What A Long Fun Trip It's Been

True and I went to the U.S. to look at colleges. We travelled a total of about 18,000 miles, more than 1,000 of them in a car.

Above is a picture of True as we boarded our Cathay flight in Hong Kong, bound for Tokyo.

We were fortunate to have two ends of the middle section with an empty seat between us. It was a comfortable flight.

We went through immigration at Narita airport in Japan so that we could spend our 3 hour layover eating sushi and poking around. There were several sushi options. We chose the conveyor belt place.

The sushi was excellent, as it usually is in Japan.

True ate more than I did.

He loves sushi!

Then we boarded our flight for JFK. Again, we had comfortable seats - this time bulkhead seats in a brand new plane.

We arrived to a rainstorm in New York, but it had cleared by the time we reached the city.

Mako met us there and we sat and talked in the apartment I had arranged on 51st Street.

Then we went out to eat.

True and Mako - True has gotten so tall!

Mako had a nice time, but she had to leave early to catch her train back to Chappaqua.

The boys and I remained behind and talked and talked.

Sky stayed at the apartment with us and, in the morning, we went out to explore the town. We took a taxi down to the East Village to meet Sky's roommate, Chris.

We ate at a place called Veselka, which Anna and I used to go to years and years ago. It was founded in the 50s by Ukranian immigrants. The name means 'rainbow' in Ukranian. True had a 'Monte Cristo,' basically a ham and cheese sandwich made with French toast and covered in maple syrup! I had blintzes and potato pancakes, which is what I used to have there.

Afterward, we walked over to see Sky's new digs - a loft in the middle building here. There was some back and forth over the lease, but they are now signed and settled - though not yet moved in.

That afternoon we went up to Chappaqua where Mako made us a lovely lunch.

It was fun and relaxing.

Sander and Nina came in the evening and we talked a lot about everything.

Back in New York, True hit the Halal cart outside the apartment building we were staying in.

The next morning we went down to a deli called Cafe Duke to order bagels - something of a tradition.

After breakfast, True and I set off on our road trip. We drove to Maine and visited some colleges.

This was Colby in Watertown, Maine ...

... and this was Bates, in Lewisville, Maine.

Next, we drove to Boston where we saw Pierce, met Jen and I got in a little sightseeing. This is the Bunker Hill monument.

We had dinner with Grandpa Roger and Angelika, who were on their way to Newfoundland for a month.

We eventually made it back to New York in time for a tour of NYU.

We had beautiful weather all the way. We met Sky after the tour and went to see a show - A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder. We had a steak dinner afterward at Capital Grille.

Sky left in the morning for Hong Kong, and I worked part of the day. In the afternoon, True and I went for a walk in Central Park. Here he is outside the carousel featured in J.D. Salinger's novel, Catcher in the Rye.

Then the carousel started, and I watched her go round and round...All the kids tried to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she'd fall off the goddam horse, but I didn't say or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it is bad to say anything to them.

Further along, we sat and watched this guy making huge bubbles while listening to the mournful strains of a street musician playing saxophone. It was mesmerizing.

We walked up to the boat basin, though I couldn't coax True to rent a toy boat. I'll have to do it alone some day. I took a picture of him at the Alice in Wonderland sculpture, which the boys used to play on when they were very little.

We took a taxi back downtown.

The next day, Saturday morning, True and I went for a big breakfast at Lindy's.

True was meeting friends that day.

He ordered a big breakfast, including waffles.

We talked for a while.

True went off to meet a friend at MoMA while I went up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

These are some of the things I liked.

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth’s 1924 sculpture, “The Vine.”

Saint Sebastian, poplar with paint, about 1475-1500 A.D.

Right Hand of Buddha, limestone with pigment and gilding, circa 550–560 A.D.

Afterward, I sat on the steps and ate from a food cart and watched the crowd.


Mako met us the next day and we drove to Washington, D.C. We visited American University and George Washington University. American did a good job of selling itself to True.

He would be happy going there.

Mako was mostly interested in the construction materials of the building.

The young prince.

That evening, we met Sarah and her boyfriend, Pete, for dinner at a lovely restaurant. It was wonderful seeing them.

We drove to Baltimore through a spectacular lightning storm and stopped for a night to visit Johns Hopkins, and then drove back to Chappaqua.

It was a beautiful afternoon and Mako set out a wonderful meal.

We sat and enjoyed the back yard.

True and I drove back to New York for the night and in the morning drove to Newark to fly back to Hong Kong.

We settled in ...

... and were off!

We got to Hong Kong in the evening and Anna had a lovely meal prepared, complete with hors d'oeuvre.

It was wonderful - comfort food.

The next morning, True and I got up and flew to Beijing. I went with him to get settled in his home-stay where he will live for a month while studying Mandarin. We went to a little outdoor restaurant for a quick meal before bidding goodbye.