We didn’t get much sleep last night – there was a lot of partying going on near our hotel, with loads of loud sirens until sometime after 2am. Midtown Manhattan is always noisy, but this was by far the loudest night of our trip.

But we did both manage to fall asleep for a few hours, only to be awakened by our alarm at 6:15. After that, things went pretty well.

• Our Uber arrived early to pick us up at our hotel (the Hyatt Place New York Midtown/South, which was a fine place to spend a week in Manhattan), and traffic was light until we hit construction on the Van Wyck a few exits before reaching JFK (as usual)

• It took a little longer than I expected to get through security at JFK (they appeared to be short-staffed, unsurprisingly), but we had plenty of time so that wasn’t an issue.

• Flying First Class on Alaska got us access to the Admirals Club; it had been a while since I’d been in a domestic Admirals Club and they’ve made changes for the better. There was plenty of room, and they had some actual food available for free, not just pretzels and nuts. There were even some free alcoholic drinks available (but only a few options; there was a fully-stocked bar for those who were willing to pay for more choices).

• We left the gate on time, had a short taxi, and a smooth flight.

• The flight arrived at SFO 45 minutes early!

It was a much better experience than I’d expected after reading horror stories about long delays over the past few days because of the shutdown.

It’s good to be home.

And I guess we get four extra hours of sleep tonight – three from flying West and one because we go back to standard time overnight. I need it!

We left Manhattan today to venture to a decommissioned subway station in Brooklyn to visit the New York Transit Museum.

It was fascinating; we spent more than two hours there learning about the construction of the subway and its evolution over the years. I enjoyed seeing all of the old subway cars and the advertising (commercial, public service, and internal) that they carried.

I also liked the exhibit about subway fares over the years, including the invention and discontinuance of the token and MetroCard (well, the MetroCard is still valid for a few more months).

We had lunch at a Just Salad near Brooklyn Borough Hall (formerly City Hall until the consolidation of New York City in 1898); Just Salad was just ok, but Borough Hall was worth seeing.

Our next stop was back in Manhattan – a visit to Pete’s Tavern which is one of the oldest taverns in New York. We each had a pint of Pete’s 1864 Ale (quite good) and spent a little time enjoying the atmosphere.

We left Pete’s and walked back to Union Square, then into Greenwich Village.

We were going to go to Washington Square Park but the winds were crazy, so we found a subway stop and returned to our hotel, which is hosting a group of Italian marathon runners here for Sunday’s race. The staff looked a little harried by their arrival.

On our way to dinner, we stopped at the New York Public Library to see the “100 Years of the New Yorker” exhibit. A few small samples:

They threw us out of the library at closing time and we walked along 41st Street (Library Way); the sidewalks there have many interesting plaques.

I wonder what’s special about The Chemists Club Hotel? We didn’t stop to find out.

And then it was back to the hotel to pack for our flight home tomorrow.