Pilgrimage-Part One

Not long ago, Eleanor and Chauncey embarked on a journey to the East Coast. It was their first trip back in four years. They often referred to their trips East as a pilgrimage because the people and places they visited were sacred to them. 

Helen and Amanda on the High Line.

The first stop was New York City, Eleanor’s birthplace as well as the birthplace of Eleanor and Chauncey’s eldest daughter Prudence. Eleanor and Chauncey stayed with their friends Helen and Amanda in their apartment facing the top of Central Park in Harlem. Helen and Amanda landed in New York three years ago after a year in Istanbul but were not convinced it was their final destination. Amanda complained she had not yet fallen in love with the city. She acknowledged that the bagels from the Koreans on Broadway were the best she'd ever had. Helen and Amanda agreed they were lucky to have a view of the park and an elevator in their building.

Eleanor and Chauncey's first apartment.

Helen and Amanda treated Eleanor and Chauncey to a spectacular version of New York starting with a walk on the High Line which took them from 34^th Street near the Hudson River down to the meatpacking district in the West Village. At the crossroads of Washington Street and West 11^th, Eleanor and Chauncey stood in front of the building they lived in before they were married. They reminisced about taking baths in the tub in the kitchen and carting groceries up four flights of stairs, now carpeted. 

The Empire State Building was visible through the trees.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent having lunch in Battery Park City with Amanda’s 93-year-old mother who almost blew away on a walk to the Irish Hunger Memorial. She returned home while Eleanor, Chauncey, Helen and Amanda continued the tour of the memorial and meandered northwards along the Hudson River. There were benches for staring out at the river on one side and a green field on the other. The Empire State Building was visible through the trees. 

Off to the Connecticut shore.

The morning before they left for the Connecticut shore, Eleanor and Chauncey ate fresh bagels with Helen and Amanda at a park next to St. John the Divine. They looked at the Peace Fountain and discussed the meaning of the statue of St. Michael. Each of them expressed gratitude for the time they spent together exploring nature in New York City.