“It says, ‘Tour guide gratuity is not included,’ so here you go,” twanged an older, Vickie Lawrence/Mama’s Family-type woman, after reading aloud from the travel company’s voucher.
Wanda then handed me a folded bill that I later saw was $10, at the START of a Sunday morning, Statue of Liberty Tour, in 2005. We had already established a playful bantering when I checked her, and her companion in, so this premature gift was in keeping with the whimsy.
She was here from rural Texas, with her 14 year-old, well-mannered, quiet, blond nephew, Morgan.
“It was the only thing I could tickets to on short notice. ‘Isn’t that a chick thing?’ He’s not so happy but it’s on Broadway.” The 3:00 PM matinee of Steel Magnolias was their time constraint for the expedition. “I thought everything on Broadway was a musical,” was the boy’s puzzled reaction when I explained that it was a play.
They had seen touring productions of The Lion King and Beauty and The Beast. “Yesterday, he said, ‘Look, there’s more people on these few streets then in all of back home!’” was Morgan’s observation of New York City, versus his hometown of Jasper. Wanda lives 75 miles away, in the comparative metropolis of Nacogdoches.
There were 15 other nice people on the tour, who had checked in by the departure time of 8:00 AM, at Paramount Plaza, but Wanda and Morgan, made the most impact.
There was the usual routine. The R train from 49th Street, to City Hall. Show and lecture of that, as well as The Brooklyn Bridge, Woolworth Building, the plaques in the sidewalks commemorating the ticker tape parades, St. Paul’s Chapel, The World Trade Center site, Trinity Church and assorted tangents to fill the time before Battery Park.
After I got the ferry and Statue of Liberty admission tickets from the box office, we then had to wait on the ferry line. As usual, it was modest at that time, but seconds later, at 9:15 AM, there was the inevitable large, group of high school students and chaperones lengthening it. We got swamped, but most of my bunch pushed ahead, led by Wanda. Following the intense security check, we all got on the boat, and after 15 minutes it left at 10:00 AM.
I read the Sunday New York Times downstairs, and as per my directions, most of my charge went upstairs. As we headed into Liberty Island, Wanda and Morgan emerged to push to the front. “Look we have the matinee, so we’re just going to rush in and out. Thanks!” My standard directions are that we’ll all gather on the dock, so that I can explain things, etc., but I understood. “Thanks very much. It was nice meeting you!”
After gathering the rest of the group, and seeing them into the Statue of Liberty, I had lunch in the crowded cafeteria. Eventually I headed to the dock to wait for the next ferry with the mob. From the corner of my eye, I could see Wanda and Morgan pushing through the crowd. “You didn’t think we were going to let you get away!” We got into the boat and sat downstairs. They did not get out at Ellis Island.
“I’m going be 70, this year, and a few weeks ago I thought I should see New York, while I’m still able to. I took him out of school for four days, so he’s happy! It sure is SOMETHING. I was an educator, administrator, and dean for 34 years, at a vocational high school for aviation. We taught them how to fix planes so they could fall back out of the sky again. What’s a good place to eat before the show?
“Are there any restaurants that you’ve heard of, or were curious about?”
“A lady in an apartment complex I once lived in, talked about The Second Avenue Deli. She used to live around there.” I gave her subway directions, “Take the green #4 train from Bowling Green, uptown to Brooklyn Bridge, and change to the green #6 train to Astor Place, then walk down St. Marks Place, to Second Avenue…”
“Yeah. Right. I’m going remember all that!”
We were standing near the exit door of the ferry as we were pulling into Battery Park. “Come on, I’ll take you to The Second Avenue Deli,” I said. Why not let this adventure continue, I thought,
No Lexington Avenue trains were running below City Hall, so instead of getting it at Bowling Green, we had to trudge back up to City Hall. We got the #4, that today was running local, to Astor Place.
We walked down St. Marks Place, past all of the exotic emporiums. “Morgan, would you like to get something pierced? Or a tattoo? Your Mom would love that! If we still had film left, I’d sit next to HIM for a picture,” Wanda said, while pointing to a quintessential, tattoo aficionado who had an inked faced, and was smoking, on a stoop.
At 12:40 PM, we got to The Second Avenue Deli. “Of course you’re joining us…” By 1:00 PM, the wait was obviously still too long. We walked over to the Ukrainian landmark, Veselka. “About 15 minutes?” “Yeah, something like that,” said the unconvincing hostess. That’s Sunday brunch in Manhattan.
We looked around, and headed up 9th Street, to the restaurant Around The Clock, which had room for us.
“This is a very good sandwich,” Wanda said of her Portobello mushroom concoction. “I was a big Anne Richards fan. After the governor’s election, everyone in the state could see what was happening. You all couldn’t, but we could.” “You mean HE was running for president from the start?” “We could see what was happening.”
Morgan had a turkey burger with fries. I had a brunch selection of a bagel/lox/tomato/onion, with a Bloody Mary and coffee.
“I could put some grenadine in a coke…” said the pretty waitress after Wanda sniffed, “No Dr. Pepper?!”
The check for the three of us came to about what one meal would have cost at The Second Avenue Deli. After looking it over, she took out money, and gave the check to Morgan. “As for the tip, that’s your job.” With his calculator he figured out 18%, and after paying we left.
It was 2:00 PM, and they wanted to go back to their hotel first, to get their forgotten digital camera to replace the used up, disposable one. Wanda chatted with the East Asian driver, and we soon arrived at 31st between 5th Avenue and Broadway, where a small building with a functional sign announced “Herald Square Hotel”. “It’s kind of nothing, but it’s clean, and the beds are so comfortable. It got good ratings when I investigated it, and for $139 a night, that’s fine!”
Due to traffic and construction, we got out on the opposite side of the street from their hotel. “Well, we’re over there. It was very nice to meet you!” We all shook hands, and they crossed over, and I headed to Broadway, to go home.