To N.Y.

Rockapella in NY

Travel Day

Thursday, December 8, 2022

I haven't seen a Rockapella Holiday show in several years, so when I saw that they would have some back to back concerts on a weekend I was free and they still had good seats left, I decided to use some of my travel funds and go to New York.  I asked Bro if he wanted to join me.  I was very happy that he said yes!  Bro was able to get a free flight from his miles, so bonus!  That meant that we would be taking separate flights, but we do that all of the time for drum corps finals, so no big deal.   

I couldn't decide whether or not I should park at LAX, and finally decided to take a Lyft, so that I could catch a ride home with Bro when we returned.  So I needed to pack for an extra day.  And for cold.  Possibly for snow.  Somehow I fit everything into one bag plus my carryon in case I wouldn't be able to check my bag.  I made an appointment for the Lyft, then worried that I wouldn't wake up in time for the pickup.  All was well, though, and I was waiting outside early.  The app notified me that my driver was either deaf or hard of hearing, and gave a couple of tips, like waving hello, and texting instead of calling if I needed to contact him before he arrived.  I thought that was pretty cool.  He could hear me fine, though, I think, but I did notice that he did not play any music so that he could concentrate on his navigation app.

I arrived at LAX with plenty of time to check my bag, so I did that, then waited until my appointment to go through security.  They were trying a new thing so that you don't have to stand in a long line, different from TSA pre-check because you still need to take off your shoes and all of that business.  So I texted Bro to let him know that I was in the airport, completely forgetting that he was already on his own flight, up in the air, and couldn't answer me.  My appointment time came up, and I ended up having done all that for nothing, because there was NOBODY in line at security.  I went to the appointment thing anyway, which was kind of useless, because the agent's app wasn't reading my QR code.  But at least I didn't have a long line to deal with. I decdied to get a muffin and didn't like it at all.  Note to self next time for Terminal 1:  don't get the muffins at Urtth Caffe & Bar. Dense and dry.  

Yay for non-full flights!  I talked to the guy seated at the window for a bit.  He was going back to St. Louis, but will be returning in a few months to live with his sibling, because he really likes LA.  I hope the job works out and he can work remotely.  I wasn't going to be staying long at all in St. Louis, but I wanted to know about the food there.  He said that I would have to get ribs since that's what they're famous for, but also that St. Louis has a bunch of different ethnic food because so many people from different cultures have immigrated there because of refugee status or whatever.  So they apparently have a huge Bosnian population there and I should try that food, too.  OK, I have food plans whenever I actually leave the airport in St. Louis!

My flight to LaGuardia must have been uneventful because I don't remember it at all, except that it was a full flight, and people didn't know how to just deal with their carryons and sit the heck down.  When I arrived, Bro met me at my gate and I marveled about the beauty of the airport.  But we had places to go, and it looked like it was going to rain.  

Bro had researched the transportation options for me while he was waiting at his fancy club, and we caught the free bus to the Woodside station of the Long Island Railroad.  I needed to take the elevator because I could not deal with lifting my bag up the stairs, and Bro met up with me on the platform.  I love that we can use apps for all of this transportation!  I downloaded the app, bought my ticket, and we got on the next train.  There wasn't room for two seats together plus my bags, so I sat in a different row as Bro.  The train stopped at one of the stations and I couldn't really hear what the conductor was saying.  We finally figured out that there was an accident at one of the stations down the way, and we were being told to get off to take another train because this one was scheduled to go toward that accident and needed to stop.  That took a while, though.  I texted Bro.

S: "Just hoping that there aren't any zombies at the Deerpark."

B: "Now that would be an adventure.  Got your running shoes on?"

S: "I'll just kick off these shoes and run in my socks."

If you haven't seen "Train to Busan", go watch it now.  It's on Netflix, and it's so good that I recommended it to Bro, completely forgetting that he's the one that recommended it to ME.  

The train we ended up riding blew through a bunch of stations without stopping, to make up for some time.  It was a crazy mess when we got to Farmingdale Station, because of all of the rerouting and people trying to get alternate rides home, and all of that.  I requested a Lyft, and I think I had 3 drivers cancel before we actually got picked up because it was so crazy. Like, people didn't even know how to get into the parking lot.  On a later day, we realized that it's because that area is kind of confusing with the parking lot situation.

Bro and I were hungry by the time we got to the hotel, and we decided to walk to an Italian restaurant down the street called Trento.  I was tired.  I was cold.  It was a little windy, too.  It seemed far because of that cold.  We passed 3 eating establishments on the way, but we were still determined to get there.   There were a lot of cars in the parking lot.  We hoped we could still get a table.  There was even a bouncer at the door.  It was really jumping for a Thursday night, with a DJ, people dancing, and dressed up for parties.  It turns out that there were two big parties there, having their holiday festivities.  While we were waiting for our table, I took a matchbook from the hostess station.  I think Bro took a pen.  Oh, I think I took a pen, too. The bouncer was amused by us and nodded as we took the free stuff.  

We were seated at a table right next to the dance floor, so it was really loud.  The drink menu folder did not actually have a menu inside.  Bro pointed it out to the server, and he apologized.  When he did come back with the drink menu, Bro ordered a Fragola Rock because, well, Fraggle Rock!   It contained Grey Goose, St. Germaine, Lemon, Strawberry Puree, and Prosecco.  I ordered The Temptress, made of Titos, Basil, Cucumber, St. Germain, Lime, and Agave.  Both were yummy.

Scotcherbreadman is here
 and ready to party! 

For our starter, we ordered the Eggplant Ripieno.  The menu did not mention that it came covered in a tomato-based sauce, but I ate some anyway.  It was really yummy.  

The food was taking a while, and the server felt bad, so he comped us a second round of drinks.  I think he also felt bad about the no-drink-menu thing.  We didn't care, but we're good with free alcohol, especially when it's this tasty!

I ordered the salmon, which was delicious with the brussels sprouts and cipollini onions.

Bro ordered spaghetti with seafood.  They brought over spaghetti with marinara, and no seafood.  The server again apologized and brought the correct dish. So Bro not only had 2 drinks; he also had 2 entrees!

Eventually, people from both of the parties ended up mingling on the dance floor, and we enjoyed watching all of the activity.  I wondered about all of the dynamics because one party was a business function, and the other one was a big family that always has their holiday dinners there.

We were quite full by the time the server asked if we had a dessert in mind.  Like, we were already going to wrap up one of Bro's entrees and the rest of the appetizer.   So we said no to dessert and made our way home.  The walk didn't seem as long at that point, probably because we were nice and full and needed the walk!  It was still cold, though, and we were thankful to get back into our cozy hotel room.  

What a great find that was!  If you're ever in Farmingdale, you should definitely try Trento.  I'm not just saying that because of the free stuff we got.  :)

I wasn't really that tired, because I was still on West Coast time, so I watched movies and played games on my phone.  I could have blogged, and did draft some notes at the time, but when I looked at them today, I'm glad that I didn't publish anything. They were kind of a mess, probably because of those two drinks.  

Next up: ROCKAPELLA!!!!!