Last week I was supposed to accompany Larry to Barcelona for
Mobile World Congress on our first empty-nest trip together. Instead, thanks to coronavirus causing the
cancellation of MWC, I only used half my air ticket and ended up visiting my
Mom in Northern Virginia and Ellen in Brooklyn.
Over Christmas, while doing laundry in my parents’ basement,
I happened upon and whizzed through my Dad’s copy of Dan Brown’s book “The Lost
Symbol”. It is a batshit crazy book but
it has very compelling descriptions of all the Masonic memorials and temples in
the DC area.
In particular, I was eager to visit the George Washington
Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria,
Virginia. Modeled on the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria
in Egypt, it was built by Masons in the 1920s to honor George Washington.
It is on a hill and dominates the Alexandria
skyline.
Until I read “The Lost Symbol” I
had no idea you could go inside, but it turns out it is a public museum.
At least parts of it are, there are some
super-secret areas that are only for Masons.
Mom and I visited the Memorial last week and enjoyed our tour
with a guide who was not a Mason himself and was thus amenable to a little
light ridiculing of Masonic rituals.
From the observation deck on the top we had a clear view of the new MGM casino
at National Harbor, and I could feel my mom’s yearning.
My mom is descended from a long line of low-stakes gamblers
in Texas. During summer visits with my grandparents,
I spent many evenings in smoke-filled Indian bingo halls watching my relatives
play bingo. My grandma could play eight
bingo cards simultaneously. I usually
played one card out of sheer boredom but the gambling gene seems to have given
me a miss.
Mom and I drove over to the MGM, parked in the cavernous
garage, and wound our way through the enormous casino to the penny slot
machines. We were both completely
baffled by all the different themed machines with their chasing lights and sound
effects and random buttons.
We finally asked a middle-aged couple if we could watch them
play and they kindly explained how it all worked. We agreed to each gamble twenty dollars and
no more. As you may be able tell from these
pictures, I came out ahead in the end, and Mom did not.
Ellen is currently sub-letting an apartment in Park Slope in
Brooklyn. I booked an AirBNB down the
street from her place and made my way to Brooklyn. On my first night, we dined in an old
pharmacy that is now an Italian restaurant.
Just as in college, two friends materialized for dinner when they heard
I was paying.
The next day I ate breakfast at Little Purity Diner and set
off to explore Prospect Park. By the time I was deep in the park I was feeling the
effects of many cups of diner coffee. I
spotted a “comfort station” but it was closed for the season. In desperation I consulted Google maps and
found that the Prospect Park Children’s Zoo was nearby and open. I paid my $10 and jetted in to find the
restroom. In a calmer mood, I began to
appreciate the Zoo. It reminded me of
all the times I took my kids to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose.
I called Ellen and she took a taxi over. We strolled around and watched the sea lions
and the tiny monkeys. In the mongoose
house there was a bored intern manning an education table. We sat in the child-sized chairs and asked to
play the game he had laid out, cleverly titled “Rodent or Not A Rodent”.
He held up picture cards so that we could see the animals and
he could see the key on the back, which apparently just said either “Rodent” or
“Not A Rodent”, because he was able to offer no additional information. It was perhaps the least educational game I
have ever played.
Another day Ellen and I visited the New York Transit Museum,
located in a disused subway station in Brooklyn.
It’s a great museum with a lot of old subway
cars you can explore and it’s fun to watch all the excited little kids running
around.
Trains!!!
On our walk back to Park Slope we stopped and had dinner in an Italian restaurant. There was an incredibly boisterous bridal shower taking place in the back, lots of full-figured African-American women in amazing outfits singing really loudly and having a blast. The Italian waiters all looked a little frightened. We crossed the Gowanus Canal and stopped in that Whole Foods that was featured in a Broad City episode to use the toilet, where I snapped this cool paparazzi picture of Ellen.
On my last day in Brooklyn I visited Green-Wood Cemetery, a
478-acre cemetery established in 1838 among beautiful wooded hills. It’s such a cool place. I couldn’t get Ellen to come with me, and it
was a cold and windy Monday, so I had the entire cemetery to myself.
First I spent some time watching the colony of bright-green monk
parrots that have been nesting in the gothic entrance gates on 5th
Avenue since the 1950s, apparently having escaped from a crate at JFK airport. Then I picked up the excellent and free(!)
map and wandered around for a few hours.
The map has an excellent key that highlights all the best monuments,
trees, views, historic points, and famous people in the cemetery. There are walking paths everywhere, all
clearly signposted, so it was like a great scavenger hunt. I quite enjoyed the lonely brooding mood
created by the barren trees and the cold wind, but I would also love to go back
in summer when everything is green.
Here are some of my favorite monuments.
 |
Civic Virtue, the centerpiece
of an old fountain relocated
to Green-Wood |
 |
Tombstone of artist William Holbrook Beard
(1824-1900) with sculpture of bear added
in 2002 by sculptor Dan Ostermiller |
 |
Grave of the composer of my favorite
musical, Candide, with offerings
from visitors (I added the pinecone) |
 |
Just some monuments I like
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