Apres vacation

I love vacations. But I also love the sigh of relief that happens when I can sit down in my own house, put my feet up and snuggle with my dogs. The vacation after the vacation.

After spending the weekend in Manhattan with friends, that's what I needed. The afternoon off to recover.

I think that says something about my vacation style. My husband calls it "vacation mode" and it frightens him at times. That desire to do more and see more and go, go, go. I've gotten better over the years, but I still have to remind myself to rest sometimes.

And every time I go on vacation, there's always that one night when I have nightmares about my dog Thor running away while we're out of town. The nightmare is based in experience.

Thor is a rescue. A loving but very shy dog. Friendly and curious about people, but not trusting of their motives or intentions. A year and a half ago we were on a 24-hour overnight to see a friend get married in San Francisco, and Thor escaped from the dog-sitter's house. Dashed out a door late at night. I had a frantic trip home, including a four-hour flight where I was out of touch and desperately hoping he'd show up. There was another day of searching once I got home. Posting flyers. Calling dog shelters, police departments, veterinary offices. Thor finally showed up. He was hit by a car in the middle of a busy street. Nearly died. Had to have a hip rebuilt. (You wouldn't know it by looking at him now.)

I love both Loki and Thor equally, but I don't worry about Loki when I'm on vacation. She's Miss Confident. I WORRY about Thor.

So it was with a big smile and a sigh of relief that I walked in the door this afternoon, plopped down my suitcase and embraced my two crazy-to-see-us dogs.

I love my vacations, but I love coming home too.

To read more about the trip, see Dogs in New York, Visiting Ground Zero, Top of the Rock and Tea & Sympathy.

Tea & Sympathy

Found a wonderful little tea shop in Greenwich Village that gets the nod of approval from one of the Brits I was visiting over the weekend. Tea & Sympathy was a big hit with Lesley, who has been training in New York for the past several months and seemed primed to relish a taste of home.

(The shop also gets a nod of approval from a lot of celebrities and other British ex-patriots, according to the shop's website.)

We had Yorkshire Gold tea with scones, clotted cream and raspberry jam, and a British soft drink that Lesley said she hasn't had since she was a kid. (They were out of the Vimto and I think we ended up with the Ribena.)

Lesley also got excited when the adjacent fish and chips shop A Salt and Battery carried a pudding that she hadn't seen in London in years. I can't remember the name of it, but Lesley was impressed.

(Warning: The English usage of the word pudding can be translated to mean a custard-like dessert, any and all desserts, sausage or, as experienced by my husband, anything you want it to be. It's an extremely versatile word, he insists. But that's another story.)

Top of the Rock

The only truly touristy thing we did in New York was go to the Top of the Rock, which is the observation deck on the Rockefeller Center building. At $20 a person, it was a bit expensive, but the views were incredible.

Even though it's not the tallest building (70 floors), with their use of Plexiglas screens, being on the outdoor observation decks really gives an unprotected, "out-there" feeling.

Certain people in our group found it especially disconcerting. (Not me. I was right up there, sticking my camera between the panels.) As the official website says: "Panels of fully transparent safety glass -- the only thing between our visitors and the city -- are crystal clear for unobstructed, open-air viewing." That certain person among us would swear that the panels moved.

The top photo is of the Empire State Building, dressed up in red, white and blue, through the railing on the top-level observation deck. The middle photo is looking across at the middle level observation deck. The photo at right is the "Target® Breezeway, a cutting edge, interactive multi-media experience that puts a human touch on motion-detection technology, using the movements of our visitors as its catalyst."

Visiting Ground Zero

It seems like a trip to New York requires a trip to the World Trade Center site. To pay respects. To try to more fully grasp what happened. To put my mind around it a little better -- if that's possible.

Truthfully, this isn't my first trip to New York since Sept. 11, 2001, but it's the first trip where I had any interest in going to Ground Zero. It was too easy to close my eyes and remember that day and the images I saw on television. I didn't feel a need to go until now.

Unexpectedly, I wasn't nearly as moved as I thought I'd be looking at where the Twin Towers used to be. It simply seemed like a big construction site. There was not much there that was helping me connect what I was seeing with what I was remembering.

That moment didn't come until we walked across the street to St. Paul's Chapel. I remembered hearing and reading about the chapel when Sept. 11 was happening. This historic little chapel where George Washington worshipped was feared lost for a brief period when the towers fell, but it miraculously survived intact.

According to a Sept. 3o, 2001, New York Times article Near Ground Zero, Unbowed Spires:

''When the towers fell, more than a dozen modern buildings were destroyed and damaged,'' Mayor Giuliani said at the prayer service in Yankee Stadium last Sunday. ''Yet somehow, amid all the destruction and devastation, St. Paul's Chapel still stands -- without so much as a broken window.

''It's a small miracle in some ways,'' he said, ''but the presence of that chapel standing defiant and serene amid the ruins of war sends an eloquent message about the strength and resilience of the people of New York City, and the people of America.''

The chapel quickly became a supply depot and a sanctuary for the rescue workers; a place to pause, to pray and, perhaps most preciously, to sleep.

It wasn't until I was in the chapel yard, then inside the chapel that I felt any human connection with that construction site across the street.

I know that when the new building goes up at Ground Zero there will be a museum and memorial to the victims of Sept. 11, but until then I recommend making the effort to walk across the street and visit the chapel.

Dogs in New York

I don't have photographic evidence to support this, but it's not an original revelation. I was pleasantly surprised this weekend to see how welcome dogs are in public indoor places in New York City -- and how well behaved those dogs are.

I first noticed two dogs indoors in the lobby of a major shopping area in an office building near Central Park. They were just standing with their owners, waiting.

A few hours later, I was in a shoe store in Union Square and I heard a quick, single bark. I looked, and an aisle over was a cute little thing, well-behaved except for that one outburst. Nobody seemed to mind that the dog was in the shoe store.

Even later, I was in a bar in Greenwich Village, and I noticed a pug wandering around greeting people. Then I looked up and noticed a bichon frieze with its head ON the bar, and another bichon sitting ON a chair. All perfectly normal. Nobody seemed to mind.

Then I really started to notice the dogs. Small ones in arms on trips up escalator, larger ones resting under outdoor dining tables. Remarkable.

Now, I'm sure there are dogs that aren't so well socialized. I'm sure that accidents happen and sometimes businesses regret allowing their patrons to bring the dogs in. But I thought it was nice to see them so welcome. (I wish my dogs were welcome so many places here in my Chicago suburb, not that I'd bring my dogs to many, if any, indoor public places except the pet store -- their tails would cost me a fortune in breakage!)

Now let me juxtaposition all the well-mannered dogs I saw with a few ill-mannered people. While we were picnicking on the lawn in Central Park that very same day, there were many families around us. A few times I thought I saw parents bring their children behind a large rock or tree so they could urinate. In a public park. Not ten feet from where I was eating. And not too long a walk to an actual bathroom. I understand that emergencies happen with children, but really, in an area where thousands of people are running around barefoot, sitting on the ground and picnicking?

Funny thing was, I know they were there, but I don't remember seeing a lot of dogs in the park that day.