Anyone who has ever visited me will tell you our city adventures consist of two things. One – lots of walking. Two – all that walking leads to a meal or at least something tasty to snack on. Now you would think when my 77 year old father, stiff with arthritis, limped his way off the bus at Port Authority on a Friday evening for a weekend visit, that I would modify the usual routine. But alas, it was my father’s fate to move his aching hips around NYC while eating delectable meals in between sight seeing.
Since we were practically right there, we started his weekend off with a quick spin through Times Square. Well, technically we moved as quickly as one can through a mob of gawking tourists packed like sardines on a tiny radius of cement. From there we hopped onto the R train & headed down to SoHo. Now my father couldn’t have cared less about seeing the stores in SoHo, but he was hungry & there is this yummy place in that neighborhood called Spring Street Natural. It serves food that tastes too good to be healthy, but believe it or not it is. They advertise as being “Gluten-free friendly, Vegan friendly & kid friendly” not to mention they served me up a spiced cajun snapper fish that I’m still dreaming about at night! Dad & I split a bottle of organic ginger soda & chowed down. Of course because the food was yum, we talked.
The next morning we were up early, walked a ways to the train station & took the Q line into downtown Brooklyn where we did more walking. Now I don’t eat red meat that often, but I do have a thing for a slightly salty Shake Shack burger on one of their fresh tasty buns every now & then. So after a meeting at my church we headed there to get take out. It was a 10 minute walk from Shake Shack to the Brooklyn Promenade, but by this point my father had accepted the fact that he was expected to move it, move it around town. He finally stopped asking how many more blocks to our destination. And because the burgers & fries were good, we did some more leisurely talking on a park bench.
Another walk & another train ride took us to MOMA. Since looking at art made us thirsty, I decided dad needed to experience the papaya juice at Papaya King near West 4th.
Sitting on a park bench in Washington Square Park while listening to jazz & doing more talking worked up our appetites. The only logical thing to do of course was eat dinner at a nearby restaurant called Cuba. It also happens to be my favorite restaurant in the whole city. I’ve taken everyone from family to dates to my girls to this spot simply because every meal I’ve ever had there has been way too good. Plus what’s not to like about listening to happy Spanish music while you eat? Yup, you guessed it. The rice & beans that accompanied my fish dinner were out of this world. Naturally, dad & I kept our conversation going.
You would think we’d be finished pigging out after dinner, but nope. On our walk up University Place to Union Square, the Italian ice cream spot we strolled past pretty much dragged us kicking & screaming inside & forced us to buy ice cream cones.
Now what kind of daughter would I be if I didn’t make my father walk to get a slice of NYC pizza before driving him back to Port Authority & sending him home to my mother? Not a very good one. By lunch time on Sunday, dad had walked his hip joints so much they’d loosened up & he hustled to get that pizza like he was 20 years young.
When I think back on his visit a year later, it wasn’t the sights or food that made our time together so much fun. It was all the talking we did. Now if I’m a grown woman & I love spending time talking with my father, how much more do children & teenagers need fathers who they can talk to? It sure is hard to beat a good conversation & a father’s love. Good times 🙂
Food n Love 