Cruising and Continuing the Transformation to a Floridian

So we continue our NYC tourism in preparation for the change - We recently went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, for me a first since childhood. I have memories of walking around with my older brother, George, and my parents walking behind me. I recalled the Japanese garden especially, and it's still there, of course-much less exotic than in my recollections. A beautiful place still. The trip afforded an opportunity I have made from time to time in recent years - a pilgrimage past the house of my early childhood on Lincoln Place at Utica Avenue, where I lived from the age of 5 until I finished 5th grade, when I moved to Laurelton, in Queens.

We cruised from 10/3 until today from New York to San Juan, St. Thomas and Tortola, returning this morning. Out and back, in New York Harbor, it's hard for me to imagine my immigrant forebears on deck as they passed the statue of Liberty. To this day, I feel my heart swell every time I see her, amazed like a new arrival, thrilled like a tourist, patriotic like a veteran passing the symbol of the things strived for, things we need to see, things that embody and give shape to our love of cuntry and pride of place.

I should say something about the cruise itself, since this is, after all, a travelblog. Carnival's bording procedures sucked. Its method for gathering the information it required of us as passengers was disorganized and ineffective. Its response to our complaints about the time we wasted because of the ship's demands for duplicative information and documentation from us was a total failure. The food, however, was great. Service was excellent (if a little intrusive, in the case of the cabin service). There was nonstop entertainment of all kinds, and since school was in session, there weren't many children running around, nor were there loud young adults making fools of themselves at their parents' expense. It was really quite pleasant. San Juan (we only had an afternoon) was so hot it was difficult to enjoy the lovely old city. We walked around the forts and the town center, and we were glad to get back on board early in the evening. St. Thomas was interesting. The shopping areas were difficult to navigate and annoying to be in - cabbies whistled and talked, trying to get you on board - I stopped responding, and I left as quickly as possible. The beach was stunning - I'd love to fly there again for just a few days at a resort. In between we visited the St. Thomas Synagogue - yes, that's the name, named for the Island, not the saint - thinking if we walked over and were lucky, it would be open after services. In fact, there was a service going on, which we attended most of. A family from Boca had come across for a destination bar and bat mitzvah for twins! The building itself is simple and pretty, with sand covering the marble floors and a wroght iron mogen dovid arching over the exterior stairs. The rabbi was reform/progressive, praying in Hebrew and signing with his hands (though nobody was deaf, to my knowledge), and the cantor seemed more like a folk singer than anything else. It was nice! On Tortola, Bill located a botanical garden which was charming (Carnival didn't let us know it existed - I guess because they didn't sponsor tours there).

We have a couple of concerts coming up at Lincoln Center. Then, further farewells to New York will have to wait while I prepare to begin commuting from late October to the beginning of December. The birth of my first grandchild in June, and the news that my daughter is expecting in March or April, make preparations for a final departure from New York particularly poignant - each milestone bringing me closer to an adventure I'm not sure I welcome, and at the same time dragging me a little further from my family. I know this is the way things go now - Drew and Kai are already 3,000 miles away from me. I'm pretty mobile - maybe the distance will not be too terrible a barrier, and in the meantime, I'm checking out ways to stay in touch - maybe my kids would accept a webcam as a gift, and schedule monthly chats with me. I'm looking into it.