Wading through the Big Apple 10/11

We took the ferry over to Manhattan Island Wednesday morning about 10 AM and spent the early part of the day visiting Ground Zero, the Battery, Castle Clinton,St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rockafeller Plaza and Central Park. At 3:30 it started raining and rained continually the rest of the day. We spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to stay dry and visiting the Museum of Natural History. The highlight of the day was dinner at Benehana’s with Jonah and Kim. We last saw Jonah, Mary Ann’s sister Kathy’s oldest son, when he was a teenager learning to drive Judi’s stick shift.; now he’s 33, a rabbi and an attorney. They are an attractive, charming couple expecting their first baby this winter. The meal was excellent and Jonah surprised us by insisting on picking up the check. I protested for seven or eight seconds, and Mary Ann suggested later that I gave in too quickly, that I should have argued for another ten seconds or so. It was nonetheless, an excellent meal and then Jonah went down with us to stand in the rain for ten minutes to flag down a taxi. We hope o see Jonah and Kim on the way back north next May.