NEW ORLEANS to NEW YORK CITY

Some good news.  Artemis II astronauts returnd home.  Remember Suni Williams and Butch Whitmore?  They were on a 10-day NASA mission in 2024, but it took 9 months for them to finally return on March of 2025.

I guess another positive sign is that there was a pre-peace talk meeting today between the Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian officials.  Veep J.D. Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner also separately met with Sharif.

Both sides continue their bluffing, angling for a better negotiating position.  One in particular is Iran seeking release of $120 billion in frozen assets to occur before peace talks can begin.

I've stayed at Ritz-Carltons throughout the USA, but never at the Club Level.  We upgraded in New Orleans, and similar to the Ritz-Carlton Yacht cruise we took earlier this year, I don't think the luxury was worth the cost.  Mind you, our Ritz-Carlton Club Level experience in the Orient was even more expensive, but provided so much more that we'll return to them in Singapore and Hong Kong.  The best was in Tokyo, but that cost was just too high.

The Ritz-Carlton Club in New Orleans served, for free, breakfast, afternoon snacks, dinner and desert, with alcoholic drinks,  But the cuisine was marginal, and there was no view at all,  The room itself was average.  Some photos and ending videos.

Above were beignets.  Made fresh every night.

Shrimp and sausage over grits.

Our New York City stop is for three nights to await our Viking cruise from Manhattan to Toronto.  In the meantime, we probably will take in one show.

According to this article, Broadway is in full bloom.  Can you believe that The Lion King has been running for over 28 years?  The third-longest in Broadway history.  11,198 performances.  The two longest?  The Phantom of the Opera (13,981) and 1996 revival of Chicago (11,568).

Top ten,

1	The Lion King
2	Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
3	Hamilton
4	Wicked
5	Aladdin
6	Stranger Things: The First Shadow
7	MJ The Musical
8	Moulin Rouge! The Musical
9	Every Brilliant Thing
10	The Outsiders

Coming in April:  

• Cats: The Jellicle Ball  (reimagined Andrew Lloyd Webber classic.
• The Rocky Horror Show (but opens on April 23)
• Titanique (music of Celine Dion, previews from April 12)
• Beaches (based on the movie, previews from April 22)
• Others.

We are again staying at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, and adjacent are two half-price ticket booths.  I'm sure we'll find other things to do, too.

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