sorry no stories

Everyone’s asking me how my vacation was. How was Branson? How was New York? What did you do? And I find I have little desire for detail.

My attempts to describe seem empty. So here's the shell of my vacation:

We stayed at the Welk Resort, you know, Lawrence Welk?

We saw the sunset from the shore of Table Rock Lake.

We rode the ducks. They have tours of Branson on DUKW amphibious vehicles that take you on land and then the water of Table Rock Lake.

We went to Celebration City, it’s like a mini Worlds of Fun. There was an overly patriotic show at the end that combined fire, fireworks, images projected on a wall of water.

I got a call from my roomie that made me sad and want to return home.

Silver Dollar City hasn’t changed except for maybe a few more rides.
As we were leaving the park, I saw a lesbian couple. My first thought: Huh? What are they doing here? And I wondered if they felt out of place, marked as different, unwanted in this, the heart of moral Christian thinking. I thought they had a lot of courage, but if it were I, I’d find a different place to spend my vacation.

We went through two caves.

We drove home past trees, farms, cows, and horses.

We went to New York City.

We stayed at the Chelsea International Hostel on 20th St. between 7th Ave. and 8th Ave. It was small, sparse, clean for a hostel, in the heart of lower Manhattan, and cheap for New York.

Nancy’s cousin took us to the new Chinatown growing out in Queens for dinner.

Nancy and BK took a 2 a.m. bus to spend the day in Washington, D.C.

The G-man and I went the Met, walked through Central Park, took and double-decker open-topped bus tour of lower Manhattan, and saw Avenue Q. We both loved the show. I knew I would, but I was glad I hadn’t wasted the G-man’s money.

We tried to see the Statue of Liberty, but couldn’t. The Ellis Island museum was good, informative, and long. We got very hungry. We ate at a Japanese noodle restaurant near Broadway. We all went to see La Cage aux Folles, a revival of the musical that the movie The Birdcage was based off of. The chorus line (men in drag, of course) was fabulous. We sat in the sixth row off to the left.

Gilbert said he was beginning to develop an expensive habit. That makes me happy. Now maybe I’ll have someone to go see a show or two with me when they come through Kansas City.

We ate sushi. We walked through Greenwich Village at night when it’s at its liveliest.

We toured the U.N. We waited in the most horribly long line at the Empire State Building. We ate Indian food at a microscopic little restaurant in Greenwich.

We ate dim sum in Chiantown in a huge ballroom-sized restaurant. The host and hostesses had walkie-talkies to communicate across the loud, busy restaurant.

The G-man and I left for the airport. I left Nancy, and for that I truly have no words.