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Post date: Apr 01, 2017 1:13:47 AM
There has been another theme running through this trip, one that I kind of expected but not to the degree to which it has woven itself through so many of my daily events. Before setting out I knew I wanted to take some reading material. I also know my desire is to always be surrounded by books and at any given time I am usually enticed by half a dozen books. Being on the bike, I set my library limit at one book and the book I chose was Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton. This 700 page tome was not only the inspiration for Lin Manuel’s insanely popular musical, it also touches upon so much of American history that I thought it would be an appropriate companion for the trip and worth the travel space in the tank bag.
What I did not expect is how relevant the history of this one man has been to many of the various places I have visited. In Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home he has busts of great men he admired including Alexander Hamilton, even though the two men agreed on very little in terms of political policy. At Yorktown I saw the redoubt that was captured by A. Ham in ten minutes. A decisive military advancement that allowed battle lines to advance and contributed to the decisive victory that lead to the end of the the revolutionary war. In Valley Forge Hamilton’s role as an aide to Washington and the rooms where he and the other officers worked and lived were highlighted. In Philadelphia I saw the room where he lectured the continental congress for 6 hours proposing a brand new form of federal government a proposal that was not very popular especially with his fellow New York delegates who thought they were there in order to ensure a weak confederation of states remained in place and not to support a federal union.
In essence, this one man has had an extraordinary impact on the form and policies of the United States. So it seemed like a logical next step to continue the tour by going to New York to visit his grave at Trinity Church, which by the way, is very close to Wall Street and the financial empires he helped to establish.
Just being in New York City is no small task in and of itself. Since the City is some of the most densely populated and expensive real estate in the country. Instead of trying to view it from two wheels, I decided to take a break from the ride and book a room on Long Island close to subway connections into the city. Chris flew out to join me for a few days so we both could share in another celebration. That of my birthday, and a big one at that, there are only so many odometer-turning stops in one lifetime so you may as well go to NYC or some other expensive place and blow out the big ones. On my birthday we took the subway downtown to trinity church and enjoyed ourselves looking up the graves of many of the cast of historical characters I had been reading about during this trip. We then stopped by Wall Street where colonial history has been replaced by financial cathedrals.
Side note:
A striking phenomenon that is taking place near Wall Street is the statue of the little girl who was place directly in opposition to the Financial Bull statue. If you have not been following this story you should… The statue was installed as a statement on gender equity in financial and business leadership. What it has grown into is a cultural fixation point. On the day we visited you could hardly see either Bull or Girl for all the visitors swarming the site. Entire tour busses now had a story to tell and a photo op for something that is very ephemeral (money and financial equity). Watching the interactions at the statues it struck me as a metaphor for our economy itself. Businesses and banks can build structures, or invest in products and services, these things are like the statues themselves, they can be concrete and owned, but the reaction of the markets to these things can not be predicted or controlled (as much as marketing would like us to believe it can). Markets are like the tourists and people at the site reacting to the statues. The reactions are complex and you cannot control the reaction to good art, but when it works it takes on a life of its own, and that’s what the artist created it for. Just like when a market takes off and we value it not based on its concrete worth but on its perceived valuation…
Back to Hamilton:
After seeing the concrete things (New York Stock Exchange, US banking system) that were established by Alexander Hamilton’s legacy, it seemed only appropriate to complete the circle by trying to get in to see some A. Ham art. Chris and I tried the Broadway ticket lottery but were unsuccessful in getting tickets to the sold out musical, so after visiting the 9/11 memorial we did what any good theater nerds would do. We took the subway up to Times Square, found the theater where Hamilton the Musical was playing and stood in line, with all the other desperate fans in hope of some last minute cancelations. We were something like 14th in line, and had a great time getting to know the other hope full patrons in line. As we watched all the regular ticket holders parade past us to take their seats, I realized I was enjoying the entire experience and my day, even if we did not get in. Theater people are fun and they cheer for each other. With each cancelation two more people scored tickets and the entire line cheered for them. By the 8pm curtain Chris and I had slowly moved up to the front of the line…
At 8:02 pm we were the last two people to get a pair of tickets and were ushered into a great pair of seats right before the shown began. The play itself, which just opened in San Francisco is a work of genus and very well done. One might even say it was worth the phenomenal price we actually ended up paying for the tickets, but that would be getting back into economics…
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