NYC Trip & Gorilla Luncheon - Oct 2012

I'm still trying to catch up on recent trip blogs...here's a recap of our short trip to New York City in October.

As in past years, we once again made our way to New York City last month for the annual Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund luncheon, featuring Sigourney Weaver.  And just like past years, the luncheon coordinated with our anniversary, so we swallowed hard and decided to spend 48 hours in the city that never sweeps, New York.  This is our story.

We headed down on a Sunday morning, taking the Amtrak train from Route 128 outside Boston to New York’s Penn Station.  The trip was uneventful and on time, and we headed to our nearby hotel to check in.  Not expecting to be able to get to our room so early in the day (it was about 11:00 when we arrived), we stowed our bags with the bellhop, and the front desk took my cell phone number and said they would call me when the room was ready. I was very happy that they would do that for us, and we left to find some grub.  Down the street on 9th Avenue we found a diner which served standard breakfast food, and we slugged down some eggs and coffee.

After breakfast, we decided to go for a walk and see if we got the call from the hotel.  We made our way over to the Hudson River and ended up next to the USS Intrepid, which now has one of the recently-retired Space Shuttles on its deck.  We decided against paying the $30 per person to enter, but got some great views of the aircraft carrier from the adjoining piers.

USS Intrepid, with the Space Shuttle pavilion on the left

USS Intrepid

Doug in front of the Intrepid

We then walked along the river some more before veering back into midtown area while waiting for our play to start.  Since we still had time to kill, we decided to hang out in a local bar to pass the time.  We ended up at the House of Brews, which sounded perfect for us.  We sat down, ordered beers, and both looked at each other like, “Have we been here before?”  Turns out, we have!  In 2006, our first Fossey Fund luncheon, we wound up in the same bar.  What are the chances?  We hung out for an hour or so, and since we didn't hear back from the hotel, we decided to head over to the play.

When we decided to come down, we wanted to see a show.  Tops on my list (and Sage’s, I think) was The Book of Mormon, which was also tops on our list last year.  Alas, that was sold out until March 2013, and we didn’t think it was worth it to pay way over face value when we knew it was coming to Boston next year.  We decided on a play called Grace, which starred Paul Rudd, Michael Shannon and Ed Asner.  Two years ago we went to the half priced ticket booth and got tickets to a play which we both thought was really boring.  Last year we went back to a musical, seeing Wicked, which we thought was okay. So going back to a play this year we were both worried that we’d be disappointed.  The play was good, not great, but the performances were outstanding, especially Michael Shannon.  I’ve only known him from his supporting role in Revolutionary Road and his great starring role in the small film Take Shelter.  Paul Rudd was good as well, and I think seeing these great actors (Ed Asner too) on stage was well worth it.

After the play I checked my phone but still no word from the hotel. We headed back anyway as it was well past check-in time, and sure enough our room was ready. I was a bit perturbed we never got that call, but I let it go.  After checking in we headed out for an early dinner at a pizza place Sage found online called Capizzi.  It was right next door to the Port Authority bus terminal, but a lot of reviews online said it was really good. We nabbed a great table on the window next to the street, and we each got our own pizza and split a bottle of wine.  The pies were really good, but not the best ever.  Still, it was a really nice, laid back meal.  After dinner we decided we had some time to kill, so we decided to head to a bar near the hotel.  We ended up at the Houndstooth Pub on 8th Avenue.  The drinks were good, it wasn’t too crowded, and I think I got a free beer.  We decided we had enough fun and frivolity to last us the day, so we headed back to the hotel to call it a night.

Monday was the day of the luncheon, so we didn’t have much time in the morning for anything before we had to get ready.  But I had time to go for a jog, and instead of heading to the hotel workout room, I thought, why not go for a run along the Hudson River Park? So that’s what I did.  Getting there was a few blocks away, but once there, there’s a great (and wide) biker/jogging lane that goes right along the river and the Hudson River Parkway.  I did about 20 blocks each way before my knee decided to bother me, but it was a pretty nice way to jog in the city.

Jogging along the Hudson River Park trail.

After getting back and showering, we got dressed and decided to grab a cab to the luncheon.  Amazingly enough we got a cab right away and with no traffic, we were at the Yale Club for the luncheon about 45 minutes early.  We decided to simply sit in the lobby to wait, but we ended up running right into Clare Richardson, CEO of the Fossey Fund, who was waiting for Ms. Sigourney Weaver to arrive.  There were a couple other people from the Fossey Fund that we’d met before, waiting in the lobby as well, and we chatted about traveling to the city, Broadway shows, and your usual chit-chat.  While mingling we met up with the head of the Oklahoma City Zoo, Dwight Scott.  We love talking to Zoo Directors, several of whom are on the Fossey Fund board.  They always have interesting stories, and their dedication to animals is second to none.

We finally decided to head up to the luncheon for drinks and more mingling.  We spoke with a few other people from the board that we met in the past, including Gregg Hudson, the director of the Dallas Zoo.  While talking with some folks, a man (whose name I forget but I believe is on the board) that we met last year comes flying over to us saying something like, “He’s arrived!”  I had no idea who he was talking about, but turns out he was talking about me.  Last year when I told this gentleman that I worked for Cook’s Illustrated, he went over the moon because the magazine is his wife’s favorite.  So somehow I’m the star attraction at the luncheon for his wife at these things; some people just have strange priorities.  When Sigourney arrived, people began lining up for photos with her, and Sage had to drag me away from the Cook’s Illustrated fanatics to get our photo taken with her.  We had time for only a little bit of small talk, but I did ask her about the play she’s in this fall at Lincoln Center called Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, based on a bunch of characters from Chekov plays.  I tried to act like I knew what I was talking about, but thankfully I wasn’t there long enough to make too much of a fool of myself.

Blurry photo of Sigourney at the Fossey Fund luncheon

One other person that I really wanted to meet – and we did – was Veronica Vecellio, who works on the ground in Rwanda, studying the gorillas every day from the Karisoke Research Center.  She was a little shocked (and maybe frightened) by how glad and excited we were to meet her, but she was gracious in talking with us.  When it was time to find our seats for lunch we were thrilled to learn we were seated with Dr. Tara, who you may remember we’ve met several times before and was the person responsible for letting us feed the gorillas at Zoo Atlanta a few years back.  (We also ended up at a table right up front, right next to Sigourney’s table. Somehow we keep moving up in the world!)  Also at our table was a board member named Oliver who owned a small software company in CA.  While it’s great that he’s helping out with his time and resources in donating to the Fossey Fund, he was actually a pretty boring guy.  Thankfully Dr. Tara entertained us all at the table with stories of collecting gorilla urine, using Andy Serkis to carry samples for her through airports, and getting stuck in customs in Nairobi for 8 hours.  Also at our table were two representatives from Corning, attending due to Corning’s support of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund through their sales of Gorilla Glass.  After chatting for a bit one of women asked me what I do, and I mentioned I worked at Cook’s Illustrated.  The woman let out a small scream, as she said she LOVES that magazine.  (Who knew people would be more excited to meet me than Sigourney Weaver at this luncheon? Next year I think I’ll need to bring product.)  During and after the luncheon there was the usual discussion with Fossey Fund staff, giving an update to the work they’re doing in Rwanda and the D.R. Congo.  It all ended way too soon, as always, and we grabbed some free swag and left, upset that we didn’t get to meet or talk to many of the people there, but happy and thrilled that it was another great event for mountain gorillas.

After the lunch we cabbed back to the hotel where we changed into more comfortable clothes and then headed out for a walk to find the High Line.  The High Line is interesting in that it’s the old 10th Avenue Elevated Train track, which has been converted into a city park.  It’s a really interesting place in the city, and it’s great that you can walk about 20 blocks down Manhattan on an old elevated train line, with all sorts of gardens and plants all around you.  It’s a great tribute of how to turn an old relic of the past into something modern and public-friendly, without tearing down history.

Walking along the High Line

Doug reviews the old train lines and the new green growth

The Empire State Building from The High Line

Sage enjoys the greenery

View from The High Line, with the Statue of Liberty in the distance

Zoomed in photo of the Statue of Liberty

View of 10th Avenue from The High Line

Doug stops to smell the flowers

After walking the length of the High Line, we stopped at The Half King, a pub I’ve been to once before and is best known for its owner, Sebastian Junger.  The beers are overpriced there, and after a couple pints we headed back to the hotel to decide what to do for dinner.  Unfortunately it started to rain, so we got pretty wet as we made our way toward our hotel, and decided to stop at a large restaurant for dinner.  The name escapes me, but it was nothing special, with a large menu of mediocre food.  After dinner we then headed to a place Sage had found out about called the Little Pie Company for dessert.  They had great pies (little ones – thus the name), and we enjoyed warm pie and hot coffee before heading back into the rain to get back to the hotel.  The rain was coming down in sheets so we decided to hang out in the hotel for the rest of the night.  The next day we had an early train back to Boston.  I do like taking the train more than driving, although it can be a little bit boring at times.  Either way, we were back shortly after noon on Tuesday.  All in all, it was a good 48 hours, and while I do find myself sometimes ready to scream my head off when I’m in NYC (too many people, too much noise, bad smells, etc), I can take it in small doses and usually end up having a good time.