OUCH!

I’m a New York Jets fan, and openly admit it. OK, so what? I’m also a Mets fan, and NO ONE should admit THAT!

I’m all caught up in the playoffs this year as the football season winds down, particularly rooting for the Giants, my team before the Jets came into being. Last Sunday, TLW (The Little Woman) went and got my daughter while I watched the Giants beat the Falcons. This Sunday promises to be an even bigger day as the Giants go to Green Bay to play the Packers.

So you ask yourself; “So what?”

Well, I got TLW tickets to the Broadway production of Mamma Mia, and it starts at 2:00 pm on Sunday. As they say in the hospital: “Ouch!” Right into the middle of the playoff season and I made reservations, bought tickets and everything! So I decided, since that is the day we got engaged 41 years ago, let’s really make it special, let’s book a room at the Waldorf Astoria, and find a nice fancy French restaurant to dine at after the show, and plan something for Monday. This will help take the sting away from missing the game.

Often as a young art director working in Manhattan, I would climb the steps at the 51^st street Lexington Avenue subway station and see the Waldorf. How often I told myself how wonderful it would be to stay there just once. One can get caught up in the glamour of NY City and the elegance it offers.

I would walk along Park Avenue, or come from the Pan Am building and see the Waldorf and wonder again about the elegance and splendor of the hotel. Once I went scouting for locations for a sweepstakes local to take photos and the Waldorf came to mind, but I settled on the Plaza instead. I often wished I hadn’t.

Le Rivage is the restaurant. It is located in the heart of the theatre district and is in a brownstone on the bottom floor. It is a small cozy place with elegance as the décor, spectacular food as the results and with a nice wine and/or champagne, I will revel in my luck in what I did 41 years ago.

I will miss the game this Sunday, but I’d rather spend it with TLW, while we are both healthy, and appreciate each other. This little trip into the city will be special, TLW is, so why not?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A GREAT GIANT FAN: MY HANDSOME NEPHEW GREG SCHNEIDER, GREAT HUSBAND AND FATHER!