Off to see Papa

Tomorrow morning (Friday) I leave right after the 8am Mass to fly out to New York. I'll be staying at a friend's apartment on 73rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue (he won't be there) which means I won't have to pay 600 dollars (or some ridiculous amount) for a hotel room in Manhattan. He's alerted the doormen, the Super and a good friend in the building. This morning, he gave me the run-down on restaurants up and down the block, so I'm psyched.

Staying at Stephen's will also be relatively convenient (St. Patrick's Cathedral is on 51st Street) and that's a good thing .... since we are to be at a hotel across from St. Patrick's by 6:30am on Saturday morning to vest and go through security. Mass is at 9:15. The extensive instructions that came with the ticket also noted that port-a-potties will be available outside one of the Cathedral entrances within the secure zone. I do not relish the thought of squeezing into a port-a-potty in full Mass vestments. Note to self: don't drink much coffee Saturday morning.

I hope to do a little poking around the city on Saturdeay afternoon, and then on Sunday I'll head over to Brooklyn to visit with our Father Brendan's parents. I've gotten to know Mary and Ted over the years, and have even stayed at their home on another trip to NYC. So I'll be in Brooklyn for Passover.

I fly out of LaGuardia Monday morning, and should be back here sometime late afternoon. I'm flying Northwest, and to my knowledge they're running OK. We'll see.

Otherwise I'm continuing to have fun here in Indy. Made a big roaster of oxtail soup last weekend. Did some steaks on the grill one night.

I'll try to post a timely report on the NYC trip ... My ticket says I'm in pew 104 on the south chapel aisle in St. Patrick's so it remains to be seen how much I will actually see. No, I'm not taking my camera... ain't gonna mess with that. It would be great to see the Pope up close, but it would REALLY wow me to greet his MC or Secretary. What can I say ...