Louis Badolato
Lieutenant General
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2005
- Messages
- 17,321
The very talented UKREB, Bob Jones, and his lovely wife Trudy visited New York this last weekend, and Rich Schuster (NYToysoliders), his wife lovely Madeline, my lovely wife Meredith and myself got to entertain them Monday. I picked Bob and Trudy up at their hotel in Manhattan, and drove them out to visit historical whaling town Cold Spring Harbor, New York. As I explained to them, while in England this constitutes new construction, here in the colonies homes and shops built in the 18th and 19th centuries are historic. They visited the whaling museum, saw the 1924 American LaFrance Fire Engine outside the firehouse museum, visited antique shops and had coffee and treats at the local bakery. We then got lost trying to find Rich's house, because the street sign was missing, but we finally arrived. Rich and Madeline put out a nice spread of traditional New York style Kosher Deli, and after lunch we toured Rich's spectacular collection. Then I took Bob and Trudy to Sands Point Preserve to see the former Guggenheim Family Gold Coast Mansions, now a museum open to the public, which are believed to have provided the inspiration for "The Great Gatsby." Then back to my home for drinks and a tour of my collection. I presented Bob with some special Civil War figures, a one of a kind by Ken Osen I had won at a charity auction a couple of Chicago Shows ago, and a glossy K&C Tiger Zoave. Bob was kind enough to present me with two authentic World War I medals, a plaque from the Ward Room of WWII Destroyer HMS Cossack (the last vessel involved in a boarding where cutlasses were used) and copies of the two recent magazines where his dioramas made the cover. We then met Rich and Madeline for dinner at Kyma, a wonderful Greek Seafood Restaurant nearby. After a very pleasant meal, I dropped my wife home, and drove Bob and Trudy back to their hotel in NYC. They left the next day on the QEII for an elegant cruise back to Great Britain.
To Bob, Trudy and any of my other friends here on the forum, please come visit New York whenever you can. The local toy soldier community, including Brad (Jazzeum), Mark Hoffman, Rich and myself, love to get the chance to entertain you! Oh, and I am already trying to talk my wife into a trip to Great Britain once my back is up to a long plane ride (I am shooting for next summer), because the British toy soldier community (Bob and Trudy, Clive and his lovely wife Sue, Rob, Simon, Kevin Elliott, the Nevilles, and so many others), has always been so hospitable to me when I visited in the past.:smile2:
To Bob, Trudy and any of my other friends here on the forum, please come visit New York whenever you can. The local toy soldier community, including Brad (Jazzeum), Mark Hoffman, Rich and myself, love to get the chance to entertain you! Oh, and I am already trying to talk my wife into a trip to Great Britain once my back is up to a long plane ride (I am shooting for next summer), because the British toy soldier community (Bob and Trudy, Clive and his lovely wife Sue, Rob, Simon, Kevin Elliott, the Nevilles, and so many others), has always been so hospitable to me when I visited in the past.:smile2:
