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JANUARY

January 14th, 2024 –Roaming Rome

Happy New Year, fine friends! Since my 2023 recap was so comprehensive, this email can solely be about the 8 days I just spent in Italy! I had a great solo trip, and I highly recommend Italy for the sights, the food, and the concerts.

As usual, it took an awful lot of time to get the 1,277 photos on the Facebook and to caption them, so please go look at those.

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3rd: ROME

The less said about the journey to and fro JFK, the better. I arrived in Italy a little before 10AM, and was at my AirBnB by 11:30AM, which is a testament to how efficiently the FCO airport is run. I took the 32 minute, 14 Euro train from the airport to Roma Termini, which was a 15 minute walk from where I staying. I found a great room in an apartment for only $53/night. It was small, but had its own bathroom and fast Wi-Fi. My host, who met met outside, was nice enough to let me drop off my bags early, so I was ready to explore and out the door before noon.

I had gotten a folding Rome paper map on eBay and circled everywhere I wanted to get to. Using that and GoogleMaps at home, I created an itinerary to see things by their vicinity. However, I had figured I wouldn’t start out till closer to 1 or 2, so I ended up squeezing in a bunch of things on Wednesday that were on later days because, as I always say: why put off till tomorrow what you can do today?

Rome does have a subway and bus system, but I never used them since I was centrally located — an hour walk from everything I wanted to see at most. I won’t bury the lede — according to my iPhone, I walked on average 29,839 steps a day! No wonder my feet hurt so much!

I mostly had a plan of attack, but I also went on tangents following different roads when I saw architecture I wanted to get a photo of. A lot of the piazzas ran together, but I’m glad I saw as many as I did. Here’s where I went to on Wednesday:

Museo Boncompagni Ludovisi — I was passing a free museum, and I can never pass those up! I believe this is one of those “rich people decided to donate their collection so people could see it after they die” type places, and there was an exhibit called “Fifties in Rome” featuring the fashion of the day, amongst other interesting art pieces.

Spanish Steps — I ended up coming out at the top of the steps, and went into the big church there. Then I walked down, and there was a really big Xmas tree (from Dior), ala 30 Rock, and when I returned to the steps a few days later, it was all gone, so it’s good I managed to see it all before. In general, the first few days were a bit crowded. I imagine that it would’ve been worse in the summer, but apparently Italy schools were off the first week of the year, so there were a lot of domestic tourists in the major areas.

Barcaccia Gelateria — I had different gelato flavors every day starting with Milk Chocolate and Pistachio. I didn’t have bad gelato all trip, and it was always incredibly (and ridiculously) cheap. Definitely one of the perks of Italy!

Pedro Sandoval Art Exhibit — Another free stop — some interesting musical instrument sculptures — it was a very small gallery.

Piazza del Popolo — This was my favorite piazzas because it was so wide open and had cool things to see on all four sides. There was an obelisk in the center and some interesting sculptures. I rested for a bit on some steps listening to some live music because I was a bit tired having stayed up so long.

Piazza Colonna — There was a tall structure in this piazza too, but there wasn’t anywhere to just chill.

Largo Argentina — At this really cool ruin, there is a cat sanctuary where they currently have 86 cats they are taking care of! They let you go in, and it’s basically a free cat cafe.

Campo de Fiori — This wide open space had a lot of vendors on Wednesday selling things, ala a flea market, and a statue in the middle.

Piazza Navona — Another huge area of town, on the day I was there, there was a carnival type thing happening – a carousel and so throngs of people, but when I passed through the next week, it was much calmer. Very trendy area for restaurants.

Really, I passed so many different places and interesting buildings including many churches, and will have to refer you to my own photos for the complete (pun intended) picture. I highly recommend them because I’m biased and I took them, but to give you more incentive, I continued my “Seth takes a selfie with a statue and tries to recreate it” series, which my friend Ilene says is not to be missed! (I’m paraphrasing.)

Trevi Fountain — This is the most iconic Rome location, and it was so crowded in the afternoon that I could barely get a photo. Absolutely gorgeous though!

Porta Pia — This is a giant arch, which was right by my AirBnB.

Pizzeria Al Forno della Soffitta — For my first dinner, I ate across the street from where I was staying for convenience. I started with a fried bread, piazza appetizer then had traditional Italian eggplant parmesan, and I’m drooling just going through the pictures.

I was incredibly tired, having stayed up over 24 hours, and I went to bed around 8PM because I couldn’t stay up any longer.

DAY 2: THURSDAY, JANUARY 4th: ROME

Thursday said that it might rain, but since I brought my umbrella along with me, it turned into the most beautiful day ever.

I started by having a quick breakfast at Mammarella Cafe Bistrot which was next door to my place. I had eggs, toast and bacon with delicious fresh squeezed OJ because I woke up famished, and I figured it would good to have a big breakfast given how much walking I would do that day (and I was right). I went to a lot of places on Thursday:

Trevi Fountain — In the morning it was way calmer and I was able to throw a coin into the fountain!

Pantheon — I was told to get all my tickets in advanced to skip-the-line, and this was the right decision. Some of these lines were out of control! The Pantheon ticket was for 11am, but they still let me in at 10, which is different from every other place I tried to enter early. The Pantheon is a really big church type thing, and was definitely worth seeing. I won’t bother going into historical things, because I didn’t really pay attention to those, especially since I was so jet lagged the first few days. If you’d like more information on some of these places, I highly recommended Google.

Piazza della Minerva — I took a really cute photo with an elephant statue!

Piazza Venezia — This was a huge intersection.

Vittorio Emanuele II Monument — I climbed up the stairs all the way, and got a great view. This monument was pretty, apologies, monumental. You had to pay to go all the way up in an elevator and to see an exhibit about the statue, but if you don’t care about views (which I don’t ever pay for on principle) or history (which I could really do without), then you can totally walk around everywhere else up there.

Capitoline Hill — I walked up the hill, saw the Capitoline Wolf statue (which I got a mini-version of for 2 Euro for my piano), got a picture with the outside of the Roman Forum and headed to the Colosseum. On my way, these men kept trying to talk to me — saying I had “nice shoes” which was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard b/c they were falling-apart sneakers! This was the only time I actually saw crime trying to happen, though I’m not sure what their game plan was trying to ask people where they were from, etc… I had been warned about pickpockets, but I didn’t see anything close to that happening, and felt completely safe the whole trip — besides being a bit faclempt in the most crowded tourist areas, where I did make sure to hold onto my phone and cover my wallet very tightly.

Arch of Constantine — Anyway, the colosseum would not let me in early, so I ended up with an hour to kill. Oops! I took a picture with this arch, then I walked down the street to Circus Massimo and sat for a bit.

Colosseum — This is a gorgeous place! I highly recommend getting the skip-the-line tickets in advance, even if it means you are stuck waiting outside for an hour. I did the basic areas — my cousin had recommended the basement, but that was a separate, more expensive tour. But I did try to take pictures of it from the first level. I marveled in this marvel!

Roman Forum & Palatine Hill — The ticket for the Colosseum includes these must see places. I walked around them for hours, and it was really cool thinking about how long those structures have been around. In the Roman Forum, I saw where the Vestal Virgins lived, and also saw where Julius Caesar’s ashes are buried!

Gelateria Artigianale di Eccellenza — I was starving, so I decided to eat dessert first, and today’s flavors were Chocolate Chip, Mango and Cheesecake (which might’ve been my favorite flavor of the week!)

Santa Maria in Aracoeli — I went up a lot of stairs to see the inside of yet another church…

Capitoline Museum — This museum was pretty good. It was one of those — you can only go up and down in certain areas, so it took a bit to make sure I had visited every section. The actual Capitoline Wolf was in here, a gold statue of David, and they had a special exhibit on the hundreds of Jews who were taken from Rome in 1943 to the concentration camps, and the 2 who survived.

Taverna Boccaccio — I decided to walk away from the touristy areas, and was exploring the tiny little streets off the main roads, and found this cute restaurant that was a Trip Advisor pic. I had the most amazing Fettuccini Alfredo.

Piazza della Repubblica — I walked home past all the lights in this piazza, which I would actually end up walking through a lot when I started going to the concerts at St. Paul’s nightly.

DAY 3: FRIDAY, JANUARY 5th: FLORENCE

On Friday, I woke up and went straight to Roma Termini where I got on a high speed train to Florence. Italy has a great high speed train system, and by buying the tickets a few months in advance, I got pretty decent fares. I did find it really exhausting trying to figure out all the timing for the day so far removed from the trip, but I’m happy to say I mostly succeeded in my guesstimations! Roma Termini is pretty huge, and I was warned of people stealing bags, so I was extra cautious. There was a big board and using the train number on my ticket, I was easily able to figure out which track to go to. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the train had decent Wi-Fi and they gave out snacks and water, but I mostly spent the ride reading.

Florence is adorable, and very easy to navigate since all roads either lead to the Duomo or the river, and it’s also helpful the landmarks are super tall and often visible. The phone said it was going to rain in the afternoon and night, so I wisely decided to run around like a madman seeing all the outside stuff before the precipitation.

So, I went and took photos of Santa Maria Novella, the Duomo AKA Florence Cathedral, Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze, and Palazzo Vecchio. I didn’t go inside anything because there were such long queues, and I really wanted to get to the Synagogue/Jewish museum by 3PM before it closed for Shabbat.

Before I got to the museum, I was a bit hungry, so I grabbed a quick cheese sandwich at Caffe Pasticceria.

The Florence Synagogue is absolutely beautiful. It has a moorish design with an Italian dome. A guy called David Levi bequeathed most of his inheritance to its creation in 1874. The first Rabbi in the 1880s was Samuel Hirsch Margulies — so maybe he was a distant cousin. The museum is in the synagogue itself, and only had a few rooms. But just going into the synagogue itself was worth the tiny admission fee. Absolutely beautiful!

After I stopped by my AirBnB to meet my host for the night and her friendly cat.

Then I headed to the Galleria Dell’Accademia Di Firenze to see Michelangelo’s statue David. This was one of the only places I hadn’t pre-bought the ticket, and I deeply regret it. I stood in the freezing rain on the non-reservation line for about an hour, which is longer than I spent in the museum itself! If I had realized that the queue would be decimated closer to closing time (7PM), I would’ve shown up later. Seeing David in person was cool, though. There wasn’t much else of note in the museum, though there was a tiny musical instruments section.

I went to dinner at Buca Niccolini because they advertised a 20 Euro Florentine Steak, which seemed like something I should try while in Florence. It was delicious! Unfortunately, the restaurant had Wi-Fi that made you verify your phone number or social media or email, and since I didn’t have Wi-Fi I couldn’t access any of those. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. If you have access to data on your phone, you do not need Wi-Fi! Anyway, I ended up talking to 2 really nice sisters from America who were sitting at the adjacent for awhile till I was kicked out since they had reservations to fulfill. It was nice to meet some Americans, though neither added me on social media… ah, well…

I went to Amorino right off the main square for my daily gelato, which was organic lemon sorbet, organic chocolate and wild berries.

Thankfully, it stopped raining, so I was able to stroll around in this charming city after dark. I came across a warthog that people were putting money in for luck, but it was a long queue and I didn’t feel like wasting more coins. I crossed the river and went to a classical opera concert at the church of Santa Monica. It said it was an Italian Opera concert, bu they featured some non-Italian composers like Mozart. The concert consisted of a soprano and a baritone doing mostly arias, plus a pianist who also played 2 solos (Schubert and Chopin — also not Italian!). I was happy there was one Puccini.

Afterwards, I walked home, and it was totally alive and happening! I was so tired that I fell asleep very quickly.

DAY 4: SATURDAY, JANUARY 6th: PISA

When you are taking a local train, you have to check your ticket in after midnight. While doing this, I realized I could move my train back, and since I wanted to sleep in, and also at this point realized that I wouldn’t be able to get into places earlier than my ticket said, but could get there a bit late without any issues, I happily decided to not set an alarm and move my train to Pisa to 12:28 from 11.

This also gave me enough time to go to the Piazzale Michelangelo, which was also on the other side of the river. First I briefly stopped by the Giardino dell Rose, but it was raining, so I didn’t linger and kept going towards the Piazzale. It was definitely worth it to go for the view but neither Google nor the signs pointing out where to go made it clear just how far up it is. Of course, it makes sense it would be high since it was billed as the best view of Florence, but it was quite a hike up, up, and more up.

After taking some picturesque pictures, I hustled to the train station to make my train to Pisa. There was an old car festival going on by the Basicalia de Maria Novella, which is funny because I seem to run into these sorts of things often around the world, the last time being in Madison, WI.

Pisa is pretty dull. I’m not going to lie! And it was raining still, so that put a damper on the day. I followed signs to the Tower of Pisa, which was about a half hour from the train. The entire town was pretty much closed, which could be because it was a Saturday. When I got to the Tower, I realized that I had to check my bag, so I ended up even later for my time slot, but they didn’t care. The Tower has 296 steps, and I walked up them glad to not slip because they were super wet since it was raining. I spent some time at the top taking photos, trying to make the photos make it clear there was a slant.

When I came down I did my social media lauded photoshoot with the Tower of Pisa. Thankfully, the rain ebbed a bit, and I was able to have fun for about 15 minutes trying to come up with interesting and funny shots! I admit I had a really great time doing this, and even though Pisa has nothing else going for it, I’ve heard about this leaning tower my entire life, and I was super happy to be there.

I went into the Cathedral, which wasn’t that exciting and sat for a bit out of the rain, and then I found Wi-Fi at the visitor’s center. Given my train back wasn’t till 7, I had a bunch of time to kill anyway, so I figured I should get my photoshoot up before people in the USA were awake, so they had something fun to wake up to.

There were no restaurants open on my walk, so I figured I had better eat right in the area of the tower. I found a TripAdvisor approved restaurant called Ristoro Pecorino where I had minestrone soup and the best lasagna ever.

Finally, after dinner I went to get gelato from a small cafe that was still open. The flavors of the day for me were melon and cookies.

Unfortunately, my train was delayed by 45 minutes, so I had to sit in the icky Pisa train station for almost 2 hours since I had gotten there early. So I didn’t get home till 11PM. The only good news with the train being delayed so much is that I’m getting a 25% refund since it was over a half hour late. Traveling in Europe is much nicer than traveling in America sometimes! (Most times…)

DAY 5: SUNDAY, JANUARY 7th: POMPEII, NAPLES

I woke up early on Sunday to take my 9AM train to Pompei/Pompeii. Pompei is the city; Pompeii is the lost civilization that was buried in lava. Unfortunately, my good weather luck disappeared on Sunday, and it was pouring for most of the day.

The good news is that most places in Italy are free on the first Sunday of the month, so at least I didn’t have to pay to enter.

Pompeii is pretty spread out, as it was a full city. I usually try to meticulously check off where I’ve been when I go somewhere, but unfortunately, my paper map was decimated by the rain. In fact, everything I brought that day ended up soaked, including myself. Luckily, I had an umbrella, but there’s only so much one can do.

Anyway, I’m not going to be able to give you a huge detailed recap of Pompeii, which is fine, b/c you can always google it. I did walk around, and I saw many houses. A lot of them had exits that came out somewhere else, so that made it even harder to navigate in the rain. There were also puddles and lots of roped off corridors due to the inclement weather. They had rocks that were in the roads, so you could step on those instead of stepping into the puddles. It kind of was like that game my nephew and niece play — “The Floor is Lava” — although it was water, not lava — even though, ironically, lava was once where the water was.

Often there would be signs that the original tapestries or whatever were in the Naples Archaeological Museum, which was probably because of weather issues.

In addition to many casas that we could visit, there was a forum, and some theaters, and a mini-colloseum where Pink Floyd played, and there was a few people encased in lava in the Garden of Fugitives.

After the rain let up, I met a few stray cats, including a tuxedo one that was incredibly vocal. We had a long conversation in meow, and I was happy to get to know them.

My original plan was to try to get to a second archaeologically preserved city Herculaneum which had been recommended by 2 friends. It was also free on that Sunday, so it would’ve been lovely to squeeze it in. Unfortunately, with the rain, I kept having to take refuges wherever I could, and since I couldn’t optimize what I was seeing, kept slipping on the cobblestones, and had to worry about keeping track of my phone and umbrella when I was taking photos, etc, I just lost about an hour. I also didn’t realize until I left the park that there was a subway type train that connects Pompei to Naples that stopped right in Erculaneum! Had I known that, I might’ve tried harder, but as it was, I went at a leisurely pace and then retraced everything, and each time I did, I noticed something I had completely missed the first time. If I had a TARDIS, I would consider telling myself a more efficient way to get through Pompeii, but I don’t, so it is what it is.

Regardless, I happily stumbled upon the mini-train station and realized I could go directly to Naples on that train for only 3.50 Euros!

Naples was chaotic and loud. It felt exactly like I was in “My Brilliant Friend” and the drivers reminded me of Boston. I got off at the final stop, but I should’ve gotten off at Garibaldi which is the main station. Thankfully, I was able to walk there pretty quickly. It took me awhile to finally realize that Napoli Centrale was in yet a different building. It was like having the LIRR, subway, Amtrak, and NJ Transit all very close, but not in the same exact area.

Once I figured out where my train home was leaving from I embarked to get the best pizza in the world! Celia had recommended L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, which is where Julia Roberts eats in “Eat, Pray, Love” and it was the best pizza I have ever had, hands down. And the cheapest! I’m salivating just looking at my photo of it.

After dinner, I stopped by a gelato place that was on the 10 minute walk back to the train station, Il Gelagao Mennella, and my flavors for the night were Cookies and Cream, Almond and Orange, and Stracciatella.

Again I had overestimated how much time I would need, so I waited an hour in the chaotic station, finally boarded my on time train, and then got home.

DAY 6: MONDAY, JANUARY 8th: ROME

I slept in Monday because I was very tired. I finally left around 11 and started my walk towards the Jewish Quarter. Thankfully for the rest of my trip I had beautiful weather after Sunday’s massive storms.

On the way, I passed the glorious Piazza del Quirinale and passed by the area with the Colosseum again. This time, it was far less crowded so I was able to take more photos of the opposite side of the street with Foro di Traiano.

First up in the Jewish Quarters were the remains of the Teatro di Marcello and Il Portico di Ottavia.
Next I went to the free Fondazione Museo Della Shoah Roma AKA the Rome Holocaust Museum. It was pretty small, and honestly, having been to the concentration camps they were talking about, I didn’t feel the need to linger too long.

I was told that there would be a Rome Synagogue tour at 1:15PM through the Jewish Museum, so I took some time to walk around a bit in the Jewish Ghetto seeing the Kosher restaurants and the Hebrew school. I’m not sure what a Kosher pizza parlor would imply besides the fact there wouldn’t be any meat since pizza is heavily dairy, but I didn’t feel the need to find out…

The Rome synagogue was not as beautiful as the Florence one and looked far more like a church than a temple. It did have a square dome, which is unusual. This synagogue was built in the Jewish ghetto when Jews were all forced to live in this one area of town. They had to combine 5 synagogues into this one. The Jewish Ghetto existed from 1555 to 1870, and then all of Rome’s Jews were taken to be murdered in 1943, and only 2 survived. In 1986, Palestinians attacked the temple, murdering a 2 year old, so nowadays the whole area has police guard 24/7. In 1986, the Pope came to speak at the temple and called the Jewish people “Elder Brothers” to Catholics, which makes him a mensch!

Today there are 35K Jews in Italy. There was an influx in the 1400s as Jews were kicked out of Spain, and then again in the 1960s when they were kicked out of Libya.

The museum itself was pretty comprehensive about Jews in Italy, which is something I didn’t really know about. It also had a lot of antique Jewish tapestries and artifacts, as well as an exhibit of modern Israeli painters.

Afterwards, I walked down passed Circus Massimo again, which is a huge strip of a park where they’ve shot some major films. I went to see the Baths of Caracella, but they were closed on Monday so I could only get a few exterior photos. Next, I went on a winding path to try to find the Lavernale Door. As I was going to give up, I noticed a queue with a musician strumming and realized that was exactly what I was looking for. It is literally a door, and you peep through the keyhole, and the Vatican is framed between 2 bushes. It’s really quite cool, and I’m glad that I managed to find it!

I had heard that the Trastevere neighborhood had some trendy restaurants, so I crossed over the Tiber River to find some grub. I ended up at this great restaurant Rione 13 where I had breaded veal and delicious cheesy zucchini flowers (“Fiori di zucca”).

I crossed back for my concert and stopped off at The Gelatist for my daily gelato; this time I had Kinder Cereali and Snickers as my flavors.

I ended the night at St. Paul’s Within the Walls, which is a church that rents out its space to weekly concerts. Every Monday a string quartet plays some Bach and Vivaldi’s The 4 Seasons. They sounded exquisite, and the acoustics in the church were great. What a fantastic way to end a day!

DAY 7: TUESDAY, JANUARY 9th: VATICAN CITY

Tuesday I tried to get up and go, and had moderate success. I walked an hour to Vatican City. The first thing I did was to mark my 31st country in the Been app! Woohoo!

I took a few pictures of the Castel Sant’Angelo then headed over to St. Peter’s Square and St. Peter’s Basilica. Thankfully this was an off-peak season, so there wasn’t much of a queue through security for the basilica. It was crowded, but not mobbed, so I was able to see Michelangelo’s Pieta pretty easily and then was able to walk around and admire the huge structure and fancy designs. I also went down to the basement to see the former Popes’ crypts, though I opted not to go to to the top of the dome since it cost money (and as I’ve said, I have a principle against paying for views).

After I made sure to see every nook and cranny, I left and headed over to the Vatican Museums, which included the Sistine Chapel. I didn’t realize that the chapel was actually inside the museum, but it makes sense b/c the tickets were a combined ticket. I was told to get Skip-the-Line tickets, so I did. My time was 12:30PM, but I was there around noon, and they wouldn’t let me in early so I mulled about for a half hour. This is the problem with having to time things out, but I was going to get an earlier time and they were taken, so it quite worked out. I don’t think there’s any way I would’ve made it much earlier by that point of the trip. You can notice how my days get progressively later as the week goes on and I adjusted to the time zone…

The Vatican museums are absolutely gigantic. I was trying to figure out the most efficient route to the Sistine Chapel, but I needn’t have bothered because that section is completely cordoned off with ropes, such that you can only go one way. And if you skip anything, you’d have to go back to the beginning, so I decided to practice this virtue I rarely use called patience, and I went through all the galleries along the route.

I’m quite glad I did because I stumbled upon a Van Gogh painting in one of the rooms (one of his Pieta)! Indeed, I found a whole contemporary art section, though they defined contemporary as after 1900… but they had some Gaughin and Chagall and even a few Dali! Besides those rooms, it was a lot of sculpted statues and tapestries.

The Sistine Chapel was way larger than I had thought. They do not let you take photos in there, so if you want to see it, you will have to make the trip yourself. The entire room from walls to ceiling is plastered with intricate drawings and I spent 20 minutes or so moving around to different spots to sit and stare. (I also really needed to sit at this point in the trip because my feet were killing me.)
When I got done with that section of the museum, I realized there were a few other sections! In one I found Lapidario Ebraico which were Jewish epigraphs from tombstones in the 3rd and 4th centuries shortly after all Jews were expel from Israel. It was crazy to see etched menorahs on these ancient headstones.

There was also an Italian stamp room, and a section of around the world art, much like you find in lots of museums. I also found a room of paintings which had one by Leonardo da Vinci.

Anyway, once I was 100% sure I had seen every single room (this time my map wasn’t rained on), I departed the museum for the Old Bridge Gelateria, which was listed as one of the best gelato in the world. It was good, but I didn’t think it was any better or worse than the rest of the gelato I had all trip! Anyway, this time I had Profumo di Sicilia, Zuppa, and Blueberry.

I headed over to the Piazza Cavour, which was a really cute little park, and I just sat for a bit watching the sun go down because I was sick of walking and not in a hurry since my concert that night wasn’t till 8:30PM.

I decided to go back around Piazza Navona where the trendy restaurants are and I ended up choosing Cybo which was a hip wine bar and restaurant. I had amazing rigatoni with artichokes and then some broccoli on the side which I mushed into my meal. Yum!

Finally, since I was a bit early, I took a detour before going to the concert to see the actual opera house, Teatro Dell’Opera Di Roma. Sadly, they were still off for winter break, but my concert that night was Verdi’s opera La Traviata again at St. Paul’s within the Walls. The concert was really bare bones, but the singers, especially the lead were top notch. It was kind of hard to see, and weird to see opera without subtitles, but since I already knew the story, I could follow it well enough. The small orchestra sounded amazing, and it was great to see an Italian opera in Italy!

DAY 8: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10th: ROME

On my final day of vacation, I slept as late as possible because I knew I would have to acclimate back to NYC time soon. My agenda was very light because I have learned to not plan too much on the final day of a trip.

I went to Villa Borghese, which is basically Central Park with lots of trees, grass, benches, and musicians playing. I was going to start with the Borghese Gallery and Museum but it was filled till 1PM. However, that was fine because it allowed me to see the park first while it was sunny and warm, taking photos of the fountains, statues and the Globe Theater. I also got a quick slice of pizza by Piazza del Popolo, which I was glad to revisit one more time.

The galleries in the museum were fine. Lots of old stuff by people like Peter Paul Rubens, Caravaggio and Rafaello. I was out within an hour because it was pretty small. I thought their system for bag check was cool — they scanned your ticket, and then this conveyer belt brought the bag around to be picked up.

By the way, in case you missed it, I saw art by Michelangelo, Leonardo and Rafaello… meaning the only ninja turtle I missed was Donatello! Cowabunga!

After the museum, I sat in the park and read/wrote till I got cold. Then, I actually took an hour to go home and just kind of chill because I found I had finished my itinerary completely!

I found a restaurant on my way back to St. Paul’s for my final concert — Forno A Legna — it was very inexpensive (and they only charged 1 Euro for water instead of 2 or 3) so I was able to get spaghettini as an appetizer and then gnocchi for my final meal.

My final concert was The Three Tenors, and it was a first act of arias and a second act of Neapolitan songs. I was very happy that there were 2 Puccini arias including my favorite Nessun Dorma, plus some Donizetti, Leoncavallo, Verdi and Massenet. They also sang “Time to Say Goodbye” and ended with “O Sole Mio” which to Americans is “It’s Now or Never” (which incidentally was the encore for the first concert I saw in Florence, so the entire trip came full circle).

On my way home, I finally tried the Gelateria La Romana, which was on my corner. My final flavors were Arancia Rossa (Blood Orange), Croccante Della Nonna, and Pesto di Pistachio (going back to pistachio, again brings the trip full circle). It was delicious.

At the end of this night, I only had 1 Euro and 30 cents left, which is really good guesstimating on my part! I had taken out 400 Euros at the start of the trip, which is 50/day, and I was spot on with my estimate. It definitely helped that all my train travel and a lot of my activities were pre-paid. Given that I get a foreign transaction fee every time I use my credit card in another country, I figured cash would be better, and it was. There was a 3% fee and a $3 non-TD Bank ATM fee, but I think that $16 was much less than the credit card fees would’ve been. It also helps that I can do math, so by the last 2 days, I was very cognizant about which meals to order and whether or not they were going to charge me for water (which all restaurants but one did). However, by the end of the trip, I had stopped tipping because I was told that locals do not do that, especially when there are other fees that have been added to the bill. Anyway, that whole paragraph is a huge humble brag, though, maybe it’s not that humble.

Regardless, I went to bed, and then I flew out the next day on Thursday, January 11th, and had no problem getting to my flight on time, zooming through security and immigration. Again, nothing good can be said about JFK, so I will say I eventually made it home and Joni was so thrilled to see that I was back!

VACATION BOOK and PODCAST

I managed to read a book on vacation with all the trains I took, especially since not all of them had Wi-Fi. The book I picked for vacation was:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine — We have a place in our lounge where people can leave books they are done with, and this one was there, and it was a Reese Witherspoon pick, so I thought it’d be cute for a trip, and I was right. Quirky and charming, with a few twists, I enjoyed this book and it was nice light fare for vacation.

While walking I caught up on some episodes of “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” including Patrick Stewart, Harrison Ford, Clare Danes, and the wonderful President Joe Biden.

MOVIES ON THE PLANE

I watched 4 movies on the way to Rome, and 5 on the way back:

Barbie — This was a cute movie, though I don’t really quite get the hype. I prefer green to pink!

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 — While not as funny as the first one, it was still pretty funny.The Persian Version — I saw a preview for this movie, and was happy to check it out. I quite enjoyed this movie about an Iranian lesbian who accidentally gets knocked up on the one night she has sex with a male drag queen, which is based on the director/writer’s own life! Highly recommended!

You Hurt My Feelings — I thought this movie starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus was really quite good, as well.Joy Ride — This movie about an Asian roadtrip to China was pretty raunchy, which is my kind of humor, so I very much enjoyed it!

Past Lives — This movie was half in Korean and was touching, though a bit slow.

Real Women Have Curves — This was an HBO movie from 2002 starring America Ferrara which I’d never seen, also based on the director/writer’s true live story.

Incidentally, these 7 movies all have one thing in common — they were all written and directed by women, most of them both written and directed by the same one!

Blackberry — This movie about the history and scandal of the making of the blackberries was pretty good, but I’m very happy to never have owned one.

Labyrinth — I mean, you can’t go wrong with Jim Henson! With less than 2 hours to go, I squeezed this movie in, and it finished right as we landed — I knew to account for losing minutes due to plane announcements both in English and then Italian…

CONCLUSIONS

I loved this trip! I feel like there’s still more to see in Rome, but I’ve done a good chunk of the main area now. I would love to get to Venice at some point, and perhaps Sicily (which are of course on opposite sides of the country), but for now, I feel really great having taken a week off the grid away from the world’s chaos. I’m refreshed, which is good, because as y’all will remember from my last email, it’s going to be a busy 2024.

Oh, one more announcement for those who actually make it to the ends of my emails — the Love Quirks college debut is almost confirmed — if you missed the show, and would like to see a college production of it this April, please ask me for details, which will be announced shortly on LQ’s social media!

I hope your years have gotten off to a great start, and, as always, please respond to let me know what you are up to!

Always,
Seth

JUNE

June 20th, 2024 — Country Roads Take Me to an Overdue Update

It’s been 5 very busy months since my last update, and I finally cleared a day to catch you up on my 2024 so far!

FOUR MAJOR PROJECTS

1. MALKA

We begin filming on “Malka” on Monday, which is nuts. This project inspired by my grandmother has been over a decade in the making, and it’s truly amazing that this is finally happening! For those of you who follow the project or my social media, you should already know that legendary Broadway/TV actress Tovah Feldshuh, who has 4 Tony & 2 Emmy nominations is playing my grandmother. We love working with Tovah so much, and she is elevating this project to a new level. We all truly believe in this short film musical, and I cannot wait for the world to see it! We are shooting for 3 days next week, and it promises to be incredible (and exhausting). Thank you again to everyone who backed this project and believed in this story and in me.

2. LOVE QUIRKS

“Love Quirks” had its college premiere at Hofstra University in April, and it was incredible! It was like watching your child graduating into the real world. The student production was wonderful. It was completely sold out, and not only got a standing ovation at the end, but the show was stopped multiple times because of uproarious laughter and applause. Brian and I had the privilege to go opening night, and we did a talkback Q&A afterwards. Everyone involved in the college production has fallen in love with the show, and hopefully that love gets spread to other colleges next year!

In other “Love Quirks” news, we are currently working on bringing the show to London in the spring for a 4 week run off-West End. I will have more information about this soon, but if you have been planning to go to London at some point, this gives you a great excuse! I will be moving to London for the whole run, and intend to see more of the UK including Isle of Man, plus I’d like to see Belfast in Northern Ireland, and of course, Harry Potter Studios. Cheerio!

3. THE DIAMOND AS BIG AS THE RITZ

I’m so excited to announce that “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz” is having its world premiere production in NYC this September. Based on F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s 1922 satirical novella, we last presented the show as a 2 day reading in 2018.

The show will run midtown for 3 weeks at the American Actors Theater, running mostly Thursday through Sunday, September 12th-29th. If you were planning on coming to the city, this would be a great time to visit!

4. AGATHA CHRISTIE’S THE SECRET ADVERSARY

We had a phenomenal first reading of our new musical “Agatha Christie’s The Secret Adversary” in April with a wonderful cast of Broadway performers. We garnered so much great feedback for the show, and are excited about its future. The next step is to produce a demo album, which we are tentatively scheduled to do this fall.

This is a hilarious, mystery musical romantic comedy, and we think it will have a wonderful life, just like Jimmy Stewart.

BOOK SIGNING EVENT

I’m happy to announce that I will be doing a book signing event for my 4th book “The Making of a Musical: the 12 year journey of Love Quirks” at the iconic Drama Book Shop on Tuesday, September 3rd at 7:30PM. The event will be moderated by, none other than, Brian Childers, the original director of the show! This should be a super fun evening, and I hope you can make it if you are in the city!

Drama Book Shop Events

LIFE IS A CABARET, OLD CHUM

If that wasn’t enough, I hit 800 weekly cabaret showcases in April, as well. I produced 2 concerts of my songs to celebrate this gigantic milestone. I’ve had a tremendous turnout for showcases over the past few years, and I’m doing 1-2/week for the rest of the summer. By the end of September, I will be at #830!

In addition to my regular series, I have been doing a lot more co-producing lately where I delegate out a lot of the work. We have our 2nd Muppet Cabaret tonight (June 20th), which I’m super excited for. I’m doing an Ernie number and (duh) Miss Piggy’s song from “The Muppet Movie”. I have another few co-productions coming up in September, including my frequent videographer, Amy’s show called “The Friends I’ve Filmed Along the Way” which should be a super fun time.

I just finished calling my 66th performer for summer, and I’m happy to say I’m solidly booked with extremely talented singers!

Oh, other performance based things that happened this spring: accompanying “Fabulous Fanny Brice” in Basking Ridge, NJ on Mother’s Day, and composing a minute score to a Klingon Opera in a minute play festival in May.

CROSSING WORDS

I’m THRILLED to announce that my second published New York Times crossword will be out this Tuesday, June 25th! It’s a collaboration with the wonderful Jeff Chen, who has had 153 other puzzles in the paper. He also has a great daily world game, and if you enjoy Wordle and Connections, you should try it at imsqueezy.com ! I’m even more thrilled to say that Jeff and I had another puzzle accepted by the NYT, which will make my 3rd — and 11 total puzzles so far — if you include one that should be in the LA Times at some point this summer (they only let us know 2 weeks in advance).

I’ve been fairly busy with, you know, the four MAJOR projects listed above, so this might be it for me puzzle-wise for a bit, but I’m sure I will have energy to write puzzles again eventually!

COUNTRY ROADS AKA WEST VIRGINIA, STATE 47

With my mother in Ireland for 2 weeks, my father volunteered to drive me down to West Virginia AKA my 47th state. We went down the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend to avoid holiday traffic.

On Wednesday, we stopped halfway to go to the Nemours Estate in Wilmington, Delaware. This estate was owned by the Dupont’s, and was quite glamorous. We took a shuttle around the gardens, saw the old automobiles in the garage, then walked around the mansion, which included a bowling alley in the basement.

Upon arriving in West Virginia, Wednesday night, we took a picture with the welcome sign, then headed to our hotel. We had surprisingly decent Italian food that night at La Mezzaluna Cafe.

Thursday, we went into Charles Town, where we were staying, and went to the The Jefferson County Museum in the basement of the Charles Town Library. It was there we learned such interesting things as Charles Town was named after George Washington’s younger brother. We also started hearing about John Brown who was an abolitionist who started the ball rolling on abolishing slavery in the South. Afterwards, we went across the street to the Fuzzy Dog Books & Music store, which had a lot of used books. I got 3 including an obscure play by F. Scott Fitzgerald called “The Vegetable”.

Next up, we went to Harpers Ferry National Park, which was both beautiful and interesting. My father has a lifetime Senior pass to all the national parks, so it was completely free!

Harpers Ferry has a main street of stores that were kept historically intact. One of them was Frankel Brows., Le Vitoch & Hirsch Hats and Caps. Always good to see our relatives having great success! We listened to a park ranger talk about John Brown and the fort where he held up trying to start an insurrection for a half hour, and then I walked the bridge that spans from West Virginia to Maryland with a view of Virginia. Thus, I was basically in 3 states at the same time!

We went to the John Brown museum, then I hiked upwards to see Jefferson Rock and Harper Cemetery, while my father stayed on a bench in the shade.

I walked a bit by the river, meandering with a family of geese and the cutest gosling for a bit, then we took the shuttle back up to the parking lot.

For dinner Thursday night, we went to the Mountain View Diner, being big diner fans; then we went to Pikeside Bowl, where I bowled 3 games for only $9! What a steal! I got 107, 117 and 100, which isn’t terrible, but not near my record of 167 which I got at the Broadway Bowling League party the week after it didn’t count at all… speaking of Broadway Bowling, my team came in third this season, which is the first time we’ve had a trophy since I joined the team years ago!

Friday, we got an early start to take advantage of the free breakfast at the hotel and get to Shenandoah National Park, which was also free with my father’s pass! We drove about 60% of the Skyline Drive, and saw a lot of overlooks… of the same greenery over and over. I mean, that’s really all I have to say. It was a lot of trees! I did hike the Appalachian Trail for about 3 minutes. It’s a 2000 mile footpath from Maine to Georgia, and anyone who would do that whole thing is nuts. 3 minutes was plenty for me!
Friday night, we drove to Maryland and spent the night at my uncle Alex’s lovely house. Saturday, we drove up to my sister’s house to have dinner with her family. We played Old Grizzly Bear, which was literally an Old Maid knock off, then Shoot the Poop. Sunday, my director Stacey came over with our Director of Photography to tour my parents’ house (where we are filming a chunk of “Malka” next week), then I went to Costco and Shop Rite and came back to the city for my Memorial Day BBQ on Monday (which was super fun!).

So, West Virginia was state 47. Thank you to my father for taking me! For July 4th weekend, Penny, Mollie and I are heading to Michigan which will be state 48. And then in August, Niki and I are going to Memphis, then Arkansas (49) and finally Oklahoma (state 50) where we are going to Okmulgee’s Invitational Rodeo, which is the nation’s oldest African-American rodeo!

Anyway, once I have been to all 50 states, I can start work on my 5th book: Seth Rates the States.

RIP JONI KITTY

I really meant to send this ledger ages ago, but some unfortunate personal events, including the death of beloved Joni a week after her third birthday, put me behind on productivity for awhile. Please see her obituary, below:

Joni was the sweetest cat, and quite possibly, the sweetest soul I’ve ever known. I instantly fell in love with her the first night she was here when she jumped right on the bed and started rubbing her face all over me with gratefulness at adopting her.

In the last few months, any time I would pick up my keys, she would run over because she knew I was about to leave. In fact, when I put on my shoes and socks, she would jump on me and meow in my face. It got to the point where I had to leave an extra 5 minutes early daily so that I could cuddle her. I would hold her and she would purr, and finally she would let me go, but I always wished I could’ve stayed longer. It became the best part of my day.

In fact, I’ve never had such an affectionate cat; it was kind of like having a dog without having to pick up poop on the street!

She was obsessed with paper bags, loving to be on top or inside them, eschewing any boxes we put out, though she was starting to use her new cat tree a little more regularly. She was also a big kneader and would often “make biscuits” on pillows, comforters, and my legs if I was lying down covered in a blanket. She would always come over and lay with me when I was reading, and she often took a nap right by my feet while I was working at my desk. Over the last few weeks, she had started lying on my chest while I was watching TV, which made me so very happy.

Joni was a speed runner. You would think she was on one side of the apartment, but she was actually on the other even though you just saw her. Being black, it was easy to think she was anywhere a black item was. She also loved jumping up on everything very quickly and out of nowhere, including my lap and my desk. However, she would always meow first to warn that she was coming up.

Indeed, she was so conscientious and also very patient. She never once woke me up, which is quite amazing given how often and how long I sleep. Speaking of sleep, Joni would often wake up from dreams, and start meowing wildly: “Where am I? Where am I?” before running over to say hi then going back to sleep.

Other quirky behaviors included not allowing me to hole punch sheet music for cabarets because she loved being on paper so much, covering up her half-eaten food with anything she could find, sitting on the stove after every use (probably for the warmth), licking the crud on the stove, and hanging out on the lip of the bathtub between the shower curtain and its liner.

She will be so incredibly missed, and I’m still absolutely devastated that she passed shortly after her 3rd birthday. She forever changed my life, and I will cherish her memory always.

MEET SWEETUMS

I was actually hoping to get the obituary out before I got a new cat, but it is what it is. Not being able to live alone, I went down to Best Friends Shelter in Soho, and I was going to say, picked out a new cat, but really he picked me.

Sweetums is the friendliest cat I’ve ever met. He kept circling my feet at the shelter, then purred in my lap. He is a super cuddler who is full of love and a big galoot who has no control of his tail, his super sweet demeanor more than makes up for the knocked down items. He very clearly has the same coloring as the Muppet Sweetums, and also the same good natured, goofy personality, so I think it made sense to don him with that name.

He has the highest pitch meow, which is quite adorable, and loves to spread out since he is a huge cat. He was also recently named Pet of the Week in my building, which is a huge, huge honor.
Sweetums has been a great comfort to me, and I’m happy to welcome him to the family!

BOOKS

I’ve been so busy, and it looks like I haven’t read many books this year (12…), but some of these are SUPER long. And let’s remember in 2021, I read 60 books. I’m just busy, I swear, I still love reading!

The Storied Life of A.J. Firky — this book by Gabrielle Zevin was a bit saccharine, but was cute.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is an absolutely fantastic comedic satire and I highly recommend it.
The Guest by Emma Cline was a bit meandering but had some funny moments.
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid is great, as are all of her books!
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese was a beautiful story, though quite long.
The Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas was basically “Beauty and the Beast” with faeries, but I hear the rest of the series gets better.
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange was a really sweet read just like his other book “There There”.
Come and Get It by Kiley Reid was a really fun, funny read.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver was a solid story but it was so long and took so long to read b/c of the small print, and then I wondered why it was so like “David Copperfield” including the ending, and then I realized, “oh, it’s based on it” which explains why it’s so long.
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride was a solid tale, though it doesn’t have much of a plot, and was a bit redundant in parts (and was a bit redundant in parts).
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray was a fantastic novel. Just fantastic. I love all of Paul’s books, and this one about a dysfunctional family did not disappoint.
Good Material by Dolly Alderton is a really funny book so far – I’m about halfway through, but I’m enjoying it a lot.

MOVIES

If you scroll down, you’ll see I have clearly been watching tons of theater instead of movies, but here are the few I’ve seen!

Poor Things — Emma Stone earned her Oscar in this movie! Really weird, but wonderful.
Cabrini — My friend Joe who is a Jesuit invited me to this movie about a Catholic saint, and it was surprisingly pretty good.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire — However, it wasn’t funny, so I had to hop into something more fun, which Ghostbusters was!
The Holdovers — I actually watched this on Peacock, but it was a really fantastic movie so I wanted to include it in the ledger.
Coup de Grace — Woody Allen’s 50th and probably final film was fantastic. Totally in French. Such a great swan song, and a wonderfully enjoyable movie.

TELEVISION

I was going to say there isn’t that much to watch these days, but I seem to have come up with a list. But everything is like 6-10 episodes, and some are mini-series and some are canceled, so in today’s streaming landscape, I feel like you are always searching for something new. Anyway, here are some shows I’ve liked recently.

Alice & Jack — This BBC miniseries was on PBS, and it was completely unlike any rom-com type miniseries I’ve seen, and I really loved it.
Shogun — This FX show is often in Japanese, but is so beautifully written and filmed.
Elsbeth — This is a really fun show on CBS/Paramount+ and if you want something really fun that doesn’t make you think, I recommend it — there are also many, many Broadway guest stars!
We Were the Lucky Ones — This Hulu miniseries is one of the best Holocaust tv shows I’ve ever seen. It explored some things that even I didn’t realize happen, and it’s all based on a remarkable true story of a Jewish family in Poland that is followed from 1931 to the 1945.
Apples Never Fall — This is a rare TV show that was better than the book (by Liane Moriarty) with a fantastic cast including Annette Bening and Alison Brie. (On Peacock)
Mrs. Davis — This is another Peacock recommendation — this is a mini-series co-creator by one of the LOST co-creators, and it’s crazy and wacky and super quirky.
Girls on the Bus — This is a MAX show starring Supergirl that sadly got canceled, but it was a really cute quirky dramedy about the press corps working a Presidential campaign.
Dark Matter — This Apple+ show is very sci-fi, and has multiple universes. It’s wonderfully written and acted, and this is a great show for anyone who likes this sort of genre.
Reginald the Vampire — I caught up on this SyFy show (also on Peacock) which is definitely a guilty pleasure, but kind of has a bit of Buffy-ish vibes.
My Adventures with Superman — This animated Superman show on Adult Swim (or MAX) is a super fresh take on the Man of Steel and his friends!
Poker Face — Finally got around to watching this Peacock comedy starring Natasha Lyonne and it totally deserves all its buzz.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith — This Amazon Prime show is a really good and unexpected take on this franchise written and starring Danny Glover.
Baby Reindeer — This Netflix show about a codependent relationship with one’s stalker is TRIPPY and apparently based in reality…
A Gentleman in Moscow — This Showtime/Paramount+ show starring Ewan McGregor is a really great Russian drama.
Colin from Accounts — This Paramount+ show from BBC is really adorably funny, and recommended for those who like sitcomy shows.

Some other shows I’ve recommended in the past that are back (the first 2 sadly for their final seasons) are: Evil, Lazarus Project, Interview with a Vampire, The Boys and Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon.

THEATRE

Apparently I’ve seen a lot of theater this year so far.

Nabucco – Wonderful production of this Verdi opera at the Met.
Our Class – This was such a brilliant production with an innovative staging about 10 Polish kids in the 30s and then it follows them till their in their 80s (the ones who survived at least).
Once Upon a Mattress – This thrilling Encores production starring Sutton Foster and Michael Urie is transferring to Broadway next fall.
Jonah – This was an intriguing play off-Broadway at Roundabout.
The Connector – Thoroughly enjoyed this new Jason Robert Brown musical, and completely was unable to talk to Scott Bakula after, but got a selfie and an autograph.
King Lear – Saw my friend Eric in this solid Shakespeare production off-Broadway at St. Clement’s.
Prayer for the French Republic – This was a masterpiece of a Broadway play, and the 3 hours flew by. Just spellbinding.
Oh, Mary – Really fun, campy play about Mary Todd Lincoln, which is transferring to Broadway this summer.
The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers – How exciting to see the “Double Dare” host live, and watch people play “Family Feud” live.
The Apiary – Second Stage play off-Broadway about beekeepers that took an interesting turn.
Jelly’s Last Jam – This Encores production was so wonderful, and it was lovely to see one of the few 90s musicals I hadn’t really known.
Sunset Baby – This was a fantastic play at Signature Theatre.Sign of the Times – Jukebox musical off-Broadway featuring Love Quirks’ own Maggie McDowell!
Enemy of the People – This Ibsen play from ages ago still resonates very well, though having been to the Ibsen museum in his apartment, I do know that he was really mostly a hypocrite in real life.
The Ally — Thought-provoking play starring Josh Radnor about a progressive Jew trying to figure out what to do.
Lempicka — Ambitious new musical about a fascinating bisexual artist from the 40s.
Stalker — This magic show didn’t really have that much I hadn’t seen before, though I don’t know how everything is done, but the ending was worth going for.
Broadway by the Season 1931-32 & 1942-43 — Wonderful concert produced by Scott Siegel featuring Broadway classics, as always.
Brooklyn Laundry — Funny and poignant play off-Broadway at MTC.
Indigo Girls — Got to see this iconic group that I didn’t really know that well interviewed at Lincoln Center, and was impressed by their lyrics.
La Forza del Destino — This production of this Verdi opera I didn’t know was phenomenal, and now I listen to the opera all the time.
Aftershocks — My BFF Rori Nogee wrote and starred in this absolutely amazing play off-off-Broadway, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next!
Orlando — Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of this Virginia Woolf novel at Signature off-Broadway.
La Rondine — I LOVED this Puccini opera — why is this one not well known? What a fantastic masterpiece!
Patriots — Wonderful play about how Putin got his start with a fantastic performance by Michael Stuhlbarg.
I Heart Rock and Roll — Broadway jukebox musical with songs by Huey Lewis.
A Little Night Music (Theater2020) – Great production of this Sondheim classic starring my friends Maria and Matt in Brooklyn Heights.
Do Re Mi (J2 Spotlight) — Great production of this old Jule Styne musical that I hadn’t seen before.
Alice Ripley (Birdland) — Alice Ripley was in great form and sang all her hits!
Dungeons & Dragons – The Twenty-Sided Tavern — This was a moderately interactive D&D game that is kind of a play?
El Nino — My friend and I went to see this John Adams’ opera at the Met thinking it was about a storm… nope, it was about boy named Jesus… did I mention we’re both Jewish?
Broadway by the Season 1948–49 & 1954–55 — Another fantastic Scott Siegel evening!
All of Me — This play off-Broadway at The New Group was UNBELIEVABLE and SO FRESH and FUNNY and AUTHENTIC and I loved it.
Mother Play — Paula Vogel’s new bio-play featured 3 amazing performances from Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger. This one made me cry.
Mary Jane — Rachel McAdams stars as a mother who has to take care of her son who has a lot of health issues. Heartbreaking.
Tommy — My father and I went to see this revival after seeing the original 29 years ago. We enjoyed it!
Stereophonic — 3.5 hour play about a band that is putting out various albums, and there are snitbits of songs, but it’s really just a very long play.
The Hours — Speaking of long, this opera was also very long, but worth it to see Kelli O’Hara, Renee Fleming & Joyce DiDonato sing a trio at the end.
Nobody Cares — Laura Benanti’s one-woman show was absolutely hilarious, and you can listen to it on Audible!
A Beautiful Noise — Bill & Hillary Clinton were there with us singing along to “Sweet Caroline”. They never felt so good!
Three Houses — I really enjoyed Dave Malloy’s new piece about 3 people who went a bit crazy during the pandemic living on their own.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus — I went up to Symphony Space to see the unbelievable 11-Time Emmy winner interviewed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
What Became of Us — Got to see Rosalind Chao who was Keiko O’Brien in this sweet play off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company, and she was so nice after when I really could barely talk b/c this is how I get when I watched someone on Star Trek when I was growing up…
Breaking the Story — Interesting play at Second Stage off-Broadway taking a look at foreign photojournalists and what they go through.
Broadway by the Season 1961-62 & 1966-67 — And finally, the final Siegel concert of the series, and this was really fun and featured my friend Brian Charles Rooney who is my age but looks a decade young somehow!

Wow. Well, I guess that’s part of the reason I saw so few movies and read so few books!

CONCLUSIONS

Okey-dokey, there you have it. I hope you feel significantly caught up!

Please do send me a note to tell me how your 2024 is going so far.

Always,
Seth

JULY

July 14th, 2024 — Michigan: State 48

Happy Sunday Funday! I debated whether to do a mini-ledger with just Michigan, or lumping it in with my next trip in August to my final 2 states (Arkansas & Oklahoma) but decided that most people would prefer 2 shorter emails than 1 longer one. So, here’s a short, separate recap of my visit to Michigan!

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY, JULY 3rd, 2024: DETROIT

As those avid ledger readers will know, this summer I am finishing visiting the states. Michigan is state #48 and the only state I had left that seemed to merit a week visit, so I scheduled it around Independence Day. The itinerary was fine-tuned by some Michigan natives I know, and Penny & Mollie decided to join for the trip!

We landed around 5PM on Wednesday night, rented a really cute red Kia, and then met up with my friend Tracy and her friend Tam for delicious dinner at La Shish in Dearborn by our AirBnB where I had some delicious lamb shish. Tam was kind enough to take us on a driving tour of Detroit, bringing us to all the local spots we never would’ve known about including The Heidelberg Project, which is an outdoor art project, the exquisite houses of Indian Village, Belle Isle Park for a wonderful sunset view of Canada, Insomnia Cookies (since it was the only ice cream open), and the steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts. (Sadly, both DIA and the Motown Museum were closed on the 4th, and also Mondays/Tuesdays so we couldn’t see either.)

DAY 2: THURSDAY, JULY 4th, 2024: FORD FACTORY

We spent the first part of Thursday at the Ford Factory, first the Ford Rouge Factory Tour where we saw where they make Ford automobiles. There was a brief intro video, then a kind of Disney style room where they make a virtual truck in front of you with smoke and strobe lights. Then there was a room overlooking the whole complex, and then we went into where they actually make vehicles, but since it was a holiday, there wasn’t much action going on. Finally, we took some photos with some completed cars and trucks, before taking the shuttle back to the main complex.

Next up, we went to the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, which was an amazing museum with lots of different sections that we spent a good 3 hours in. Penny and I made Mold-a-Rama trucks for $5, which were kind of kitschy, but nevertheless a really cute souvenir.

We explored the Made in America display, then some old furniture, then the Mathematica room, then a special exhibit with glass blown art, then the Agriculture section where we saw a John Deere tractor, an Oscar Mayer Weiner car, and I got to pretend to drive a corn header. We went into the special exhibit Dinosaurs in Motion, where we got to maneuver some dinosaur puppets. And next up was the Dymaxion House, which was a circular, insulated house that no one wanted to live in, but I thought it was really cool, and I totally would’ve.

Getting hungry, we paused museum exploration to have lunch at Lamy’s Diner, which was so cheap compared to NYC diners! I had a chicken salad sandwich, potato soup and a yummy chocolate shake.
After lunch, we visited the trains, getting to go on board a few, then the planes, and then… you guessed it: more automobiles, including ones owned or ridden by Presidents. One of the cars they had was the one JFK was shot in.

One of my favorite spots was the room of miniatures which had many pop culture Xmas ornaments from over the decades, including some “Star Trek” and Snoopy and Muppets, which of course made me super excited to see!

There was a section on power, which we kind of breezed through because of time, and then we made sure to go to the “With Liberty and Justice for All” historical section where we got to sit in the actual bus where Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. I apparently sat right where Rosa had sat, and Penny sat where Obama sat when he visited b/c he didn’t feel comfortable sitting where Rosa sat… also in that section were the chair that Lincoln was assassinated in, and a folding camp bed that George Washington used in 1780.

Finally, we went to the “Your Place in Time” exhibit where we went through the decades seeing an old style moving picture, then teenage rooms for Boomers, then Gen X, which had stuff like an Apple computer with the old style printer, a Barbra Streisand record, some “Sesame Street” stuff and then the game Simon and a Speak ’N Spell.

Having exhausted the museum, while exhausting ourselves, it was time to drive 4 hours north to Mackinaw City for fireworks. We arrived in MC by 9PM (with fireworks starting at 10:20PM) so there was time to walk around the cute city, which had lots of cute shops. I found a cute little owl magnet with neon colors, and made that my magnet for Michigan!

Our AirBnB was actually in Alanson, which was about 25 minutes South of the city and was way more affordable than anything closer. Even though there were no street lights, we managed to find it okay.

DAY 3: FRIDAY, JULY 5th, 2024: MACKINAC ISLAND

Friday we took the ferry to Mackinac Island, which was a very touristy spot, but still quite nice. The ferry went under the Mackinac Bridge, which is a very long suspension bridge that connects Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas, between Lakes Michigan and Huron.

The island was filled with a lot of tiny stores, and a lot of fudge. You could say it was pretty fudged up! I ended up getting just a tiny Buckeye milk chocolate & peanut butter treat for $2.50, but it was really delicious.

Mollie and I had lunch at the cute Watercolor Cafe. I had a salad and a smoothie trying to be healthy. After lunch, we decided to take the 8 mile walk around the island. It was idyllic, besides a quick rain shower. There were some beach areas and great views of the great lakes. Rocks, tree, birds, etc.
Upon getting back to the main area of the island, Penny and I went to Chuckwagon for “the BEST burgers in town!” which probably means they were the only burgers. However, I did have a scrumptious peanut butter and jelly burger with fries.

After dinner, we played a round of mini-golf, which was the first time I’ve played on a mini golf course where the surface was actual grass. It actually made it harder to get the ball to move, so we had to exert a harder hit than usual. The woman collecting money asked if we were a guest of the hotel and since it was $2 cheaper, we said yes, and even though she knew we were lying, she still gave us $2 off each, which I really appreciate. I won mini-golf, which made me very happy because I like winning things.

Then, Mollie and I got Moomers Homemade Ice Cream to continue to make up for the fact I had eaten healthily in the afternoon. I had scoops of peanut butter Oreo & Mackinac Fudge. (Mollie ended up treating me to thank me for all the driving I did on the trip.)

We took the ferry back right around sunset, and then it was back to Alanson for one more night of sleep in the area.

DAY 4: SATURDAY, JULY 6th, 2024: TRAVERSE CITY

Saturday we drove west to go to Traverse City for the National Cherry Festival.

We didn’t realize we could find free street parking, so we parked in a garage, but since it was only $1.25/hour, it was not a big deal. Talk about being out of NYC!

Coincidentally, my friend Jill and her husband Gavan were also visiting Michigan and planning to go to the festival that day, so we got to meet up with them for a few hours. I had an incredible cup of cherries for $5, and then Gavan was really nice and got us all cherry pie, which was quite good.

Unfortunately, the festival wasn’t really that exciting, nor that big. There weren’t many events happening, so when Gavan suggested we go to Sleeping Bear Dunes, which was only about a 40 minute drive away, we did.

Before we left, though, we stopped by Wilson Antiques, which was a 4 level antique store… and I found a little section with collectibles and found a Miss Piggy NHL doll for only $6! Also, I got a Garfield Pez for $3 and a little Smurfette for $4. Best ever $13 spent!!

Anyway, Sleeping Bear had beautiful views of dunes, and a beautiful beach. Definitely worth stopping by.

We went back to Traverse City for dinner at Seven Monks where I had a healthy beet salad with grilled chicken.

Then, we came upon a Smokey Bear hot air balloon where they were celebrating his 80th anniversary, and we got a lot of Smokey Bear swag because free stuff is the best stuff!

Finally, while listening to a really good guitarist doing mostly covers, we found a spot by the lake to sit and then at 10:30Pm we saw what were (thankfully) really great fireworks celebrating the end of the cherry festival. They even had firework cherries!

We stayed at a regular hotel in Kalkaska.

DAY 5: SUNDAY, JULY 7th, 2024: GRAND RAPIDS/LANSING

The hotel had breakfast included, and Penny was nice enough to bring me some since I was not up before they closed at 10am.

We left a little after 11am (check out time) then drove back South to Grand Rapids, unsurprisingly hitting about a half hour of traffic.

The first stop was the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, where we learned all about the 38th President who grew up in Grand Rapids, and his wife Betty, very well known for her rehab clinics. I really enjoy these presidential museums — this is only the 2nd I’ve been to (the other being Jimmy Carter in GA) but I do hope to do more — I am going to the Bill Clinton one when I’m in Little Rock — one day I when I’m already renting a car, I want to stop by the FDR one which is about 100 minutes from the city…

Anyway, these museums are very pro-the President they are about, but from what I saw, I think Ford seemed like a pretty decent man for a Republican. He only became President b/c he was named VP after Spiro Agnew resigned. And then when Nixon resigned, Ford was the one who became President. He made tough decisions like pardoning Nixon, and although he ran for reelection, he lost to Jimmy Carter. He had 2 assassination attempts on his life, both of whom: Squeaky Fromme and Sarah Jane Moore became characters in Sondheim’s musical “Assassins”. They had a handwritten letter on display from Sarah Jane Moore where she apologized for trying to shoot him.

There were replicas of the Oval Office and the Situation Room, and lots of memorabilia from Gerry and Betty’s lives. And finally, we stopped by their memorial outside.

The other Grand Rapids stop were the Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, which was $20 to visit. (The Ford Museum had been only $13, but $20 is nice b/c when you pay with cash you don’t need any change!)

The gardens were glorious and the sculpture park was also quite nice. The big thing they kept telling us to see was this giant horse statue — which I mean, a horse is a horse, of course, of course, but I didn’t find it too exciting… maybe if it had been horsing around a bit more instead of looking so serious…

Anyway, there were some cute sculptures including one of bunny people, and we also walked through the Japanese Garden where we saw some coy koi and a non-shellfish turtle (not selfish b/c he was out and about!).

Unfortunately, the gardens closed at 5PM, so we didn’t get to the see the Farm Sculptures, or any of the inside exhibits, but it is what it is.

We drove an hour to Lansing where we dropped Mollie off at her friend’s house for the rest of the trip. Penny and I continued onto the capitol building, then had delicious (and quite inexpensive) chicken pesto pizza at The Cosmos (I also had a house salad), then incredibly cheap premium ice cream at Bunker Busters, which we had passed on the way to pizza.

Finally, we drove 90 minutes back to Detroit where we had our final AirBnb in the lovely Lincoln Park neighborhood.

DAY 6: MONDAY, JULY 8th, 2024: DETROIT/WINDSOR

Since we had to get up and go every day on vacation, we took the opportunity Monday to not rush since we didn’t have a huge itinerary.

First up, we went to Jack White’s record store, Third Man Records, where we ran into movie/TV star Elijah Wood, who seemingly was also on vacation with his family. Elijah was very nice, and took a quick selfie with me.

After looking around at the display on how they make records for a bit, we went next door to Jolly Pumpkin for brunch. I had a muffin.

We parked the car for an hour to walk around Downtown Detroit where we saw Eminem’s restaurant, Mom’s Spaghetti, the FOX Theater, the Guardian Building, a cute Detroit sign, and a bit of the riverwalk. I also had a really good smoothie to hydrate. All our Detroit parking was $1/hour.

Next we went to John K. King Books, which is Michigan’s largest bookstore — 4 really packed floors with so many sections they had paper maps! While they had a lot of used books for decent prices, unfortunately, they were closing at 4PM, so I didn’t get to peruse enough to find something to buy. But as I have almost 600 books in this apartment and have only read about half, it’s probably for the best.

For dinner, we decided to venture across the water to Windsor Canada, eh! We took the $8 tunnel over, got through customs very quickly, drove around the river drive, stopped briefly to see the Windsor Sculpture Park, stopped briefly to selfie with some geese by a windmill in Historic Sandwich Town, and then settled down for dinner at The Loose Goose which had a lovely view of the river and Detroit.

We shared an appetizer of amazing poutine, and then I had tacos. We took the bridge back over ($8) to America, then went to see “Inside Out 2” at the movies, and since it was only $11 instead of $18 in NYC, Penny was nice enough to treat me to the movie to thank me for all the driving I did.

CONCLUSIONS

There were thankfully no issues returning the car Tuesday, nor any issues on the flight home. The book I finished reading on the trip was “The Women” by Kristin Hannah, and the movie I watched on the plane (in 2 parts since the trip was so fast) was “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”. In terms of TV, I finished up “Sweet Tooth” and watched season 2 of the incredible show “Star Trek: Prodigy” on my iPad since Netflix no longer works on my TV since according to Netflix, I’m “not apart of my family’s household”.

Anyway thank you to Penny & Mollie for accompanying me, and to everyone in and from Michigan who helped plan the itinerary: Walter, Debbie, Tracy, Tam, Jill & Gavan.

I’m looking forward to completing the states in a few weeks, and I’ll have plenty project updates by then, too.

Before I go, Sweetums wanted to say, “MEOW!” He is currently spread out on my desk keeping me company as I finish this incredibly short recap.

Please do respond to let me know how your summer is going so far!


Always,
Seth

AUGUST

August 18th, 2024 — 50 States: Check + Malka Update

Happy August, dear friends and family.

I’ve been asked my multiple people to add a TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) section to the ledgers for those who skim them on a mobile device, and I’m only too happy to oblige, though I hope this TLDR isn’t too long for you. This ledger contains the following sections:

1. Malka: For my grandmother’s 96th birthday today we launched a post production campaign to get us across the finish line. There’s a video with footage from the movie; please watch, share, and contribute whatever you can so we can get this movie out into the world! https://tinyurl.com/malkacampaign

2. The Diamond as Big as the Ritz: Tix are only $29 when you buy them before 9/1 with the code EARLYBIRD. The 3 week run (16 performances only!) of our satirical musical based on F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s short story is at the ATA Sargent Theater on w54th St from 9/13-29! https://tinyurl.com/SeeRitz

3. Tuesday 9/3 7:30: Book Reading/Signing Event at the Drama Book Shop: Broadway’s Ashley Wool will ask me questions about my new book about LQ, then I’ll sign copies. Please reserve your free tix!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-making-of-a-musical-the-12-year-journey-of-love-quirks-tickets-926968837747

4. Other Fall: 25 more cabarets till year’s end when I hit #850, choir concerts at Carnegie Hall in December, 1 more upcoming NYT puzzle.

5. Trip recap of Memphis, Arkansas (State 49) and Oklahoma (50).

6. Book, Movie, TV, Theater Reviews, then Conclusions.


MALKA


Filming “Malka” was one of my life’s highlights. It was a magical, emotionally fulfilling experience bringing my grandmother’s story to life in this 16 minute musical film. Working with Broadway legend Tovah Feldshuh (whom I could text right now to say hi!) was a dream come true. My entire team: my brilliant director Stacey, exquisite producer Jaclyn, collaborator Lenny, and the entire cast & crew were phenomenal and pulled off quite a feat creating this beautiful piece.

We really made a film of the utmost quality, and unfortunately, that means we more than doubled our initial budget estimate. I really hate asking people for money, as do most people, but I am going to start this ledger today with a plea for it. Won’t you please help us finish this very important film on what would’ve been my grandmother’s 96th birthday?

I don’t need to tell you that the level of antisemitism in the world right now is off the charts. You have no doubt witnessed the terror of the sentiments from all sides. This is my way to combat it.

Won’t you please go watch this video, which contains footage from the movie, and consider contributing? And please share this page to anyone you know who agrees we have to amplify authentic Jewish stories right now.

https://tinyurl.com/malkacampaign

*If you or someone you know (or a foundation) would donate over $1K and would like a tax deduction, please send them to me for the donation link via our Fiscal Sponsor, Fractured Atlas.*

Thank you again for your continued support of this beautiful film. I cannot wait for you all to see the completed product.


THE DIAMOND AS BIG AS THE RITZ


We are so very happy to bring this special new musical to NYC for a 3 week run after years of development.

If you’ve seen the dark side of Fitzgerald on stage with “The Great Gatsby”, here’s your chance to enjoy his perverse wit and satire on American’s lust for wealth and power in a 90-minute show. From September 13-29, there are 16 performances with a stellar cast at the ATA Sargent Theatre on W.54th Street. Dates and more information about the show are at ritzmusical.com.

Tickets are only $29 with the code EARLYBIRD when you order them before Labor Day at https://tinyurl.com/SeeRitz.

We also have a few tickets available for opening night Sunday 9/15 at 6:30PM for $49, which will include the afterparty.

If you missed it in 2018, check out this dynamite all-star Broadway cast singing, “Enough Already,” a song from the show that was nominated in England for Best New Song:

tinyurl.com/enoughalreadyvote

I very much hope you can come see this show. We really love it, and I think you will, too!

BOOK SIGNING AT THE DRAMA BOOK SHOP

This is another bucket list item for me. Ever since I was coming into the city as a teenager, I have loved the Drama Book Shop. When I approached them about selling my book and doing an event with me, they could not have been more accommodating.

My friend, Broadway’s Ashley Wool will be interviewing me about my 4th book, “The Making of a Musical: the 12 year journey of Love Quirks” and we will also be singing a bit from the show!

This event is FREE with a book purchase, but if you already have the book or can’t afford $16, let me know, and I can put you on the VIP list.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-making-of-a-musical-the-12-year-journey-of-love-quirks-tickets-926968837747



OTHER FALL PROJECTS

Well, it looks like another 25 or so cabarets til the end of the year, when I will hit 850 showcases. Since I’ve been doing 70ish showcases per year, I have decided to eschew celebrating 850, and instead wait till 900. Also, I’m just very tired.

I will also be singing with my choir Essential Voices USA at Carnegie Hall again on December 20th/21st, plus we have a free concert in a Brooklyn church on 12/14.

(Speaking of Carnegie Hall, I am very excited to have gotten one of the last tickets to see Bernadette there in October!)

Finally, before the year is out (or shortly in the new year), I believe I will have one more puzzle in the New York Times, and I just got a theme accepted by the Wall Street Journal, but that will probably be out next year… 

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7th: MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

After a 2 hour delay, I finally arrived in Memphis, the first stop on the vacation. My best friend Niki was supposed to arrive after me, but instead arrived before, so she was kind enough to go get the rental car. As those with good memories will know, Niki and I usually travel every other year together – usually on odd years – but we missed last year, and so now I guess we’re even! (It’s always good to be even in friendships, after all!)

We got to our hotel, dropped off the car, and then walked to dinner at Huey’s which claimed to have the best burger in Memphis. I find a lot of restaurants have claims like this, and they are very hard to verify…

Anyway, I had a smash burger then an ice cream brownie for dessert. Afterwards, we walked down to Beale Street — of course, I was singing “Walking in Memphis” the entire time (which is a song Brian Childers sings at karaoke) — we ended up at the Blues Hall Juke Joint listening to a great band.

(Unfortunately, the bar was very smokey, and even though we sat by the door and AC, my shirt smelled afterwards like cigarettes.)

DAY 2: THURSDAY, AUGUST 8th: GRACELAND

Thursday started with the March of the Ducks at the Peabody Hotel, which is a quirky ceremony in which the ducks are summoned from where they sleep somewhere in the hotel, and then are brought downstairs where they march from the elevator to the pond where they spend the day. It was indeed all it was quacked up to be!

Next, we spent 4 hours at Graceland, where Elvis called home. While overpriced at $80 (with the AAA Discount), we quite enjoyed learning all about Elvis and seeing both his mansion and the dozen or so exhibits, including his private airplanes.

First up, was the mansion. We took a van over, and then it was a self-guided tour. However, we were right behind an actual tour, and kept getting stuck. While we could hear what the tour guide was saying, he was basically reiterating things that were written on panels. Indeed, they offered us an iPad with an audio guide with John Stamos, but again, we have eyes and can read, so we decided to just read the panels instead. Personally, I am a visual learner, so I really don’t retain much that I hear rather than read.

Elvis had very interesting taste and seems to have really loved the color purple. He had a TV is almost every room and most of the furniture was quite ornate.

The exhibitions back on the main Graceland campus include the automobile museum, his cycles, some archives (including a video of Elvis on Frank Sinatra’s show when he got back from the army), a room about his army duty, a room with ICONS who were inspired by Elvis including Dolly Parton and Kristin Chenoweth, The Entertainer Career Museum which was perhaps the most interesting of the rooms (there was a lot of memorabilia including a cute pin that said “Oy Gevalt Elvis” and movie posters – who knew he was in a movie with Mary Tyler Moore, then the epic room of all his jumpsuits, then one of his platinum records and Grammy Awards – of which somehow he only won 3), then a room on his daughter Lisa Marie, the making of ELVIS the movie, and finally, over on the side were his airplanes, which we could walk through.

The Lisa Maria airplane had gold faucets in the bathroom, so Elvis really knew how to fly!
After we had exhausted Graceland (and it exhausted us), we went to Burke’s Book Store, which is a cute used bookstore that has been there since 1875… which is a very long time! I ended up picking up 2 books: Kate Atkinson’s “Transcription” and E.M. Forster’s “The Longest Journey” since I won’t be able to take out library books in London, I figure I should invest in a few good paperbacks. (Not that I don’t already have 200 books here I haven’t read yet…)

Across the street from Burke’s, which was in a cute little neighborhood, there was The House of Mews where we peered in to see a room full of cats looking to be adopted!

After dropping the car back off at our hotel, we had dinner at Rendezvous Charcoal Ribs, the best ribs in Memphis! I had a delicious pork shoulder sandwich.

Post dinner, we walked down to the Mississippi River, and walked down for a bit, sitting on a bench and admiring the sunset come down over the Memphis sign.

We went out to an outside bar with live music, before going back to our hotel for the night.

DAY 3: FRIDAY, AUGUST 9th: HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS

Friday we headed out for a 3 hour drive to my 49th state, Arkansas! We dropped our car off at our hotel in Hot Springs then walked over to Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park.

This is a historical area where bathhouses were built to harness the waters from the natural hot springs. These waters are supposed to have magical healing powers, and I can attest we both felt amazing after we had our spa day at the Arlington Hotel!

For $105 (plus tip) we separated to a private bath soak in the hot springs water for 20 minutes, then it was a sauna, then a nap on a table with hot towels covering all joints, then a 30 minute massage. Also, they gave us unlimited ice cold hot spring water, which was the best water I’ve ever had!

After this relaxing recuperation, we went to the tiny free museum about Hot Springs, then walked around the cute little stores on the main strip.

We had dinner outside at the Grateful Head Pizza Oven & Beer Garden where there was a friendly cat. I had spinach and pineapple pizza, and the crust was divine!

Next up, we walked around the National Park, which was a bit underwhelming; however, we did go to the Hot Water Cascade where we could experience the hot springs water firsthand (with our first hand that we put in the waters!).

We sat outside at the Craft Brewery which utilized thermal spring water as the main ingredient in its beers (which Niki had). Then, we went to the Arlington Hotel for a live cover band and watched some locals dancing up a storm before heading back to our hotel for the night.

DAY 4: SATURDAY, AUGUST 10th: TULSA, OKLAHOMA

The breakfast buffet at the Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel was incredible. There was an omelet station and homemade pancakes. Absolutely the best hotel breakfast I’ve ever experienced!

Afterwards, we drove 4 hours to my 50th and final state: OKLAHOMA! And, yes, I did sing “Where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain” as we crossed over the bridge!

Tulsa was pleasantly a really cute city. After checking in, we walked around downtown and headed to the Tulsa Arts District. We went to the Woody Guthrie Center and learned all about Woody who, of course, is best known for the song “This Land is Your Land” and also for being the father of Arlo Guthrie who sang “Alice’s Restaurant.

For only $12, we spent an hour or so learning about Woody’s incredible life and career; though, obviously, you could learn about it all on Wikipedia these days…

After taking photos of some murals, we went out to dinner at Misfit Kitchen where we had salads to compensate for the trip’s previous unhealthy eating. And then we stopped by the Center of the Universe, which was supposed to be some sound thing, but we couldn’t seem to figure out how it worked.

Saturday night, we headed to Okmulgee for the 69th Annual Okmulgee “Roy LeBlanc” Invitational Rodeo. Honestly, we had been really looking forward to it, but it turned out not to be the best experience.

First off, it was incredibly disorganized, extremely crowded, and super chaotic. They didn’t have anyone directing traffic for parking, so we were stuck in traffic for almost an hour a few minutes from the venue. Then, they didn’t have any advance ticket sales, so we had to wait on line; they only took cash or Cash App (which didn’t work well b/c of the bad cellphone reception) so that queue took almost an hour, too.

Even though we had left early, we ended up getting into the arena around 9PM (it started at 8PM). There were no seats left by 9PM, and though we finally found a place to squeeze in in the front row, people kept walking by us, so we could barely see. We also couldn’t really hear b/c we were on the opposite side from the speakers, which were not loud enough to spread throughout the entire place.

However, what we did see was super fun, and it was enjoyable to see cowboys and horses who participated in various games. We managed to watch one whole segment of a relay race before we left by walking at the same time, sadly becoming the people blocking the people in the front.

So, if you ever decide to go to a rodeo, my advice to you would be:

1. Arrive an hour early.
2. Park further away to avoid traffic in both directions.
3. Bring cash.
4. Sit all the way up in the back, but on the side by the speakers.
5. Limit your liquid intake (there were only 6 Porta Potties for thousands of people).
6. Enjoy!

While next time I can finally say: “This is not my first rodeo,” I suspect there won’t be a next time. However, at least it was an indelible cultural experience!


DAY 5: SUNDAY, AUGUST 11th: LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

Sunday morning after hotel breakfast, I dropped Niki off at the airport since she had to work on Monday.

Then, I drove myself back to Memphis, but I stopped along the way at Little Rock. I spent the almost 7 hours drive listening to the podcasts: Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Julia had Julie Andrews on this season, and that episode is incredible. It was kind of like that movie “Julie & Julia” except not at all!

Little Rock really earns the name little. It was perhaps one of the smallest state capitals I’ve ever been to. First up, I went to the wonderful William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park.
This was my third presidential museum (after Jimmy Carter in Atlanta, GA & Gerald R. Ford in Grand Rapids, MI).

I think everyone on this list already knows that I adore the Clintons, and it was wonderful to relieve the 90s which I barely remember since I was so young!

This was a lovely museum. I started on the third floor, and they had exhibits on Bill’s early years growing up in Hot Springs, then life in the White House and a replica of his Oval Office (though you had to pay money to get a photo in there) and a few clips of a tour Bill and Hillary gave of the actual White House.

The second floor had a 12 minute film narrated by Bill, and a sample Cabinet Room with information about all of his Cabinet members.

There were also timeline and alcove exhibits, which delved into the specifics of what happened during each of the 8 years of his Presidency. There were even binders which had his daily schedule, so you could see what he was doing every single day in that 8 year era!

There were also some letters he received from celebrities over the years, including Whoopi, Mr. Rogers… and Mother Teresa. There were also a lot of gifts people sent in, including some for their cat Socks. There was also a crossword puzzle from the NYT that Bill filled out, some of his saxophones and Hillary’s Grammy Award for the audiobook of “It Takes a Village”.

I sat in the park a bit after going about halfway over the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge, then went over to the capitol park to see the Capitol Building. Then, I drove onto Memphis where I stayed at a charming AirBnB and had a very lovely and relaxing night texting people.

The next day I had a nearly perfect flight back to NYC, randomly getting bumped up to Comfort Plus, and I managed to get home from La Guardia Airport in under an hour, which is unbelievable and will probably never happen again.

BOOKS

Here’s what I’ve read so far this summer! I’m happy to say that all my overdue library books have been finally returned.

The Women — Novel about nurses in Vietnam by Kristin Hannah.
Long Island — This sequel to “Brooklyn” by Colm Toibin was absolutely fantastic.
Beautyland — This fantastical book by Marie-Helene Bertino was a great, short read.
How We Named the Stars — Sweet coming-of-age book about love and grief by Andrés N. Ordorica.
Green Frog — Really great book of short stories by Gina Chung — I’m looking forward to reading her novel soon. (Short stories are really good for people with ADHD, btw!)


MOVIES


Summertime doesn’t lend itself to watching movies b/c there are too many free things to do outside… like watching “Funny Face” which is a wonderful classic movie they showed at Bryant Park a few weeks ago! But I saw the following:

The Imaginary – This was an early preview of this great Netflix animated movie.
Inside Out 2 – I saw this in MI, and it’s really a great sequel to the Pixar film.
Didi – The strangest thing happened – I actually watched a commercial for this on TV, and just really thought it looked cute, and I had to plans Saturday night, and I went, and it was a really sweet movie!


TV


There really has been a dearth of shows due to it being summer, but here are a few recommendations:

Me — Adorable coming of age super hero drama on Apple TV
The Ark — This show on SyFy (streaming on Peacock) is really fantastic. Best space type show in years. It’ll probably get canceled, but maybe if you all watch it in the next few weeks, it’ll get a season 3!
Evil — I cannot overstate how amazing this series (Paramount+) which is ending on Thursday is. It’s like a scarier “X-Files”.
Supacell — I actually was able to put Netflix back on my TV for 2 weeks (guess I can do that every 3 months or so) to watch the final seasons of “Cobra Kai” and “Elite” and I was recommended this great BBC show about people who start to develop superpowers in their 20s – it just got renewed for season 2!
The Decameron — I found this mini-series about rich people during the Black Plague’s lives falling apart pretty amusing. The cast is wonderful.

I wish I could say I was looking forward to more shows this fall, but there’s just not much out there anymore. I cannot wait for the final seasons of “Superman and Lois” and “What We Do in the Shadows”. Also “Only Murders in the Building” is back soon!


THEATRE


I haven’t seen that much since the last ledger since it’s summer, but I did see the following:

The Welkin — Sandra Oh starred in this new off-Broadway play.Home — Wonderfully acted 3-hander following a man’s life.
Water for Elephants — My friend (and showcase alumni) Marissa Rosen is making her Broadway debut in this circus-filled musical starring TV’s Flash.
Tovah Feldshuh: Aging is Optional (at least I hope so) — My BFF Tovah presented a wonderful cabaret about aging.
Someone Spectacular — Sweet play about grief off-Broadway.
Once on This Island: In ASL by Deaf Broadway — Lincoln Center Outdoors staged a version of OOTI with Deaf Broadway, that was a great watch.
Empire — Off-Broadway musical about the making of the Empire State Building.
Job — I’m actually seeing this Broadway play Monday night, but wanted to include it so I know where to start the next ledger.

There are a few plays this season that I’m looking forward to like “The Hills of California” and I will most likely have to see Audra in “Gypsy”. I obviously also look forward to seeing “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz” 16 times in September!


CONCLUSIONS


Well, there you have it. I hope that you are having a wonderful end of the summer.

I apologize for having to ask for more money yet again, but unfortunately, that is really the only way to get my projects produced! I thank you in advance for your generous support, and let’s please get “Malka” funded this fall!

Sweetums is upset that I didn’t give him a section this time. He is the very sweetest, and has been keeping me company by my feet while I have been ferociously typing this ledger the last few hours.

A special thank you to Niki for joining me on this trip. She is actually the one who showed me the Been app, and she is the one who sparked my competitive nature by giving me a task to check off, and an achievement to achieve.

I feel very accomplished having managed to see all 50 states, and I look forward to writing and then publishing my 5th book, “Seth Rates the States” probably around my birthday in February 2026.

If you made it this far, then I thank you very much one more time. It’s been a lot of updates this summer, but I think this will be it for a big email till my end of the year recap… at which point, I hope I can say that I have funded both of my projects!

Regardless of everything, I hope to see you all this September at “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”. It is very exciting to have a show running in NYC, and I can’t wait for YOU to see it.

As always, please respond with your own rather lengthly update if I haven’t heard from you in awhile.

Always,
Seth