Dim Sum and "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child"

 Sunday, August 18, 2024

Such a comfy little bed!  And if I hadn't had that Diet Coke at the theater I probably would have gone right to sleep!  Still, woke before my alarm and had showered and yoga-ed before Ginger was really functional.  That kind of schedule works really well for us!  We've got plenty of time before we have to leave for dim sum with Steven and his family.  It should take much less than an hour, but we'll have to take the car and hope we can find another spot when we get back.  We'll have to hoof it because "Harry..." starts at three!!

Large lounge at the Pods

And they have parking!  Of course it's not free!

Can you ssee the sign that says "head in parking only"? And they're both New Yorkers.

The garage is quite close and getting out is pretty easy;  but the GPS is having a hard time connecting to the satellite so there's a bit of driving blind.  But all is well shortly and it says it will take less than an hour to get to LN1380 in Little Neck.  That's in Queens and we review the five boroughs - Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. It was drizzling early this morning but it's fine for the drive and we arrive nice and early.  That means we get to park in the small lot behind the restaurant instead of hunting for street parking.  Always a good thing.  We're killing a little time when it renews its attempted drizzle so we head indoor to wait for Steven, Zachary, and Miranda.

You know it's the real deal when the smaller letters underneath are the English descriptions.

They're right on time, which is always impressive with a two-year old, especially one who is coming from an exercise play group!  We are shown to a table for five and the dim sum carts start arriving.  Miranda is in charge of making the selections and we are all very pleased to let her do it!  She makes wonderful choices and the food just keeps coming!  As we look around we notice that Ginger and I are the only Caucasians in the place.  No wonder when Miranda's family came to visit from China, they loved this place.

There are aquariums at the front to keep you entertained while you wait.  Can you see
all the Asian faces?

Cart after cart laden with deliciousness!

Just to start with! And Miranda kept our tea cups filled.

Chicken and rice were hidden inside those big leafy packets.

This turned out to be eggplant and shrimp! Mmmm!

Steven and Ginger have so much to catch up on and they are both excellent at keeping Miranda and me involved in the conversation. I'm very impressed with how well-behaved Zachary is!  He's eating with a fork and I never heard a peep out of him!  He is getting sleepy, though, and since we have matinee tickets, it works out well for everyone to say our good-byes and head out as soon as everyone is finished eating.  I for one should never eat again, I'm so stuffed!

I found one shot where it's not so obvious that Ginger is crying!

Queens is lush and green and residential.  Cross the bridge and you're back in the big city!

There are about half a dozen similar sculptures within a couple of blocks.
It takes a minute to see how they are even possible!

It's a little easier here.

You judge travel time differently in the city - 0.9 miles equals 12 minutes.

Love the lamp!

Ginger is getting to be quite the pro at driving in the City!  She stands up to all those New Yorkers and pulls right in where she needs to be!  So glad it's not me!! She's not even fazed by the continual honking! We're changing parking garages because the hotel has an arrangement with the new one and will validate our ticket so that we only pay $55 a day. It's kind of an experience, though.  For starters there are two cars pointing out in the entrance lane!  When Ginger pulls around them we learn that this isn't a park-it-yourself kind of place.  We have to get our act together and turn over the keys.  The young man comes over and asks, Hey Mama, what time?  We eventually figure out that he wants to know when we will want to reclaim the car - and that his English vocabulary is exhausted after those four words!  There's no asking questions or soliciting advice! I guess it will be okay?

But it's only half a block from the hotel and we have a chance to freshen up a bit before walking to the Lyric Theater to see "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child"  The playbill is filled with internect activities for kids and there's no internet, so the kids - and us - will have to play with them at home.  But the cover comes alive, we're told, and even the ceiling in the lobby does something!

It's a nine minute drive to the theater.  It's an eight minute walk!

Theater entrances aren't very prepossessing.  The glamor is all on the inside.

When the lights go down, the magic starts!

The lobby ceiling - we got to see it while waiting in line for butter beer
and Boynton soda (Coke is one of the choices).

I was particularly struck by the one with tequila, cold brew coffee, coffee liqueur, and mezcal!!!

Our seats aren't quite a great as yesterday's, but the person in front of me is a little kid, so I can see just fine, except for when daddy leans over to remind the kid of theater etiquette.  That's not as annoying as the woman next to Ginger who is told by the ushers on three different occasions to turn off her phone.  She never does and the fourth time she begins scrolling Ginger says, "Really?!"  I'm so proud of her!

The play has the most surprising special effects!  The wands shoot huge gouts of fire and the dementors are astounding - huge and filmy and one comes out over the audience.  And they make people appear and disappear with no hint of how it's done! Completely astounding!!  It's not a musical and we both miss the music and the dancing and there is only one really outstanding actor, but it was worth seeing once.

So pretty

I think people think it's raining.  They aren't from Florida!

Hot dogs on every corner

And lots of brightly lit pedicabs, some with music blaring

But once you get on to Broadway itself, the entire character changes.
Maybe because there aren't cars?

After the show we walk up to Times Square, so we can say we were there. (After all, we've driven on Fifth Avenue and Madison Ave and Park Avenue - all the famous streets!)  It's as crowded as you'd expect and it reminds me of Tokyo with all the huge electronic signs flashing.  And we walk a few blocks down Broadway for the same reason. Our quest is for New York pizza and we happen upon a little hole in the wall that has an available table in the back and yummy-looking slices in the front!  Two slices each later and we're sorry we didn't just get one each, but they were really good!  We head for home and along the way we stop at the parking garage to tell them we will want the car at nine o'clock in the morning.  This gentleman has the same vocabulary as the other guy, so we needn't have bothered.  We'll just come extra early in the morning and hope for the best.

Back at the hotel we get our parking ticket validated so we only pay the $55 (only!) but as the guy at the desk said, "It's New York"!

Up in our comfy nest we do a little computer stuff and get ready for tomorrow.  We've finally connected with Shannon and made a plan for lunch.  And after figuring out that most shows don't have a Monday performance we happen upon an off-Broadway show that does and order tickets.  They are pring-at-home so I'm hoping that having them on my phone will be good enough!!  And the Met still hasn't sent our tickets for the morning.  I've got a screen shot of the confirmation but we'll have to see how that goes, too.

The last thing I see before I close my eyes!

Anyway, it's late and I'm beat.  I'll add photos in the morning!  I hope!