She woke up in Brooklyn once again, and she was already wishing she could stay there. She played with the cats, put the bed back into it's original couch configuration, and she and the cousins were on their way to walking through Williamsburg.
After stopping for some (horrible) coffee in a bakery so small she could barely stand to be in there before it triggered her claustrophobia, the scenery slowly changed around them. Signs popped up in Hebrew, school buses, and buildings with landings that were fully enclosed. It looked as if it was a wild animal cage, but the animal was sleeping inside. There was a sign she snapped a photo of that said "Build a Sukkah" some Hebrew, and a phone number. Her cousins informed her that people built them on their little zoo-like landings, and she never thought she'd see a sign like that, plain as day, the way that they advertised Christmas trees everywhere else in the country.
She especially delighted in the various ads on the sides of buildings advertising Hassidic men's clothing. It was so much more fancy than the ladies, who just had various wig shops with no advertising whatsoever. In fact, all the women she saw rarely varied in dress. Long sleeved black dresses, heavy nude colored pantyhose, a delicate necklace, and a brown wig. The wig even had the same blunt cut bangs; she never saw anything different on anyone. Of course she didn't take any pictures of them, knowing that would be incredibly disrespectful.
Then just as suddenly as when it started, the Hassidic section of Williamsburg was over and the Hipster part of town began. Forget Portland; this is clearly where Hipster culture had been birthed. Here was the $14 avocado toast on every corner, and overpriced fashions. Here is where she decided to buy her hoodie from Brooklyn Industries, her one big purchase. Then they decided to stop for lunch at the epitome of hipster; the Williamsburg Hotel.
The brick building was beautiful, and the winding staircase down to The Restaurant (no seriously that's the actual name) was. They went back and forth on what to eat, and decided they were too hungry to just do High Tea. She was a little disappointed because she'd always wanted to have high tea, but she had also decided that was something she wanted to do at The Plaza later, like Eloise.
They had amazing drinks, great food, and generally had a good time. They went downstairs to the bathrooms for a quick empty before starting down the street again, and in the hallway she found the most interesting toile wallpaper. She felt foolish for fixating on something as strange as wallpaper, but she couldn't stop staring at it. It looked like a china pattern dedicated to everything Brooklyn. They had the train, the Cyclone, a bust of Biggie Smalls, and a gaggle Hassidic Men kvetching down a street. It beautifully encompassed everything the borough was about, and she wished she could stand there forever.
Eventually they walked down to Artists & Fleas indoor market. She wanted to buy everything that said Brooklyn on it, but decided on two magnets; one of an octopus invading the Brooklyn Bridge, and the other a polaroid spitting out a photo of the Manhattan skyline. After they were done there they went to Devoion for coffee, and took a walk to Domino Park. After watching a fantastic sunset, they took a lyft back to the apartment so that she could pack up and be on her way into Manhattan for a Sunday performance of Beetlejuice.
As she crossed over the bridge she was suddenly struck with a thought; This is where America started. All of us came from here, even if we've never been here. New York City really is everyone's hometown.
She quickly checked into the hotel, the Warwick. She threw her stuff into the room and started walking to the Winter Garden Theatre. It didn't look that far and she didn't want to be late.
She could see Times Square in the distance as she approached, and a huge line. She knew she shouldn't talk to people, or seem weak on the street, but she didn't want to make a mistake either. "Excuse me, what is this line for?" She asked the people on the end. They said Beetlejuice, so she stood behind them. She ended up talking to them as they made their way to the front. They were taking their chances with the stand by line. She knew she had a ticket in will call, but didn't want to seem like she was jumping a line.
It quickly became obvious that it was the right decision. Her company had purchased her tickets, and she was shown to will call once she reached the front. They were the house seats, and she found herself a mere 5 rows from the stage. She was overcome with emotion; theatre had been her life for so long, and she was finally seeing a Broadway show.
The show itself was charming, but she was struck with the obvious thought that almost every actor had a sort of twin role in physical form. Beetlejuice could have been played by any of the male characters. Barbara and Delia were similar enough they could have switched places. She'd never noticed this in any other show before, and she wondered if that was just how it was done, so that the show could go on no matter what. She still had fun with the people sitting next to her, gave them tips on how to get house seats more often, and had to pee like crazy by the time the show got out. She rounded the corner to Ellen's Stardust Diner to see if she could use the bathroom there, but found the line to get in longer than any line she would've stood in to get into a club in Vegas. Forgetting completely about the stage door, she hightailed it back the 7 blocks to her hotel room.
