had an amazing dinner at One White Street. They had a tasting menu that we were excited to try. Greg said the menu was creative. Then he changed his adjective to inventive. It was definitely delicious! Amy’s favorite course was the delicata squash with tangelo. It was made into a foam with sea urchin in the middle, served with fresh sourdough bread. Greg loved all the savory courses, but his favorite was the dessert of pear and parsnip. The parsnips were fried on top of the pear ice cream. They looked like leaves. Greg said that the dish tasted like fall.

The way home we got on the 1 train. It was very slow so we decided to jump to an express train. Only the express train skipped our stop. Additionally, there was a “medical emergency” causing system delays. So we were stuck waiting in a slow train. We finally were able to get off and back track on the local. Lesson learned. Make sure your stop is an express before jumping onto the express.

*As for the title, a long time ago, Amy’s dad heard a DJ in the New York area tell a joke that went something like “I was wrong when I said that they are closing the Lincoln Tunnel to add carpeting. They are closing the Lincoln Tunnel so that they can add paneling.” This joke became legendary in the Morgenstern family.