Christmas, Broadway, Prayers & Ichabod

Knowing I was headed to St Vladimir’s Seminary for their public Lenten Retreat, the wife and I decided, last year, that one of my teen’s Christmas presents would be tickets to a show (and a trip with Dad). Herself, above, as we arrived at LaGuardia.

First stop, the Empire State Building …

Then, to Rockefeller Center (it was a remarkable 70+ degrees!) …

And, Times Square …

Can you guess which show we saw?

It. Was. Pretty. DogGone. Wicked. Fabulous!

The next morning, the American Museum of Natural History (sans Ben Stiller) …

Okay. Did I mention that said teen had 25 hours of touristy stuff (wherein we did ESB, Times Square, Broadway Show, Museum, China Town, Little Italy, St Patrick’s Cathedral, meals & sleep)? The rest, naturally, was “church” …

That’s St Nicholas Cathedral, Brooklyn, where we attended the final Akathist Hymn, talk and fellowship. The Dean, Fr Tom Zain was an excellent host, tour guide and NYC driver!
[Scroll back up to the second pic to see the back of his (he’s very tall) head.]

But what kid wants to hear Dad speak all afternoon? Instead, after Saturday’s Liturgy at St Vlad’s, she topped off the day with a guy who, so I hear, lost his “top” (Sleepy Hollow), thanks to chauffeur Shammasy Melanie Sakran.

On Sunday, we attended Liturgy at SVS and shared brunch with the Dean, Fr John Behr, and his family and the Chancellor, Fr Chad Hatfield and Matushka Thekla. (This was preceded by my adventure at Kids’ Cafe, and was followed by my teenager heading back into the city with a young couple hoping to attend SVS in the fall.)

Way back when, she and I would go to the Asheville Mall, walk around, sit on a bench and share a pretzel. Trust me, that was just yesterday! Daddy-Daughter time — highly recommended!