Moving Day

December 30- Wednesday

The troops are well organized and Greg and Ted drive in the Honda and Kim and Beth in the RAV. This gives Beth and me ample time to talk and time for me to watch her to see how she’s doing. She’s a real trooper. There is only one minor “mishap” when Ted misses the I 81-I 380 cutoff while Greg sleeps and they go slightly out of their way. We arrive in Manhattan about 4:30-5:00. Beth and I arrive ahead of the guys so I park the car and take a bathroom break in her apartment and check out her New Year’s Eve selection for our night at the opera.

Perils of Parking.

Whoops, that lucky parking spot was in a no parking zone (why was everyone else there?) so I return to find a $65 ticket. I decide to expect unnecessary expenses for the next five months and to prepare myself for “wasteful” spending.

We encounter rush hour traffic over the Brooklyn Bridge, but this helps us stay in a caravan and the two cars make it to 2 Pierrepont and “stand” illegally in front of the building while we unload the cars. Ted, Greg and I get the two cars unloaded in an hour-I am able to document this time because I had noted the large clock on the landmark Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower building said 5:30 while we were creeping across the Brooklyn Bridge and it is 6:30 when we get a lucky break. A building tenant comes out and tells me he is leaving his parking place and he’ll give it to me. I have to rush to get Greg into the Honda and positioned to take the space. Two other cars are also lining up for this golden opportunity and I now realize why the man was making such a big deal about us getting our act together. Cars can park on the Brooklyn Heights streets for an unlimited time except for one day a week when there is street cleaning. And on that day one can park on the alternate side of the street which is normally no-parking. So an experienced Heights resident knows how and when to position their parking for the long term. I am extremely lucky with this spot, for I leave the car until my New Year’s Eve trek to the Met and have an easy walk to my “limo” in my long gold dress. More about this later.

Greg, Ted and I return the van to Avis at a convenient location that is closer than our parking garage. We walk back home, stopping for a great Italian meal on Montague Street. The night is clear and beautiful, chilly but not too cold. I take a test photo from my iPhone of the Manhattan skyline from our terrace. This does not do justice to the skyline, but captures the moment. There will be many more Manhattan skyline photos to come...I'll try to challenge Woody Allen who first mesmerized me with this view in the movie "Manhattan".