Philadelphia Trip - 09/08/24

Philadelphia, "The City of Brotherly Love".  I'd never have coined that phrase for this city, but it is what it is. The last time I was here, it felt like New York City would have been had the Erie Canal not been built. Now, the city seems to be growing up with quite a few tall skyscrapers being built.  And this would be our destination for the next few days.

If we didn't have non-refundable Amtrak tickets, we would have postponed this trip.  What we didn't know at the time of booking was that the second presidential debate would be held during our visit, and that our plans to visit Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Constitution Center, and the US Mint would be scotched for the day we planned to visit.  However, there were enough other things to do, that RQS and I would likely be busy for the 3 days we would be here.

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Our day started by getting showered and dressed, and out the door to Penn Station, NYC.  Although this was a weekend, the subway's weekend schedule didn't make it overly hard for us to reach Penn Station in a reasonable amount of time.  (Often, the weekend schedules might force us to make multiple unneeded transfers to reach some parts of Manhattan, as some routes are shortened and don't facilitate the transfers we need to make.)  By 2:30 pm, we were on the train and off to Philly.

Once we reached Philly, it was off to our hotel.  I was surprised to find that the hotel was on a narrow street that was too narrow for a cab to drop off passengers without blocking traffic.  Yet, the hotel was in a busy an relatively safe neighborhood.  So it appeared that I again had a made a good choice in places to stay.

After having a chance to rest, it was off to a Japanese place for Sushi, and then off for Ice Cream before trying to take an Uber home.  And this is where the first glitch in or trip occurred - I entered in the hotel's address, 130 S. Juniper Street, and accidentally got 130 N. Juniper Street filled in for our destination. Our Uber driver could not speak any English - he was effectively a deaf mute to us.  We ended up walking several blocks with our melting ice cream to our hotel room.  At least the ice cream was still enjoyable when we settled in for the night.

Welcome to Clown Town - Finally!

 

Picture this: the audience rolls into a seemly delightful birthday party filled with bright colors and balloons. The sounds of children laughing with glee are heard as Pixie rolls onto center stage. With her sweet smile beaming, she pops a balloon with a hint of murderous rage: "Awwww, may it rest in pieces". This begins the rock 'n' roll ride through outlandish personal stories of working as a party clown in NYC and Hollywood.

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I had tried to see "Welcome to Clown Town" the other day, and got to the theater too late to get in.  So I suggested to RQS that we go to see this play before I had to go home at the end of the weekend.

But first....

The day before, we went into Manhattan to see a film at the Quad Cinema.  Due to the weather and weekend subway schedules, RQS and I had a hard time reaching the theater from her place due to the rain and the subway's weekend schedules.  (The subway's weekend schedule usually terminates the M Train's service at Essex street, a location not convenient for most of the connections we needed to make.)  So we took a bus to catch the L Train to Union Square (where service terminated due to maintenance work), then walked the rest of the way to the theater.  Once we reached the theater, we found that we arrived too early and needed to kill an hour before the showing.  So, it was off to get something to nibble on to ease the rumbling in our stomachs before walking back to the theater in the rain to see the film.  And then, we ended up walking over to the West Village for dinner before going home.

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Sunday came, and it was time to see Welcome to Clown Town.  RQS had gotten some virtually free tickets (we only paid a service fee) to see the play, and we left for the theater an hour and a half before the scheduled performance time.  We needed each and every minute of this time, as we had to reach 36st street and 8th avenue from an area of Queens served by (formerly) BMT lines.  Like yesterday, we ended up taking the L Train into Manhattan. But, instead of walking 1.8 miles to the theater in the rain, we took a convoluted path via subways to reach the Penn Station area.

Finally we got to the theater, and had the chance to see the play.  Although it was short, it was very entertaining.  I can only imagine what this woman felt when she was hired out to perform for an hour at a gang member's children's birthday party, and the family attempted to use force to prevent her from escaping their clutches. (She was lucky to be able to use her to escape.)  If I'm in the mood, I might go to see it again before it closes.  But I doubt I'll have the chance to do so.

Next, it was out in the pouring rain and off to a diner for an early dinner.  By the time we were seated, the heavens opened up, and we were lucky to get inside without getting drenched.  And then, it was into the subway system to attempt getting home.  For what should have been a 2 or 3 train ride, it took us 5 trains to get home.  Weekend subway maintenance and the rain made a 1 hour trip take almost 2 hours, as we avoided certain bottlenecks where crowds would either force us to wait a long while for a train, or cause us to stand for an hour.

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We reached RQS's place as the rain was easing off. All too soon, I had to leave her and go home.  It'll be a bit longer than usual until I see her again.  But, this will give me a chance to see some people I don't usually have the chance to see, and to do some of the things I don't usually have the chance to do.

DC Trip 2023 - Day 06

 

King Street - Alexandria, VA

This would be our last day in the DC area.  So we took advantage of the opportunity to leave our bags at the hotel and explore the waterfront area of Alexandria.  This time, we didn't head to the Metro station after breakfast.  Instead, we took the Free "trolley" to the waterfront and walked around a bit.

 
Our first and only waterfront stop would be at the former Torpedo Factory, now a working arts center.  We explored all 3 floors and found some interesting art there.  Too bad that we couldn't be there when more of the artists had their workshops open.  Then, we explored the waterfront area a little before taking the trolley back to the hotel and picking up our bags.

 
We left the hotel for the last time around 2 pm, and walked to the Metro for the last time.  We made it to Union station by 3:15, and just had enough time to pick up a late lunch to eat on the train home.  Almost as soon as we sat down to await the call to board our train, the boarding call was made - and we proceeded to the train to take our seats.

After an uneventful 3 1/2 hour ride, we were back in New York.  This time, we knew where to go to summon our Uber - the 33rd street entrance, between 8th & 9th avenues.  (We made a note to use 330 W. 33rd Street as a destination address the next time we want to go to Penn Station's Moynihan Train Hall by Uber/Lyft.)  From there, we summoned our ride, and had the most pleasant ride back to Queens we could have had given the roads.  And all too soon, our vacation was over....

NYC Subway Musicians

 

One of the things that made my trips underground bearable were the subway musicians who played at major subway stations.  Most of the people I've enjoyed listening to were located either at Grand Central Station or at the Times Square Station.  Sometimes, I'd even find musicians at 34th st/Penn Station and at 14th st/Union Square.  Most of the people who performed with the MTA's "Music Under New York" banner behind them were vetted by the MTA and were often worth spending a few minutes as pert of their audiences.

Why do I bring up the subway?  Well, later on in the week, I will be traveling to Downtown Manhattan to get my Global Entry interview.  Assuming all goes as expected, I will likely have my trusted traveler number that I can use for the next 5 years.  And this will be a trip I'll be taking in Mario Mode. 😒  

Once I get my Trusted Traveler Number, I will be contacting Kim (of Traveling Transgender) for advice on how to travel and "Fly Pretty".  No doubt, she'll have a lot of advice for a person who hasn't been on a plane for a decade.  (And I don't miss being on that plane either!)  Ideally, my first flight will be to Hawaii, with me wearing my breast forms, wig, and other feminine accoutrements.  Hopefully, I'll be able to breeze through security with my big tote in hand and spend the next 12+ hours in peace.

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Recently, RQS took a trip where she had to fly South for a weekend.  She texted me before the plane was about to take off saying:

Family of 5 behind me, 1 baby, 1 pre-school, 1 about 5, not speaking English, baby crying. Mom changed him on board, now he's tantrumming. Ugh! 

I responded:

Laudinum would help.

Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight. Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy in alcohol. Reddish-brown and extremely bitter, laudanum contains several opium alkaloids, including morphine and codeine

Help a lot I'd say. :-)

(I should have added: "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the poison go down....")

This is a typical example of my humor.  And RQS enjoys it.  There is something about my morbid sense of humor that she finds attractive.  What it is I don't know.  But I'll take any laughs I can get....

 

 

Traveling to DC

 

This weekend, RQS and I went down to Washington, DC for a little R&R.  We've been looking to get away for a while, and I took the week off without pay in order to do so.  Today's entry is not going to be a full recap of the trip.  Instead, it is more of an overview of what we did during this trip.

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One of the things RQS and I felt that we needed to know was whether we could go away for a mini vacation (with opportunities to escape each other if needed) and find out whether we could get along after several days together.  On that issue, I can say that we have dealt with a couple of mini crises, and we have passed a couple of tests in dealing with unexpected adversity.

We left for DC on a Saturday, and used a Lyft to get to Penn Station (NYP) from RQS's house.  The driver asked if it was OK not to use the most direct route through Manhattan to reach NYP, as there was a parade going on that day (which he was going to attend).  We said OK, and did the loop from the Brooklyn bridge to South Ferry, then back uptown on the West side, where he dropped us off across from the new Moynihan train hall.  This wasn't a problem, as we had time to spare.  But we almost blew it, as RQS misread the departure time.  Luckily, I noticed the error, and we made it across the street with over 30 minutes to spare/

One of the problems that was going to bother me throughout the trip would be my lack of low denomination folding money.  I had several $100 bills on me, but was running out of $20's.  So our lost time in NYC was due to my looking for a Chase branch before getting on the train.  This forced me to do something which became an advantage for me - use a specific credit card for all my purchases on the trip.  This made it much easier to figure out how much I was spending on the trip, and balance things out with RQS at the end of the trip.  But I digress.

RQS and I waited in the train hall for an announcement to tell us that it was time to board our train.  While waiting to get on the elevator, we met another couple traveling to DC and I overheard a comment about New York City rudeness.  I said that in NYC, if a person uses deleted expletives for 5 minutes then says "have a nice day", you know that the person likes you.  Then, I mentioned that the F-Word is not an expletive in NYC, but only a word used for dramatic emphasis.  They laughed at this while we got on the escalator taking us down to the platform.

Boarding the train was not an issue, and we saw a homeless woman riding between the train cars.  The steward chatted with this lady, and then she proceeded to lock herself in the lavatory for most of the ride.  About 2 hours lady, the attendant (and a female assistant) did their best to politely tell the woman that she had to leave the lavatory before the train reached DC.  When she finally vacated the room, she used words to define herself that showed how down and out she was.  As much as I felt sorry for her, I was impressed at how well the two Amtrak employees dealt with an issue which could have escalated into something worse.

As we arrived in DC, we noticed that the temperature was much warmer than it was in New York.  Instead of a long sleeve shirt and a windbreaker, it was time to break out a short sleeve shirt.  Yet, after checking in to our hotel, we stayed in what we were wearing for a nice dinner with RQS's cousin before calling it a night.

A date with my niece

 

As you can see, my niece is fully masked up.  In an age where we finally got an "all clear" for being vaccinated, there are enough A--holes in our society that are putting the rest of us at risk by remaining unvaccinated.  She can't wait for the day that she will no longer need the mask, and that she and her husband can visit this country together.

My niece usually puts her friends first, and tries to squeeze her aunt/uncle in as free time permits.  Today was no different.  So when I received her text telling me that we could meet after work, I jumped at the chance to do so.  However, I would have to go home to change into something comfortable and feminine before seeing her in NYC.  And this delayed my arrival at the Rubin museum, as I arrived there shortly after 7:30 pm.  (The museum is usually open until 10, so even an 8:15 ticket time is quite reasonable.)

While waiting for our tickets to be valid for admission, I mentioned many things regarding what I plan to do with my assets when I pass away.  (Hopefully not for a long time....)  And she knows NOT to let my brother into my place until it has been purged of things I don't want him to know about (yet).  She was surprised when I told her about a conversation I recently had with my ex, and she noted - why should I still bother with her, given the way she treated me last year?  (She is wise beyond her years.) And I noted - in spite of everything, I'd sill like to be friends.  Not the excessive intimacy (non physical) that my former cruise partner and I once had, but someone who I can chat with and occasionally have as an activity partner.  However, I doubt that this will happen, as the ex-girlfriend tends to avoid social events I plan to attend.

My niece and I  walked through the museum, and marveled that there is so much beautiful art in one place.  However, the focus on this category of Asian art (Himalyayas and Tibet) is very different from Chinese and Japanese art.  It seems to focus on the temporary nature of life and the impermanence of things in this world.  Things that Westerners may see as sexual may be seen as a unity of all "forces" of nature to the cultures of these areas.

All too soon, our evening had to end.  We walked back to Penn Station, where she had to rush off to a train.  I picked up some grub there, as I knew that nothing would be open at Grand Central.  And I was right....

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One thing I will comment on in a future post is a transgender person living in her authentic gender tends to live a relatively boring life once she isn't switching gender presentations on a daily basis.  With the exception of putting on a wig, shaving my body hair off, and wearing chest prosthesis, most of my life is that of a typical female.  No, I will never have the natural plumbing of a typical female.  But that's OK.  I am not looking to reproduce.  Yet, it would be interesting if someone called me pretty....