Friday - First stop of the day was at the Orchid Show at the Botanical Gardens, a suggestion by my brother Tim, my accomplice in most of my music and food excursions. After a long drab winter and days of torrential rain, this was the bit of springtime that magically appeared to lift us up and warm our spirits ! We walked through a series of green houses filled to the gills with lush topical orchids and trees and plants. It was warm and colorful and soothing, as long as you didn't touch
or eat
or sit on
any of the exhibits !
After all this wandering through Paradise, we did manage to forage up a nice lunch in the Garden Cafe...
Dinner was at a local chain called Jake's, adequate but unremarkable. The best part of the meal was the popcorn shrimp appetizer, probably do to the frying more than anything else.
Concert of the evening was Pete Yorn at Terminal 5. I like Pete Yorn. I fell in love with his songs "Strange Condition" and "Life on a Chain" many years ago and enjoy his singing. He has never been tremendously well-known but he has a sizable devoted fan base. He is one of those artists that write lots of good songs, but can't seem to make that leap into writing great songs. I would love to see him really focus his talent and make it big. But in the meantime, he can sing to me anytime he wants...
A few notes on Terminal 5 -
It is this large rectangular factory-like building with 3 levels - floor and then a second and third level each with a bar and not many places to sit. It is cool in concept, but not so cool in execution. Unless you are right along the stage or up against the rails in the balconies, you can't see the stage. Even on the first level balcony where we landed, the sound was muddy and the vocals not clear enough. In my shortness I was not even able to see Pete until it thinned out near the balcony and I could get right against the rail. If you want to see a show here, get there early and stake out your spot.
Saturday - Concert of the night was Lucinda Williams at Webster Hall. We did not have a long time to spend in NYC this day, we got there basically to eat and go to the show. The meal this day was much better, we ended up at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill on 5th Avenue. The service was quick and friendly and the food tasty. Fried oysters were a flavorful appetizer, Bison steaks were the meal of choice, served with garlicky mashed potatoes. Everything was sauced nicely, nothing too hot but distinctive flavor. I am always a sucker for dessert and had a hard time choosing, but the Toasted Coconut Cake that I picked was an absolute winner. Many layers of moist cake with coconut cream and crispy toasted coconut frosting. This was worth the hours on the elliptical machine that will be necessary to support it !
Webster Hall is much smaller than Terminal 5, but is still a standing room theater with one balcony level. We arrived just before the show started, and the theater was packed, no way could I see a thing downstairs so once again ended up in the first balcony. Lucinda Williams attracts an interesting crowd, lots of people in their 40's and up and a smattering of younger fans. No one is wishy-washy about Lu, you either love her or you hate her. She is an American original, singing with a pronounced Southern accent in a whiskey-soaked voice. Her songs are blunt yet beautifully written, telling tales of drunken angels and lost love and atonement. This was definitely a crowd of Lu lovers, hanging on her every song.
I eventually did earn a place along the balcony rail as a couple of her more exuberant fans got ejected from the venue for indulging a bit too much in illegal substances. Their loss, my gain...
Oh yeah, in with all this food and music there was a bit nonsense. My brother and I, through a combination of sleeping and inattentive listening managed to miss our stop on the train ride home and had to take a taxi from New Haven back to Miford. Hey, it isn't cool to call your 80ish father to come pick up his 40 and 50ish "kids" at 2:30 AM !
