Times Square – Singin' One's Journeys

April 20, 2025 by traveler 1

African American history, African Burial Ground National Monument, Broadway, Grotto of the Redemption-West Bend, New York-Broadway, Porgy and Bess

Two Major Backtracks–New York and Porgy and Bess Plus Grotto of the Redemption in Iowa (2012)

While looking for the blog post describing my 2012 trip to New York City to see the musical adaptation of Porgy and Bess before it left Broadway, I discovered that I hadn’t actually written a post. Then, I realized that I was also missing a post for the visit my dearly departed Momma and I made to the Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend, Iowa. At this point–nearly thirteen years later–my recollection is incomplete, but I’ll try as best as I can to explain what led to the pictures I captured. Unfortunately, the camera I used for the photos did not record GPS locations, so I found general GPS locations and added that information so that maps could be generated on my Piwigo pages. The Grotto of the Redemption, June 30 My mother, Cora Jones, flew out to Iowa for her second visit in June of…

8 Spruce African Burial Ground National Monument Audra McDonald Broadway Damon Evans David Alan Grier Iowa New York City Norm Lewis Phillip Boykin Porgy and Bess Richard Rodgers Theatre Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption The Gershwins Porgy and Bess Times Square West Bend

April 5, 2017 by traveler 0

New York-Burleigh Spring 2017

They Say the Neon Lights Are Bright

Between the late night before and the day's cold weather, my mother, sister and I got a slow start on Saturday morning. My sister and I had already decided to forego the tour of the Statue of Liberty that had been scheduled in favor of a few extra hours of sleep and of keeping our mother company. When we finally arose, we decided to prepare to vacate our current room and, since breakfast there yesterday had been less than desired, we'd would check out and eat at a nearby restaurant. The check out, breakfast and relocation to our new abode for the day were uneventful. So, as the afternoon progressed, I spent my time texting and finally calling one of my former host daughters from the college where I work. She was now living in the city, and I was hoping we could spend a few hours together before my scheduled departure. Fortunately, she was able to come to the hotel, and we had a lovely time catching up. Then, when she said she had nothing else planned for the evening, we decided to have dinner together at a restaurant on Times Square.

While the temps were still on the cool side, the rain had gone by the time we jammed ourselves into an Uber car and rode to Times Square. The restaurant was called Bubba Gump and was a seafood joint with a "Forrest Gump" theme. My sister had selected it because she knows that I try to inhale as much seafood as I can whenever I'm on a coast. It must be pretty popular because the place was SRO with folks waiting to eat. The wait wasn't bad, and the food and service was quite good. One could even order one of their specialty drinks in a lighted glass. We had a nice time, but unfortunately, we didn't allow ourselves much time to eat before the 8: 00 p.m. start of the show we were to attend.

[gallery type="slideshow" size="large" ids="639,640,641,642,643"]

Yes, we had wanted to see "Hamilton," but with ticket prices starting at $734, that wasn't going to happen (besides, I'm perfectly willing to wait until the tour comes to Des Moines where the tickets won't be so budget busting). Instead, we went to ": //beautifulonbroadway.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beautiful," a musical based on the life of singer-songwriter Carole King. I had no idea that she had collaborated on so many popular songs from the 1960's. It was so tempting to sing along, and in fact, the cast invited the audience to join in for a recap at the end of the show.

[gallery columns="2" size="medium" ids="645,646"] We had scheduled nothing for Sunday morning, and we wouldn't need to leave for the airport (me) or train station (my mother and sister) until mid-afternoon. Thank goodness for the free time because it allowed us a last opportunity to spend a few hours together before parting company. And I certainly didn't mind the much less adventurous flight back to Cedar Rapids.

All of the pictures from the weekend are uploaded on my : //www.flickr.com/x/t/0094009/photos/singinone/sets/72157682926464726/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Flickr account.

Overall, it was a great weekend!!

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