A lot of people don't think it exists anymore, so we thought we'd better show them -- the classic seersucker suit. Modeled here by foppish young dandy, Chip Day, we can see the traditional cut augmented by Chip's own signature -- white bucks. Worn with a single button done and accented nicely with a rolled-up copy of today's Times, this suit shows Chip to be every inch the dashing young whiz kid, bound for success from the boardroom to the bedroom. Huzzah, Chip! Huzzah!
Yes, Chip, huzzah! And while you're at it, how about a couple ibuprofen? Flush with the previous evening's excesses, we awoke feeling somewhere on the south side of hale and hearty. Nonetheless, we had a schedule to keep. We were meeting Jacek and Loydie at the 168th Street station to enjoy a pleasant walk down to the Cloisters, a museum of medieval art incorporating design elements from several ancient monasteries in Europe. Naturally, this was right smack at the top of Kristanne's list of things to see, medieval art history scholar that she is.
So, we headed off to 168th Street station on the subway. Much to our surprise, our train sped right past 168th Street, continuing right on up to 181st. As it turned out, 168th Street Station was closed to all trains but the A-Train. Since we were on the 1, we had to take a bus from 181st Street and then walk a block over to the A-Train Station. Then, it was two train stops back up to 168th Street where we found Jacek and Loydie patiently waiting. Together again, all four of us then proceeded to walk right on back to 181st street, near where the Cloisters were. Confused, yet? Us too.
The Cloisters were fantastic. Made possible by a grant from Nelson Rockefeller, they sit on a bluff above the Hudson River, with a wonderful view on over to the Palisades in New Jersey. The Palisades is a long green belt bought and set aside by Rockefeller so that the view from the Cloisters would always be of natural splendor. We thanked him silently for this view on such a beautiful day. The Cloisters themselves contain physical elements from some of the most famous monasteries in Europe, Cluny among them. Housed in this imposing structure is a wonderfully large collection of medieval art. Kristanne was so excited, she later told me, that she was nearly in tears. I kind of envy her love for her work -- how nice it must be to love what one does.
Kristanne even taught me some things about medieval art. For example, I learned what a "reliquary" is. And now, I'm going to share it with you, you lucky dogs. Turns out that in medieval times, folks believed that the saintliness in a saint resided in his body even after his death. So, when a holy fellow died, they'd chop off parts of his body and stuff them into an ornate box, to be brought out and shown during important religious festivals. Sort of gruesome, sure, but as Kristanne likes to say, "That's the Middle Ages!" The Cloisters featured reliquaries shaped like feet, fingers, arms, and even one head. We didn't check to see if they still contained their holy stash.
Once we'd left the Cloisters, it was time to say goodbye to Jacek and Loydie. Loydie was going back to the lab and Jacek was heading back home to Middletown. Sadly enough, this was the last time we will see J&L on the Odyssey. We're going to miss them both, as I'm sure you all will, too. For all you diehards out there, you'll have to content yourself with one last link to the infamous floating Jacek head. |
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Our goodbyes said, it was time to hop on the train back to Times Square to meet Mark and Chip. Suzanne was gone to visit a buddy in Ithaca, so unfortunately she wouldn't be able to hang out with us tonight. Chip, however, was to have acquired theater tickets for us from the discount TKTS outlet right in front of his place of business. We gave him the rather open directive, "No more than forty bucks and no 'Les Miserables.'" Chip came through like gangbusters, getting us tickets for the two-man play, "Barrymore." We all went off to dinner at a barbeque place called "Virgil's" that did all right for not being in Texas.
Later, however, it was fairly questionable whether barbeque was the right call mere minutes before a play. We rolled in to our seats smelling like hickory smoke and barbecue sauce, ready for culture. Culture we got -- "Barrymore" is a Tony award-winning play about the life of noted actor\bon vivant John Barrymore. Christopher Plummer, former star of "The Sound of Music," was, by turns, hilarious and poignant as Barrymore. Sometimes, he was even hilariously poignant. Anyway, any play that features limericks is ok by me.
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Mark was there to meet us when the play got out, and the four of us went off to have a few drinks and exchange puns at a few choice NYC establishments. With the excesses of the day before fresh in mind, however, no one was in the mood to go hog wild nancy. So, we exchanged poignantly hilarious goodbyes with Chip on the subway platform and headed back uptown to Mark's place, ready to sleep. |
Join us tomorrow as we head off to Trexlertown to meet Extreme Fellow Travellers Karl and Kristina for the very first time!
Total Miles for 7/29 = 0