After spending Claire’s birthday in Washington, we agreed to make up for it by visiting New York for Thanksgiving. Charles and Amy were able to join from Annapolis, and Linda’s sister Leslie flew in from Seattle . Without grandparents to organize cooking, we found ourselves out of horizontal surfaces when time came to carve the turkey. Jim solved the problem by putting the pan on the floor and carving there. Without a functional TV, we watched a video of Ken Burns New York instead of football. The episode concerned the building of the Empire State Building . Everyone had the same idea: Let’s go there! They’ll be open for sure, even on Thanksgiving!

Alas, quite a few other people had the same idea. As we stood in line for hours, we all reflected that there was no line in the movie Sleepless in Seattle . Yet another example of the difference between Hollywood and the Real World. The sun had set by the time we emerged onto the observation deck to a cold, clear night with a marvelous view of the city.

No trip to New York would be complete without trying to do too much. We packed in a visit to Ground Zero and the Brooklyn Bridge; Blue Man Group and The Lion King; the Museum of the American Indian and the Met. We crashed a wedding party at the Campbell Apartment Bar and had some fancy cocktails before learning of our faux pas. We ate dinner at Tamarind, a new, trendy Indian restaurant with cousins Richard and Mindy Findlay and spotted a celebrity, Wallace Shawn, who played the Sicilian in Princess Bride. On Sunday, we survived the trip home despite record-breaking queues.

Jim Carves the Turkey	Linda and Leslie Clean Up in Claire's Tiny Kitchen	Leslie Delivers Verdict on Fancy Cocktail at Campbell Apartment Bar	Linda with One of the Blue Men	Around the Table at Jaipur
Claire and Les Brave the Cold on Brooklyn Bridge	Amazing Carving at Museum of American Indian	Armadillo Banjo, Museum of American Indian	Charles and Amy after a Busy Afternoon	Claire and Les are Tired Also