January 15, 2014
We finally picked the 15th to drive up to NYC to start with Girl with a Pearl Earring at The Frick. It was a string of fairly clear and warm winter days sandwiched between winter storms. Lucky! We set out about 3am and drove in heavy traffic from southern Virginia all the way to The Franklin Hotel on East 87th Street. We found a parking space in a garage almost directly across the street. Lucky again. It was $39 for 22 hours, plus they tore a good sized gouge in the rear bumper while they had the car. The Franklin was great for us for one night at a base rate of $168 that ended up being $208.28 for the night. We got the last room, 96, at the end of the hall on the top floor. They have an antique Otis elevator so it was cool. The room was advertised as 200 sq. ft. which makes us question our booking of Oceania's Insignia at 216 sq. ft. for 6 months next year! But, that's another story for another day. The room was small but adequate with a shower over full size tub that beyond having no where to sit and open our suitcases was the weak point due to a billowing clinging shower curtain. It included a complimentary evening cocktail hour, which we missed. And a complimentary continental breakfast which we enjoyed. There was a complimentary 24 hour coffee/tea machine available in the same space that was nice.
We stopped once on the way up for gas and I used the restroom in Maryland and then we stopped again and ate breakfast. We ate at Friendly's in Crofton, MD. It was disappointing and the place was nearly empty. We got to The Franklin on the Upper East Side by early afternoon. They didn't have rooms ready but did let us check in and they took our bags. We walked to The Frick at 70th and Fifth Ave. It was a very upscale neighborhood and beyond the gourmet food shops and Starbucks shops we didn't see a place for dinner later and made a mental note to take a different route back.
We arrived at The Frick around 2pm and were directed around the corner of 5th to get in line. The line was about a block long and we were in it for about an hour. We got tickets for 3:40pm, but they let us in immediately. It was crazy crowded. But, mission accomplished. The building was beautiful and it would have been nice to spend more time in there but, it was so crowded that we saw the rest of the special exhibition and finally found the 3 other Vermeers in the collection and the gift shops and left. Clay got a very cool rock star world tour type t-shirt and I got a coffee mug. I also got a Starbucks New York City mug. One of the new style that looks like colorful collages of cities. I don't really like these and wish they had kept the old style. Plus I like the size and shape of those better. Anyway. 13 hours after we left home, we left The Frick with our primary goal accomplished. Girl with a Pearl earring is a stunning work of art. The literature inserted in my souvenir mug describes it as a type of painting known as a "tronie". It is a painting of a face usually sporting some type of exotic costume. I didn't know that before. I knew Girl with a Pearl Earring was unusually for the stark undetailed background that is in most Vermeers but I didn't know it was a style of painting with a name.
We did take a different route back to The Franklin along Lexington and at 73rd and came upon Casimir & Co., a French bistro. It was small and warm and quiet and we went right in and were told to seat ourselves anywhere. We did and eventually we ordered drinks and got menus. I think we arrived at the shift change for the evening and as we were the only customers not seated at the bar, we got overlooked and forgotten before being shuffled among waiters. It was fine as we eventually ate and we weren't in any hurry anyway. Clay had the steak frites and I had roasted chicken with garlic mashed potatoes. It was more than we could finish, especially mine. But, Clay ordered us a floating island to share for dessert anyway. It was light! We walked on back to The Franklin and an early bedtime since we had such an early start. We were without Clay's camera all day today since it was in his suitcase. Sorry! Below are some photos of our hotel room, #96 The Franklin.
