25th Wedding Anniversary

25th Wedding Anniversary
5/31/2010 12:43:54 PM
Martha and I were to celebrate our 25th anniversary on May 24th this year. I've never been very successful getting her either clothing or jewelry - and besides, that seemed a little conventional. So to do something special I calculated that a grand surprise trip for just the two of us would fit the bill. My first thought was Montreal or Quebec City, but her passport was out of date and couldn't exactly ask her to get it renewed without an explanation. The next best choice for a quick escape became New York, with some nice dinners and a show. After a couple months looking over hotels and Broadway plays, I made reservations and got recommendations from a knowlegable New York colleague. I also made arrangements with three of the boys friends' parents to take them for two nights. Thank god for friends and neighbors - and they were very welcoming. Leading up to the event, Martha kept asking what we were doing and I'd assured her that I'd had something planned and she was getting increasingly intrigued and worried -- until another friend unknowingly e-mailed her a "have fun in New York" note. Oh, well. But at least I still had some other elements of surprise. Cute incident; the night before she asked when we were leaving. I said 9:30 the next morning. She bolted up, 'my god, when were you going to tell me?' I told her my plan was to wake her up at 7:30 and say 'get packed, we're leaving in two hours' to which she informed me you can't tell a woman to pack in two hours. What was I thinking??

Anyway, we took the train up to Manhattan that morning and cabbed over to the Muse Hotel, a cute boutique place near Times Square. After getting settled we walked up to Central Park, over to 72nd on the upper west side, then back down to Columbus Circle and then tried to go though the Jazz at Lincoln Center facility. Grabbed a cab to get back in time and go to dinner at Circo, an amusing Italian restaurant based in the Cirque du Soleil, then walked down through Rockefeller Center and back to Times Square and came up the idea of going to Birdland, the jazz club, and heard a wonderful Afro-Cuban band. The next day - on our anniversay - we had breakfast at the hotel and decided to walk around town. Walking with Martha is a mistake for anyone not in decent shape. She walks VERY quickly and even complained about the "slow" New Yorkers. We took the subway down to Soho, walked by NYU to the Village, over to Chinatown and Little Italy (where we stopped at an outdoor cafe for a cappacino), then down to Fulton street waterfront, over to the Brooklyn Bridge and then up Wall Street where we sat in Trinity Church and toured the old cemetery. Finally, took the subway back to Times Square. I did, after all, take a chance on a gift; a modest necklace of fresh water pearls, which she actually liked (surprised me!). Our anniversay dinner was at Esca, an eclectic seafood restaurant with an intimidating and expensive menu. Then off to the show; Rock of Ages, a comedy-musical about 80's hair band rock. Turned out we ended up with front row seats and the show was wonderful!! Far better than my expectations. The next day we grabbed a quick breakfast at a diner near Times Square, then grabbed a cab to Penn Station for the train home. Martha was very grateful for the whole experience and opened both our eyes to what more we could and should be doing. But a fantastic experience and memory.