On our first full day in NYC, we woke up to grey skies but we were determined to make the most of the weather. D had scoped out the neighbourhood on foot by this time and recommended we venture out to find a favourite NYC treat-bagels!

Having never stayed in Brooklyn before and only knowing the term “Flatbush” from a brat pack movie, I was delighted to wander down Flatbush Ave. in search of authentic New York bagels.

Once we had chosen toasted everything bagels, we had the decision to make of what topping from all those displayed in this case. Lox and cream cheese was our choice.

The look and feel of the place was much like Essa Bagel that we discovered when we stayed in the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan. I couldn’t imagine that any bagel could stack up to an Essa bagel but the Flatbush certainly did a gallant job.

We perched onto stools and lingered over our bagels. We got a kick of seeing various walks of life wander in for their daily fix.

I couldn’t finish mine and together with the extra ones we bought for our apartment, D got the task of walking through the rain the rest of the morning with a soggy brown paper bag.

Although the summer peak of blooms had passed at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, it was still a lovely place to pass a morning, even a wet one.

I saw many of my favourite plants there. The difference was that I grow them as house plants whereas the climate of the state of New York is much more moderate.

Since the rain didn’t let up, I was glad to spy this beautiful structure when I was about half through my walk.

Not only did I get a reprieve from the weather, I was delighted by their bonsai display.

Just outside the conservatory were these beautiful sculptures in the lily pad ponds.

I always gravitate to water and fountains. We even how a fountain and pond in our backyard!

We arrived home to get ready for our special evening out to see Josh Groban in Sweeney Todd. I had seen him four times in concert, but never on Broadway. His appearance was actually the impetus for the entire NYC trip. D worked very hard to secure just the right apartment and other logistics. When we got a break in the rain, we went up to the rooftop of our penthouse for a glass of wine and a selfie before we made our way to Times Square.

The rain prevented us for simply hanging out and we hadn’t eaten anything since our morning bagel, so we headed to an unexplored place where we had a ressie.

We decided to go to the bar before dinner. When we spotted that it was Happy Hour at the bar, we never made it to the dining room.

D and I love bar seats-you can watch the workings of the staff and it is a great place to meet other guests. My guess was that most everyone was a traveler like us.

Bar drinks were the special including Sangria! I became hooked on sangria from my visit to Spain last fall. We enjoyed a couple of appetizers too, but didn’t want to full up before sitting through a 3 hour play.

Our balcony seats were perfect and we were immediately enraptured by the story that we were only somewhat acquainted with.

The theatre was gorgeous, the singing exquisite, the set was full of surprises and the show was unbelievably funny, in spite of its dark story line. The evening was first class in every way and I was so grateful to D for his meticulous planning.

Kath’s quote: “And life is for the alive, my dear. So let’s keep living it.”-Steven Soundheim

Love never fails.

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