Thursday
2/27/04
Tourist Dad
Although life can be full of little embarrassments, thank heavens that most of them are little more than personal bogeymen, entirely invisible to others. To wit: I was born in New York, New York, a city that is, it seems, so nice they named it twice. But then, despite having spent a lot of time there with my friends as a younger guy (McSorely’s, Ray’s, Beacon theatre, Jeremy’s Ale House at the seaport, any restaurant west of Washington Square Park, fireworks over the East River, Wonderland, Limelight, concerts on the pier, The Bottom Line, Kettle of Fish, etc. etc. etc.), I eventually slipped into grown-up-dad-guy-in-the-suburbs mode and pretty much stopped going.
Bad dad. We live thirty minutes from midtown in the greatest city on earth, and yet we were letting it all slide past. So anyway, over the last year or so, the lovely Bride and I have been making a point of getting back into it, and today we’re taking the lads in to do fun, touristy stuff. Some Empire State Building and Peanut Butter & Co. for lunch. That sort of thing.
And sure, I’ll just be another goofy tourist with a camera and some little kids now, but at least I’ll be working on the other half of the city I haven’t had a crack at yet.
|
Tourist Dad
Although life can be full of little embarrassments, thank heavens that most of them are little more than personal bogeymen, entirely invisible to others. To wit: I was born in New York, New York, a city that is, it seems, so nice they named it twice. But then, despite having spent a lot of time there with my friends as a younger guy (McSorely’s, Ray’s, Beacon theatre, Jeremy’s Ale House at the seaport, any restaurant west of Washington Square Park, fireworks over the East River, Wonderland, Limelight, concerts on the pier, The Bottom Line, Kettle of Fish, etc. etc. etc.), I eventually slipped into grown-up-dad-guy-in-the-suburbs mode and pretty much stopped going.
Bad dad. We live thirty minutes from midtown in the greatest city on earth, and yet we were letting it all slide past. So anyway, over the last year or so, the lovely Bride and I have been making a point of getting back into it, and today we’re taking the lads in to do fun, touristy stuff. Some Empire State Building and Peanut Butter & Co. for lunch. That sort of thing.
And sure, I’ll just be another goofy tourist with a camera and some little kids now, but at least I’ll be working on the other half of the city I haven’t had a crack at yet.
