A Bittersweet Day in Manhattan

The approach of warm weather always brings with it plans for summer travel, whether it be on business or a well-deserved vacation.

And for me it always brings back a bittersweet lesson I learned the hard way.

A few years ago I had been asked to appear on the Martha Stewart Show, which is a story all of its own, best reserved for another time. I arrived in New York a day in advance and spent several hours getting my props ready and doing a couple of rehearsals, ala without Martha. It was a live, early morning show, so by ten o’clock the show was over and I found myself back out on the streets of Manhattan. I had made no plans for the day, save being at the theatre for the eight o’clock curtain for Spamalot.

I spent the rest of the morning just walking around, rehashing the morning’s show, until I found a nice, quiet sidewalk café for lunch. A couple of glasses of wine later I was back out on the street, window shopping and just watching people live their lives within the confines of the city. Before long I had spent the entire afternoon just walking around, so I headed back toward my hotel to change for the evening show.

I stepped into the hotel elevator at 5:30pm, holding the doors open for a young women who came dashing in from the street. I immediately noticed the tote bag she was carrying, as it displayed a painting of an iconic Edward Hopper painting from the Whitney Museum’s collection.

“Great bag,” I commented as the doors were closing. “Get it at the museum?”

“Yes,” she replied excitedly. “They had a fantastic Hopper exhibition going on, and today was the last day.”

Now, I consider Edward Hopper one of the Top Three artists of the twentieth century, and would have made a trip to New York City just to see an extensive exhibition of his work. So standing there in that elevator, my heart literally slowed as the realization sunk in that I had wasted an opportunity to see an exhibition of his work just a few blocks away in the Whitney Museum.

Obviously, it was a moment — and a lesson — I have never forgotten.

So, please take my advice: do your research before you leave home.

Check out the current museum exhibitions, see what performances will be playing, and find out what the main attractions are in the area.

And don’t forget that here at ArtsAndCraftsCollector.com, we have a Traveler’s Guide section, packed with places of special interest to you.

Then, when you get back home, send us an email with information for us to add to the Traveler’s Guide section so we can keep it current for everyone else — along with a picture of you at Fallingwater or the Gamble House for our Facebook page!

Until next Monday,

Start planning your next trip!

Bruce

Top: “Early Sunday Morning” (1930) courtesy of wwwedwardhopper.net.

Middle: “The Lighthouse at Two Lights” (1929) courtesy of www.metmuseum.org.