There was no way that Katherine would sing at Carnegie Hall without our being there. This, of course, involves a trip to New York. The plan: Catch a red-eye from Detroit, fly into Laguardia, and do some quick and dirty sightseeing in the hours before - and after - the concert. Part 1, red-eye: Not a bad way to fly on a Sunday morning. We arrived on time, and decided to take public transit into Midtown.
The New York Metropolitan Transit Authority has a great system for paying for bus and subway rides: The Metropass. A one-day pass costs $7.50, and gives you unlimited rides. We caught the M-60 bus from LaGuardia, which took us to the closest subway station in Astoria, Queens. The view is urban, busy, but the train came in a few minutes.
A taxi ride from LaGuardia would have cost at least $60, and taken about 30 minutes. It took us 20 minutes. Given we'd spent $22.50 for subway fare, we already were ahead.
We came out directly across from Carnegie Hall, right near our hotel. It was 9 a.m.
Sightseeing: First stop, Times Square. Even on a Sunday morning, it's busy, crazy ...
... garish, and just plain American.
Not for the last time, this thought struck me: If all someone knows about America is New York, the picture is very distorted. But leave New York out of the picture, and the image is just as distorted.
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