About traveling back and forth from our cottage to Manhattan:

As is often the case when traveling back and forth to Manhattan, the actual event you are there for takes about two hours but the time spent on the road and killing time before and after the event takes about 10 hours.  Some days it can be very tiring, as was the case yesterday.

We left home at 12:15 to catch the 1:00 bus into the city because Don wanted to make sure he was there in time to find the music hall and grab some dinner before he performed. We got there around 3:30 and grabbed a Via, which is like Uber, to take us down to the Lower East Side. Unfortunately, we were sharing with three other people who were being dropped off and the trip was endless! And the driver was playing rap music. We vowed to take a taxi on the way back.

Once we were dropped off, we found the music hall, walked around the neighborhood (it was cold and windy) and found a Thai restaurant. Don had to be at the venue by 6:00 for a sound check but we got there at 5:30 because we had nowhere else to go, and the performance was at 7. It ended at 8. We grabbed a cab this time, got to Port Authority in time for a 9 pm bus, and pulled into our driveway at 11 pm.

See what I mean?

Traveling back and forth means calculating the time involved, making sure that you allow enough time for late buses, potential traffic jams, and travel within Manhattan. We often kill time once we’re there. The trip home involves the same thing – can you make the next bus in time, do you have to kill time for an hour at the dreaded Port Authority, what time will you get home (usually later than you had planned.) And we’re no different from millions of other commuters. When I complain, I have to remember that there are people who live in this area that do this every day.

I have to do it all over again tomorrow. Some days it’s fairly effortless. Others? A slog. Both of us felt that yesterday was more of a slog.

But, the actual performance was wonderful. Really great.

Here we are, on the bus heading into the city.

I made Don take this. He doesn’t like trying to take selfies.

The Rockwood Music Hall, which has three stages. They not only provide a venue for performers, but are also known for their live recording skills, which is what happened last night. A live recording was made of the performance.

Around the surrounding neighborhood:

The famous Russ and Daughters, which has been in the same location since around 1914. It was packed. We peeked in the door and saw lots of fresh fish and baked goods and oysters, etc. I had heard about this place, but this was the first time I’d seen it. Love the neon sign.

I forgot to take a picture of Don performing! (He did a great job.) But here is our dear friend Rema Webb singing her heart out. Rema played opposite Don in Escape to Margaritaville (I call her his other wife) and we miss her so much. Hearing her glorious voice raised in song made us very happy. Rema is going to be on an upcoming Murphy Brown, by the way, and we learned from her that our friend Andre Ward – also in Margaritaville – has become a regular on the show! I think he plays a stage manager on the set. He came in for a couple of episodes and they liked him so much that they made him a regular. It couldn’t happen to a more talented guy. We haven’t been watching the show, but you can be sure we’re going to play catch up this week.

The young man playing the fiddle is the author and composer of this project, called Johnny and the Devil’s Box. It’s a bluegrass musical. Boy, is he talented! The music was wonderful, very powerful. I do hope that this project takes off for him, that he gets investors and, eventually, producers, and that it goes to Broadway, which is, of course, his dream. I haven’t read the script, neither has Don, but the music is beautiful. We’re pulling for him. Don was very honored to be a part of it.

And now we’re back home. Tomorrow, I head back in for an Anastasia rehearsal.

Happy Monday.