Rules of Civility Field Trip

    
Before we set off on our road trip I belonged to two book groups.  Both groups are filled with interesting, opinionated people who bring different points of view to every discussion which is always a lot of fun.  Sometimes, everyone loves a book and sometimes group members unanimously hate a book, and sometimes, one person stands alone defending a book. 

In October, one of the groups discussed a new book called Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles.  It was a terrific book that we liked so much, fellow book club members Cheri Johnson and Isabell Camillo and I recommended that our second book club read it.  It's a great story set in New York City in 1938 at the dawn of the Jazz Age.  The author has a website with a playlist of songs from that era and a map of locations from the book.  Check it out at www.amortowles.com

                               

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in New York so Jack and I left Coco in the apartment and set off on a Rules of Civility field trip.  Our first stop was to the Beresford which is an apartment building on Central Park West where Tinker Grey, one of the main characters lived. 

The Beresford was built in 1929 and is still beautiful today. It's about a 15 minute walk from where we are staying and about a 5 minute walk down the street from the Dakota where Yoko Ono lives.  The building faces the park.

Jack was able to take some great pictures of the detail around the front door.   

After leaving the Beresford we walked through Central Park down to 5th Avenue where the statue of Atlas was located.  It was a MADHOUSE of shoppers.  There was a rope line in front of Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch and store employees were only letting a few customers in at a time.  I was grateful that I wasn't trailing along behind a group of pre-teens carrying the coats as in years past.  Why is the music always so loud in stores like that?  There were some beautiful window displays that I couldn't see very well through the crowds so maybe I'll go back on a week day and check them out.  And maybe hit some stores.  I've never been much of a window shopper and with  

After fighting the crowds Jack and I felt like we deserved a drink and headed over to The 21 Club, a nightclub that opened in 1929 and is still going strong today.  The main characters in Rules of Civility start their evening with drinks at The 21 Club before their lives change forever.   

 

In the book, everyone drinks a lot and it made us wonder how many people have fallen up or down these stairs that Jack is sitting on after one too many drinks. 

Unfortunately, 21 wasn't open yet for business so Jack and I decided to head over to our last stop of the day, The Plaza Hotel.  Constructed in 1907, The Plaza still operates as a hotel but now has condos if you've got a couple of extra million dollars lying around.  There are shops and a food court downstairs, along with the famous Palm Court restaurant on the main floor.  

  
I wasn't able to talk Jack into having tea at the Plaza so we headed down towards our temporary home and decided to stop at the bar at the Essex House Hotel which is right next door to our building.  I had a glass of Chardonnay and Jack had a Scotch and Soda that he said was probably the best S & S he'd ever had.  When the bill came, he knew why.  His drink was alone was $43!  Yikes!

Jack and I agreed that we'd had a wonderful afternoon retracing the steps of the characters in our book and headed off to the grocery store to pick up the fixings for lentil soup.  If you've read Rules of Civility let me know what you think.  Hope that you like the pictures.

Finally, here is a photo of two of my dear book group friends, Annette Leck and Virginia Ferry.   We miss you ladies and the rest of my book group friends.  Happy reading!