Vacationing where you work

The forecast at the Jersey shore for Wednesday was fair, probably too windy and overcast to enjoy the beach. My wife suggested we leave our Long Branch NJ vacation spot for the day, go to New York City and catch a Broadway show. It sounded like a great idea, but who wants to spend a day off where they commute to work? I did -- and we had a great time!

We saw a matinee performance of West Side Story at the Palace Theatre. I’m familiar with the 1961 Oscar winning movie, and the dancing and music of the Broadway revival was a treat. It was also nice to hear the couple seated next to us say how much they were enjoying their first visit to the city and how helpful everyone was to them.

Before the show, I took my wife to a favorite lunch spot, Margon on 46th between 6-7th Ave. It was like having a homemade Cuban meal in a small but bustling lunchroom. We enjoyed the meal and even learned about other good eating spots from a man and woman on lunch break who shared our table.

After the show, we sat out the rush hour, literally, with a beer at a sidewalk table a few blocks from the Port Authority bus terminal. We enjoyed seeing the sea of commuters walk by, and I told my wife I was looking for Charley to walk by any moment.

We rode the subway to 23rd and walked a few blocks to the High Line, the former elevated freight train tracks now an unusual city park, where some women illustrated the same cityscape that a few men photographed.

A few blocks later we were at Hudson River Park, a growing stretch where joggers and bicyclists outnumbered pedestrians, and took in a sunset over the New Jersey horizon that reminded me of a famous 1976 magazine cover from The New Yorker.

We wandered into the West Village and stopped for coffee and snacks near Sheridan Square, continuing to observe the interesting array of buildings and people. Finally, we rode the subway uptown to Penn Station and caught a train back to Long Branch.

Who says you can’t play where you work? I will probably look back at Wednesday in New York as one of my favorite vacation days of the year!