Tuesday, May 2, 1944
[New York City Trip]
My first night of not sleeping well – but we’re still in bed when Mary came in at 9 – She had left the field at 7:20 & said it was colder out this morning & no sun. We had breakfast in a hole in the wall near our room & then started in on the streets off Broadway to find a play we could get matinee seats for tomorrow. Finally got some at $2.40 for “Mexican Hayride”.
Walked to Bloomingdales Lexington at 59th seeing exclusive Antique shopes & as we progressed they got junkier & junkier until we finally8 stopped at one. Got a brass door knocker that is a beauty.
Bloomingdales wasn’t much compared to Macy’s but we shopped all floors & Mary got to see their antique furniture like we saw at Macy’s.
We took a bus and transferred so we ended upl on 48th St. near Broadway where Mary knew of an Italian Restaurant. It was closed but we had our choice of any nationality – Mexican, French, Italian – all along. We finally went in Lugini (?) & had spaghetti & meat balls. Wally cut his up but I followed Mary’s example & twirled mine against a table spoon & got along very well. The clientele again was mixed but about half were Ialian & the waiters spoke to them in Italian & might as well have to us for all we could understand.
Mary had wine with her dinner – all over her sleeve & overcoat. Two waiters collided at her elbow & she got showered. We had excellent service after that & they told her to send the dry cleaning bill.
Mary & I ordered cheesecake for dessert & it is just that. A thin layer of cake all around & cheese full of things in the middle.
The walls of this place were covered in photographs – Frank Sinatra & Jimmy Durante amoung those I remember.
Wally still wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty even after passing it 4 times on the ferry so we split up – he & Mary going down there & me to Rockefeller Center. But the garden of the nations were not open so I went back to Broadway & took a streetcar up to 78th & walked over to the Museum of Natural History.
I could write as much as I’ve written about this trip so far and not tell what I saw in the next 2 1/2 hr.
Although I had heard of the animal exhibits in natural habitat I was not prepared for the reality of the scenes. And the description accompany tell not only of the animal but all the vegetation represented.
Through the mounted bird section of those found around NY & then the window representing the Roosevelt Bird Sanctuary at Oyster Bay.
At first glance there seemed to be 8 or 10 birds – but as you looked among the flowering dogwood – the dead oak leaves on the ground, along the side of the oak more & more birds appeared as if by magic. Of course they had been there all the time – but camouflaged. There were probably at least 75 different kinds of birds in the exhibit. It was really marvelous – but some of the unappreciative people who came by gave me the willies – oh well I guess I don’t really appreciate Chopin.
I went into the book store – it is quite complete on just the kind of books I dote on – but limited my purchases to one on Indians for kids.
The South Sea underwater exhibits were fascinating. Such colors & shapes seem ubelievable in coral let alone in fish. The “Cave of the Octopus” was horrible in a beautiful way.
In the insect hall an exhibit of migrating Monarch’s – over 1,000 in the display. Haning in clusters on trees – some in flight – some on the ground. How long would it take to make an exhibit like that? The windows in this hall had displays of ladybugs by the millions. Japanese Beetles at their favorite occupation of devouring fruit & leaf on a tree & leaf-carrying ants.
While in this hall the guide came through say “Museum closing – 5:00” Didn’t seem possible. Oh yes, I had visited the prehistoric hall & just smiled at the guide & he told me to inspect a Peruvian miner – mummified in a cave in. His crude instruments ante-dated the Spaniards.
Here to was a B.C. headdress of feathers. Preserved perfectly by the dry Peruvian atmosphere.
Took an Eighth Ave. bus downtown passed Madison Square Gardens where the circus was just over. People streaming out in droves over several blocks. Then when I got off at 38th the workers from dress factories were coming out & the streets were jammed. Walking from Eighth to Seventh I overheard about 6 conversations & none were in English. In about 3 different languages from what I could tell.
Shopped at Woolworth’s store & came on home where the landlord told me Mary & Walt had just come in. They had called Bertha before going down to the Statue of Liberty & she was to come shortly.
Mary & Walt had climbed to the crown of the statue & then crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on a street car & then on up here.
Ate at an automat with Bertha & then she had to report at Manhattan Towers for a lecture. So we came back to the room & packed & took 2 bags & Bertha’s kit to Grand Central Terminal in a taxi & checked them through to Marion. Then on a street car down 42nd Street & up Broadway to the Astor Theater where we waited until 9:30 for Bertha. She had already seen “See Here Private Hargrove” bu would see it again with us. We had to sit in a front box at first but changed about at the end for a better seat. That’s the way they pack them in in New York. Then over to “The Mayflower” for coffee & donuts & then goodbye to Mary & Bertha at the subway & home for us. Both had good hot baths & so to bed to read the Times & Sun – turned out the light at about 2:00 A.M.