After an evening of indulging in large portions of food at Antonio’s, Bubbe’s, or Wu’s Chinese Buffet, Mom and Dad and their friends sometimes go out for a night on the town, or at least a night on the Harbor View grounds. Often this means attending a show at the theatre in the Harbor View clubhouse. I am told that many people actually choose to live in Harbor View over other retirement condominiums in Florida because of the theatre that is in the clubhouse. It is the largest one in the area. And with the vast theatre comes the best acts that come to Florida. During the high season (December to April) there are approximately 20 shows per month – live shows – musicians, comedians, and dancers who are famous – or at least once were.
I never get too excited by the performers that Mom tells me about, mostly because I have never heard of them. In the past few years Mom and Dad have seen shows with the following performers: Freddie Roman, Alan King, Mal Z. Lawrence, Marilyn Michaels, and Sam Butera. Mom informs me that they were all big stars in their day, and that the shows are usually fantastic. She always seems to get annoyed when I tell her I haven’t heard of some of these people.
“What are you doing tonight?” I ask Mom on the phone one day.
“Oh, we’re going to a show with Donna McKechnie,” Mom replies.
“Is that the nice woman who lives downstairs from you?”
“No, we’re going to see Donna McKechnie. You mean to tell me you’ve never heard of her?”
“No, who is she?” I ask.
“She’s a very talented dancer and singer. She danced on Broadway for many years.”
“Oh, sorry, I never heard of her.”
“She’s danced with some of the best of them, honey. I can’t believe you never heard of her,” Mom’s voice rises an octave at the second sentence.
“Sorry, Mom. She must have been before my time,” I say. “If I had heard of her, that would probably make me eligible for residency at Harbor View.”
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Chapter 9, Part 4 - Eating Out
I must say this, though, eating out IS a real bargain in Florida when compared to eating out in New York, Washington, or other Northeast cities. At an Italian restaurant in DC, for example (and not just in the city either, even in the suburbs) they charge a minimum of $8 for a plate of pasta and this usually does not include salad and certainly not dessert. Salad is an extra $3.95 ($4.95 for Caesar) and dessert is close to five bucks nowadays – for a piece of pie. So a meal in Florida that costs $7.99 is more than twice as much where I live. Which is probably a good thing, or else I’d probably be eating out all of the time, too.
Not that I don’t like to eat out; I do. In fact, I like to eat out as much as the next person (unless ‘the next person’ happens to be a resident of Harbor View). However, I feel as if that is all we do when I visit Mom and Dad in Florida – eat, eat, and eat some more. I always look forward to going for my weeklong trip to Florida each winter because it gives me a chance to go outside and take longs walks in the nice weather, after being cooped up inside up North all winter long. But then at the end of the week we go to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet and I lose everything I’ve gained from exercise (or rather I gain everything I’ve lost). Oh well, I often think, biting into an egg roll, (slice of pizza, piece of cheesecake or whatever food I am eating at the time), I’ll go for an extra long walk in the morning.
Not that I don’t like to eat out; I do. In fact, I like to eat out as much as the next person (unless ‘the next person’ happens to be a resident of Harbor View). However, I feel as if that is all we do when I visit Mom and Dad in Florida – eat, eat, and eat some more. I always look forward to going for my weeklong trip to Florida each winter because it gives me a chance to go outside and take longs walks in the nice weather, after being cooped up inside up North all winter long. But then at the end of the week we go to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet and I lose everything I’ve gained from exercise (or rather I gain everything I’ve lost). Oh well, I often think, biting into an egg roll, (slice of pizza, piece of cheesecake or whatever food I am eating at the time), I’ll go for an extra long walk in the morning.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Chapter 9, Part 3 - Eating Out
Food is a favorite topic for Mom, Dad, and their friends to talk about, no matter where they are. They talk about it at the pool in the afternoon.
“Phyllis, where do you want to eat tonight – Nana’s Nosh or Antonio’s?” Mom asks while slathering suntan lotion on her legs.
“Oh, Herb and I ate at Nana’s last night. They never brought us any pickles and we asked them about three times. Let’s go to Antonio’s instead,” Phyllis replies.
“That’s fine. Actually, Flo did mention to me that the service was going downhill at Nana’s. It’s a shame, too because they really do have the best matzo ball soup.” Mom says.
“You think so?” Phyllis says, “I like Bubbe’s soup much better.”
They talk about food when they are on the golf course.
“We’d better play an extra nine, Herb,” Dad says. “We’re eating at Antonio’s for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, you’re right. Thanks for reminding me. Gotta make room for that delicious New York cheesecake,” Herb answers.
They even talk about food while they are eating out.
“Ummm, this egg drop soup is delicious, and the noodles are extra crispy today. I can eat here again tomorrow,” Phyllis says one night at Wu’s Chinese Buffet.
“Phyllis, we’re eating at Barney’s tomorrow night, remember? They have that special with the all-you-can-stuff-your-face salad bar on Tuesday nights,” Mom reminds her.
“Oh yeah. You’re right. Maybe we’ll come back here the day after.”
A few days before I was set to visit Mom and Dad this year, Mom called me up and said, “We have to take you to Finnochio’s when you get here. They have the best chicken marsala. And it comes with a delicious Caesar salad, nice warm dinner rolls, and dessert – choice of pudding, ice cream, or cake.”
“Sounds good, Mom,” I muttered.
“Oh, and the portions are so huge. I usually take home half the chicken and eat it for lunch the next day. And I often try to sneak out one of those good rolls, too.”
“Sounds good, Mom,” I tried to fake enthusiasm.
“Oh, and the best part is,” she continued, “it’s only $7.99 for the whole meal. Can’t beat that price,” she chirped.
“Sounds good, Mom,” I said. For some reason, I just can’t seem to match Mom’s excitement over a piece of chicken. Maybe in 30 years.
“Phyllis, where do you want to eat tonight – Nana’s Nosh or Antonio’s?” Mom asks while slathering suntan lotion on her legs.
“Oh, Herb and I ate at Nana’s last night. They never brought us any pickles and we asked them about three times. Let’s go to Antonio’s instead,” Phyllis replies.
“That’s fine. Actually, Flo did mention to me that the service was going downhill at Nana’s. It’s a shame, too because they really do have the best matzo ball soup.” Mom says.
“You think so?” Phyllis says, “I like Bubbe’s soup much better.”
They talk about food when they are on the golf course.
“We’d better play an extra nine, Herb,” Dad says. “We’re eating at Antonio’s for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, you’re right. Thanks for reminding me. Gotta make room for that delicious New York cheesecake,” Herb answers.
They even talk about food while they are eating out.
“Ummm, this egg drop soup is delicious, and the noodles are extra crispy today. I can eat here again tomorrow,” Phyllis says one night at Wu’s Chinese Buffet.
“Phyllis, we’re eating at Barney’s tomorrow night, remember? They have that special with the all-you-can-stuff-your-face salad bar on Tuesday nights,” Mom reminds her.
“Oh yeah. You’re right. Maybe we’ll come back here the day after.”
A few days before I was set to visit Mom and Dad this year, Mom called me up and said, “We have to take you to Finnochio’s when you get here. They have the best chicken marsala. And it comes with a delicious Caesar salad, nice warm dinner rolls, and dessert – choice of pudding, ice cream, or cake.”
“Sounds good, Mom,” I muttered.
“Oh, and the portions are so huge. I usually take home half the chicken and eat it for lunch the next day. And I often try to sneak out one of those good rolls, too.”
“Sounds good, Mom,” I tried to fake enthusiasm.
“Oh, and the best part is,” she continued, “it’s only $7.99 for the whole meal. Can’t beat that price,” she chirped.
“Sounds good, Mom,” I said. For some reason, I just can’t seem to match Mom’s excitement over a piece of chicken. Maybe in 30 years.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Chapter 9, Part 2 - Eating Out
Speaking of people who do not live in Harbor View, I must make mention here about Mom and Dad’s other friends in Florida. Mom and Dad moved from New York to Pennsylvania when they were in their thirties. Having both been born and raised in New York, they left a lot of friends behind. Now that they are spending their winters in Florida, they have reacquainted with a number of them, since many New Yorkers, as it is well-known, have also retired to Florida.
“Oooh, I feel like I am back in New York again,” Mom said to me one day.
“Why, because of the food?” I asked, knowing that many Florida restaurants feature New York delicacies such as bagels, bialys, black and white cookies, and egg creams.
“Well, that, too. But I go out with so many of my old friends, it’s like we never moved away.”
The proof that so many New Yorkers have retired to this southern state is that there are actually class reunions for New York high schools – more than 1,000 miles away in South Florida. If you open one of the local Florida papers in any given week, you will see announcements like “Stuyvesant High School class of 1951 reunion at Willow Lakes on Sat. February 28” or “Bronx High School of Science 50th class reunion being held this Saturday.”
Mom and Dad knew that some of their old New York friends had retired to Florida, but they have run into many of the others by coincidence. For example, Mom will be talking to a woman on the Harbor View shuttle bus, and the other person will mention the neighborhood she lives in back home in New York. Mom will ask her if she knows an old friend of hers. And the other woman will say, “Oh yeah, they have retired here to Florida, only about 10 minutes away.” It has happened so many times that Mom doesn’t even find it uncanny anymore. Of course, Mom then goes and calls these old friends up, and they make plans to get together and reminisce – over dinner, of course.
“Oooh, I feel like I am back in New York again,” Mom said to me one day.
“Why, because of the food?” I asked, knowing that many Florida restaurants feature New York delicacies such as bagels, bialys, black and white cookies, and egg creams.
“Well, that, too. But I go out with so many of my old friends, it’s like we never moved away.”
The proof that so many New Yorkers have retired to this southern state is that there are actually class reunions for New York high schools – more than 1,000 miles away in South Florida. If you open one of the local Florida papers in any given week, you will see announcements like “Stuyvesant High School class of 1951 reunion at Willow Lakes on Sat. February 28” or “Bronx High School of Science 50th class reunion being held this Saturday.”
Mom and Dad knew that some of their old New York friends had retired to Florida, but they have run into many of the others by coincidence. For example, Mom will be talking to a woman on the Harbor View shuttle bus, and the other person will mention the neighborhood she lives in back home in New York. Mom will ask her if she knows an old friend of hers. And the other woman will say, “Oh yeah, they have retired here to Florida, only about 10 minutes away.” It has happened so many times that Mom doesn’t even find it uncanny anymore. Of course, Mom then goes and calls these old friends up, and they make plans to get together and reminisce – over dinner, of course.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Chapter 9, Part 1 - Eating Out
If you compared the activities at Harbor View to an ice cream sundae, then eating out at night in restaurants would be the whipped cream on top (and in Florida that would include all-you-can-pile-on cherries, sprinkles, and nuts). Every evening, after a morning of activities or shopping, and an afternoon of lounging by the pool, the residents of Harbor View and other condo developments in Florida embark on their evening rituals, which usually begin with eating out. Eating out in Florida is an activity in and of itself, and I do believe that it is this activity, rather than golf or Mah Jongg, that many of the retirees at Harbor View actually come for.
To begin with, there are more choices of restaurants than your stomach can imagine – Chinese buffets, Jewish delicatessens, Greek diners, Italian trattorias, Cuban bodagas, Mexican cantinas, bagelries, bakeries, and more. And of course, there are several to choose from in each of these types. With so many restaurants, one might think that the best of the restaurants in each category would drive the others out of business.
But ‘the best’ is always subject to interpretation, and when it comes to old people and food in Florida, there’s a lot of serious interpretation going on.
“You must try the matzo ball soup at Nana’s Nosh,” Mom said to me on a recent visit.
“Only if you want your blood pressure to rise 20 points. It is full of salt,” her friend Flo retorted. “Bubbe’s is much better. The matzo balls are fluffier, too.”
Or in the case of some restaurants, there’s a general consensus that one food is the best at a certain restaurant, while another food in the same category is the best at another. So, if you are in the mood for chicken picata, you go to Giuseppe’s, where the chicken picata is fantastic, but all of the other entrees are lousy. On the other hand, if you are craving veal parmesan, you go to Antonio’s, where the veal parmesan is out of this world, but the picata is very much in it. If you are dying for some chicken picata, and your partner is craving veal parmesan, then you are out of luck. So you go to Tony’s where nothing is great, but it’s all-you-can-eat for $6.95.
Going out to dinner is an almost nightly event among Mom, Dad, and their friends. Like many other residents, Mom and Dad sometimes go out by themselves. Other times they dine with Flo and Irv, and still other times they eat with friends of theirs from the ‘Young in Spirit’ club. Furthermore, if Mom and Dad want to get together with friends who do not live in Harbor View (and who are unwilling to pay the $3 visitor’s fee to sit at the pool), what better way to catch up with them than over dinner? “Besides,” Mom says, “with the cheap prices at the restaurants here, it just doesn’t pay to cook.”
To begin with, there are more choices of restaurants than your stomach can imagine – Chinese buffets, Jewish delicatessens, Greek diners, Italian trattorias, Cuban bodagas, Mexican cantinas, bagelries, bakeries, and more. And of course, there are several to choose from in each of these types. With so many restaurants, one might think that the best of the restaurants in each category would drive the others out of business.
But ‘the best’ is always subject to interpretation, and when it comes to old people and food in Florida, there’s a lot of serious interpretation going on.
“You must try the matzo ball soup at Nana’s Nosh,” Mom said to me on a recent visit.
“Only if you want your blood pressure to rise 20 points. It is full of salt,” her friend Flo retorted. “Bubbe’s is much better. The matzo balls are fluffier, too.”
Or in the case of some restaurants, there’s a general consensus that one food is the best at a certain restaurant, while another food in the same category is the best at another. So, if you are in the mood for chicken picata, you go to Giuseppe’s, where the chicken picata is fantastic, but all of the other entrees are lousy. On the other hand, if you are craving veal parmesan, you go to Antonio’s, where the veal parmesan is out of this world, but the picata is very much in it. If you are dying for some chicken picata, and your partner is craving veal parmesan, then you are out of luck. So you go to Tony’s where nothing is great, but it’s all-you-can-eat for $6.95.
Going out to dinner is an almost nightly event among Mom, Dad, and their friends. Like many other residents, Mom and Dad sometimes go out by themselves. Other times they dine with Flo and Irv, and still other times they eat with friends of theirs from the ‘Young in Spirit’ club. Furthermore, if Mom and Dad want to get together with friends who do not live in Harbor View (and who are unwilling to pay the $3 visitor’s fee to sit at the pool), what better way to catch up with them than over dinner? “Besides,” Mom says, “with the cheap prices at the restaurants here, it just doesn’t pay to cook.”
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Chapter 8, Part 4 - The Doctors
Unfortunately, nearly every season or two, Mom, Dad, or one of their friends has had to pay a visit to the emergency room at the local hospital. The first couple of years they were there, Mom and Dad were lucky enough not to have to go. Flo, however, tripped in aerobics one morning during her second season in Florida, and her leg swelled up like her husband’s stomach after dinner at a Chinese buffet. She was in a lot of pain, too. So, Irv drove her over to the emergency room where she sat and sat and sat. After two and one-half hours of sitting in the waiting room, they finally brought her into an examining room to look at her leg and take a couple of x-rays. Then she sat around there for another hour before they could get a doctor in to read the x-rays. Fortunately, it turned out only to be a bad sprain. They gave her an air cast and some painkillers and sent her on her way.
Spraining her leg, however, did give Flo the benefit of having something to talk about at the pool for a few days. “Would you believe that when I called to cancel my reservations for the ‘Young in Spirit’ square dance because of my leg, they said I couldn’t get my money back?”
“You’re kidding. Did you tell the person in charge that you fell and are unable to dance?” Mom asked.
“Of course, I told her,” Flo replied. “You know what she had the nerve to say? That she wouldn’t refund my money because I am still able to get around. She said some of the members in wheelchairs are even coming to the dance, and that I should come to sit and watch the others dance. Like watching other people do-se-do while my leg is in a cast would be any fun.”
Spraining her leg, also gave Flo a chance to commiserate with some of her other comrades who also have had to pay visits to the emergency room at one time or another.
“Oy, the wait in that place was atrocious; you get bread in Russia faster than they see you in the emergency room,” Flo said at dinner one evening. “I was there for over five hours.”
“Well, that’s because they triage you,” Dad explained, “Obviously someone with chest pains would get seen faster than that. If it’s not that serious of an injury, I’ve heard that waits of five to six hours are common in that hospital.”
“Well, I would hope they see you faster for chest pains or you could die in that place waiting. To begin with, most of the people in the emergency room aren’t too young when they get there. The average age in the waiting room must have been 83. Then they have to wait several hours to be seen. Gosh, it was so crowded there with old people. That emergency room really packs them in”
“Well, that’s who does a good business in Florida,” Mom said, “hospitals.”
“And doctors,” Flo added.
Unfortunately, the following year Dad was able to prove his triage theory to Flo. At about eight in the evening, he began to have a couple of chest pains. Mom got so scared that she drove him over to the emergency room herself, even though she normally doesn’t drive in Florida. All Dad had to do was say, “chest pain” and the nurses took him in to be seen right away. They checked his vital signs, took some chest x-rays, and gave him an EKG before they determined he had a bad case of indigestion, probably from the large meal at Barney’s earlier that evening.
“I told you they triage the patients. They took me right away,” he told Flo the next day. “I made it out of the emergency room in a record two and a half hours.”
Spraining her leg, however, did give Flo the benefit of having something to talk about at the pool for a few days. “Would you believe that when I called to cancel my reservations for the ‘Young in Spirit’ square dance because of my leg, they said I couldn’t get my money back?”
“You’re kidding. Did you tell the person in charge that you fell and are unable to dance?” Mom asked.
“Of course, I told her,” Flo replied. “You know what she had the nerve to say? That she wouldn’t refund my money because I am still able to get around. She said some of the members in wheelchairs are even coming to the dance, and that I should come to sit and watch the others dance. Like watching other people do-se-do while my leg is in a cast would be any fun.”
Spraining her leg, also gave Flo a chance to commiserate with some of her other comrades who also have had to pay visits to the emergency room at one time or another.
“Oy, the wait in that place was atrocious; you get bread in Russia faster than they see you in the emergency room,” Flo said at dinner one evening. “I was there for over five hours.”
“Well, that’s because they triage you,” Dad explained, “Obviously someone with chest pains would get seen faster than that. If it’s not that serious of an injury, I’ve heard that waits of five to six hours are common in that hospital.”
“Well, I would hope they see you faster for chest pains or you could die in that place waiting. To begin with, most of the people in the emergency room aren’t too young when they get there. The average age in the waiting room must have been 83. Then they have to wait several hours to be seen. Gosh, it was so crowded there with old people. That emergency room really packs them in”
“Well, that’s who does a good business in Florida,” Mom said, “hospitals.”
“And doctors,” Flo added.
Unfortunately, the following year Dad was able to prove his triage theory to Flo. At about eight in the evening, he began to have a couple of chest pains. Mom got so scared that she drove him over to the emergency room herself, even though she normally doesn’t drive in Florida. All Dad had to do was say, “chest pain” and the nurses took him in to be seen right away. They checked his vital signs, took some chest x-rays, and gave him an EKG before they determined he had a bad case of indigestion, probably from the large meal at Barney’s earlier that evening.
“I told you they triage the patients. They took me right away,” he told Flo the next day. “I made it out of the emergency room in a record two and a half hours.”
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Chapter 8, Part 3 - The Doctors
Either once a week, every couple of weeks, or once a month, in between participating in their club activities or shopping in the morning and relaxing by the pool in the afternoon, most Harbor View residents have to take time out of their busy schedules to visit their doctor or doctors.
Mom goes every other week to the allergist for her allergy shots and once a month to her general practitioner to have her cholesterol level checked. Dad goes just once a season to an orthopedic doctor to have him check on his bad knee. Flo and Irv each go once a week – Flo to an internist to check on her circulation problems and to have her legs massaged, and Irv to a general practitioner who specializes in diabetes to have him check on his insulin levels. The Harbor View condo development even gets in on the action by offering blood pressure checks every Tuesday afternoon at the clubhouse. ‘Get your blood pressure checked in between ceramics and water ballet’ the signs in the clubhouse proclaim.
Of course, when they are not currently on a visit to the doctors or getting their blood pressure checked, the discussions among the residents will sometimes center on the subject of health.
“How do you like your new doctor?” Mom asks Flo.
“Oh, I like him much better than that young woman doctor I went to on 34th Street. I don’t think she believed anything I ever told her.”
“Was it that Dr. Feldman on 34th?” Sylvia joins the conversation.
“Yeah, it was. How did you know, Sylvia?” Flo asks.
“Because you said she’s young, and she doesn’t believe anything you tell her. I used to go to her, and she can be like that; she pooh-poohs everything. Wait till she gets to be our age, then she’ll understand what we’re talking about.”
“I just don’t think the doctors down here are as good as the ones back home,” Mom says.
“I agree. I think they all just come here for the weather,” Flo adds.
Mom goes every other week to the allergist for her allergy shots and once a month to her general practitioner to have her cholesterol level checked. Dad goes just once a season to an orthopedic doctor to have him check on his bad knee. Flo and Irv each go once a week – Flo to an internist to check on her circulation problems and to have her legs massaged, and Irv to a general practitioner who specializes in diabetes to have him check on his insulin levels. The Harbor View condo development even gets in on the action by offering blood pressure checks every Tuesday afternoon at the clubhouse. ‘Get your blood pressure checked in between ceramics and water ballet’ the signs in the clubhouse proclaim.
Of course, when they are not currently on a visit to the doctors or getting their blood pressure checked, the discussions among the residents will sometimes center on the subject of health.
“How do you like your new doctor?” Mom asks Flo.
“Oh, I like him much better than that young woman doctor I went to on 34th Street. I don’t think she believed anything I ever told her.”
“Was it that Dr. Feldman on 34th?” Sylvia joins the conversation.
“Yeah, it was. How did you know, Sylvia?” Flo asks.
“Because you said she’s young, and she doesn’t believe anything you tell her. I used to go to her, and she can be like that; she pooh-poohs everything. Wait till she gets to be our age, then she’ll understand what we’re talking about.”
“I just don’t think the doctors down here are as good as the ones back home,” Mom says.
“I agree. I think they all just come here for the weather,” Flo adds.
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