1) Up at 5:15 AM after a rough night; I tend not to sleep well before travel days, but this was exceptional. Breakfast at home, dishwashing, final packing, and out the door, toting my roller bag.
1a) With the predicted bombogenesis, no cape!
2) It will surprise no one that I got to South Station about one hour before the train departed. Second breakfast and online news. Why so early, and why South Station instead of Back Bay? In order to get a decent seat in the quiet car, that's why!
3) And to my delight, I ended up having a whole banquette to myself all the way to Penn Station!
4) I love traveling by train. But I sure would love a return to the Beaux Arts palace cars of the pre-WWI era.
5) This time the trip went by in a twinkling, and before I knew it I was struggling through Penn Station to the correct subway platform.
6) Back to my beloved Algonquin Hotel! My room was not quite ready yet - no surprise, as I'd never told them when my train was arriving (oops) - so I parked my bags behind the desk and set off to get a raincoat in advance of Bombogenesis 2018.
7) First stop, Br**** Br******. And when I saw the prices I scoffed (to myself), "If I'm ever going to pay that much for a raincoat, it's going to be Kay Thompson's raincoat by Givenchy in Funny Face.
8) Instead I subjected myself to the 60% off hard sell of the Men's W********, where I eventually settled on a new raincoat and a new overcoat. There's a reason I don't shop at this store much. Guys, I'm buying clothes. We do not have a relationship! Back off!
9) I think of Manhattan as having diverse retail, but in my first two hours I shopped at three chain stores that I could find at home - and in most other places. #crimeofbeingordinary
10) Checked into my room and got freshened up in time to see one of my wonderful Interlochen friends, Katherine:
The Elizabeth Taylor filter is working! #blurry
10a) We had a great catch-up on a lot of different topics over a glass of port (how civilized) in the Algonquin Lounge, my spiritual home in New York. (Though I must say, it was much more populated than on my last visit.)
11) At 6 PM my friend Esteban arrived, and we ended up chatting over drinks in the lounge and I read his tarot cards.
12) By then I was absolutely destroyed with fatigue and rye, and I sank like a stone in my comfortable bed to prepare for the next day's adventure: the Met!