Quick Weekend Getaway

Okay, can you look at the photo and tell where we ran away to for the weekend? That's right! New York City! In December! With all the decorations up!

The Jazzman had a few days of vacation he had to take, and I had a couple of days I could sneak away without neglecting any duties. AND American Airlines sent me an e-mail offering $39 air fare to select cities. So Thursday morning we drove through falling snow to Cleveland, and an hour-and-a-half later we were in sunny, but bitterly cold, NYC.

And I didn't get patted down by TSA this time, 'cause the Jazzman kindly washed (and dried) my favorite merino wool jacket-sweater. Oops.

We got a delightful Frenchman as cabbie for the hour-and-twenty-minute $50+ ride from JFK into the city. We had Priceline'd a hotel and got the Hampton Inn in Chelsea for $150! Including daily breakfast!

Something new we did on this trip that I had never done before was to take the subway everywhere. I didn't realize that this weekend would be a Big Deal tourist weekend—the crowds were massive everywhere we went. So we just pulled out the maps, logged on to mta.info, and went almost everywhere by train. Piece o' cake! I can't even imagine how much money we saved on cab fare. And we got everywhere much faster than if we were up above, fighting traffic.

Thursday evening we went to Morandi for dinner. What a lovely dining experience! The Jazzman had the fish special, and I think I had some sort of pasta—after a busy two days, I am having a hard time bringing back the details. But what I do remember was the dessert. Ciambella al Cioccolato, a la Morandi, is maybe two or three inches across. TO the best of my recollection, it's a little round circle of coconut, topped by a similar round circle of hazlenuts. In the center is a warm, thick chocolate sauce. There was some chocolate drizzled over the plate, and a side of coconut gelato. I may have part of this wrong, but the essence is the same: heaven! You'll simply have to visit Morandi to see for yourself.

After dinner, we again hopped on the subway and went up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree, the skaters, and the lavish Christmas windows in Saks Fifth Avenue.

Don't get me wrong. It was cold-cold-cold outside, but worth every frigid minute.

A great first day of a quick getaway.

When you get a minute, here's NBC's video of the Christmas tree being placed and decorated.