It's been two weeks since I experienced
Peter Gabriel and the New Blood Orchestra in Saratoga Springs, NY. It has taken me this long to synthesize my thoughts into something coherent. First, the travel story.
We got to the venue by way of Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT. At least...that's where we first arrived in the region, at 1am, and slept the night at a
Sheraton in the airport. How awesome is that? The bedding was about a million threadcount. For some reason, though, I couldn't sleep. But I have no complaints about the hotel. As a matter of fact, the night clerk was friendly and chipper, and the maintenance person who fixed our A/C at 1:30am was extremely gracious. And helpful!
The following morning we rented a truck and drove down to NYC. We needed ample room for John and I, Johanna, and my stepson Jay who is 17 years old and very...sprawly. But back to New York Stories. Geek that I am, I was absolutely thrilled to
drive into the city. I've been to there at least half a dozen times, but I've always entered via ferry, train, or subway. It was fascinating to approach the island from the north end and work our way down. But, of course, we ditched the car in overnight parking and walked or rode subways to get around while we were there.
Johanna loved New York. I mean, the girl wants to move there. She took to the subway system like a duck to water. By just the second ride or so, she was marching down the stairs ahead of us all. I was worried she wouldn't like the noise and the heat. She paid it no mind, and instead had fun tipping a busker who was playing some lovely guitar music, and singing along with a random fellow during a long ride down to Battery Park. He caught her eye, they made contact, and he customized his lyrics: "Little girl! I know you got SOOOOOOUL!" She started to sing along, and every person on the car was grinning ear to ear by the time we departed.
As a matter of fact, she says her favorite part of the trip was the subway. Followed closely by the Statue of Liberty, which she says "looks like a QUEEN!" We saw Lady Liberty via the 10pm ferry to Staten Island. Yeah...we kept our whole crew up late that night. Johanna also had a blast splashing around in the Washington Square Park fountain. And we arrived hot on the heels of the gay marriage vote, so The Village was festooned with celebratory decorations. Johanna's favorite color is "rainbow!" so she was thrilled! Another highlight, especially for me, was walking across Central Park to see
Pale Male. And we all enjoyed the Museum of Natural History. I've been there sooooo many times, but somehow it ever gets old. We had only a day -- about 24 hours -- in the city, but we made the most of it!
We stayed our second night at the lovely
Hotel Beacon, and then drove to Saratoga Springs. It was my first time to see the mountains of upstate New York. So green, so beautiful! It was hard to return to Texas after taking in all of that cool, lush landscape. We stayed just outside Saratoga Springs, in Ballston Spa. It seems to all be horse racing country up there...and otherwise is the middle of nowhere. But those who know me are aware that I love the middle of nowhere, so I was content as could be.
Tomorrow I review the concert itself!
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