Greg in NYC in 1975 or 1976

My trip to New York City to spend a week with Pat Byrne and his girlfriend, Sandra, could have taken place in 1973, before I joined the Air Force.  It could also have taken place in 1975 or 1976, but at the moment I am not so sure which year it was. 

 

All I do remember for certain was that the two of them were living on Long Island, not far from JFK where they both flew out of for TWA on their international routes, especially during the peak summer season.

 

What I do know for certain is that I took a TWA 707 non-stop from LAX to Newark, which was a really stupid thing to do.  Pat and I corresponded by mail in those days, whenever those days were.  I had asked him which New York area airport I should fly into.  He probably told me either LaGuardia or JFK, just not to fly into Newark.  I, of course, misremembered his instructions and had my ticket made for Newark.

 

At LAX, I arrived early and the agent actually sent my suitcase on the JFK flight, which was the flight I ought to have been on.  However, being a good friend, Pat dutifully drove all of the way from Long Island to Newark airport and picked me up in Sandra's car.  We had to stop on the way at JFK; and there, in front of baggage claim, sat my lone suitcase, having arrived well before I did.

 

The two of them were wonderful hosts.  Either Sandra and Pat, or Pat alone, took me on the subways everywhere:  I had chocolate mousse for the first time at a restaurant in Greenwhich Village.  We took in a Broadway show, SHERLOCK HOLMES, although A CHORUS LINE had opened a few months before and just down the block, though tickets were too hard to come by the day we were there.

 

Looking up A CHORUS LINE confirms that the trip was either in 1975 or 1976, when A CHORUS LINE was on Broadway.  All I can imagine was that I flew from LAX to NYC after spending some time with my mom in California first.  During that same trip, I must have then flown to Binghamton, NY, to visit Den and Beth Zito.  Perhaps I flew there on Mohawk Airlines--I simply do not recall the flight or the airline.  When that visit ended, I must have flown back to Minot because I do recall looking in both locations for Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers, speakers I would later acquire and which appear in later photographs.

 

Pat and I also went to the top of the World Trade Center.  A few of the other places we visited are in later pictures.