Tag: Places

Bay of Pigs

LORELAI: And the plan was that [Jess] calls you whenever because his work time varies?
RORY: Yes.
LORELAI: Good plan. Bay of Pigs, was that yours, too?

Lorelai refers to the bay of Pigs Invasion, a failed military landing operation on the coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly financed and directed by the United States. It was aimed at overthrowing Fidel Castro’s communist government. The operation took place at the height of the Cold War, and its failure widened the division between the US and Cuba, while pushing Cuba closer to the Soviets.

Atlantic Ocean

EMILY: I never really truly appreciated the Atlantic Ocean before. Three thousand lovely miles of water.

The Atlantic Ocean, the second-largest of the world’s five oceans, with an area of about 106,460,000 square km (41,100,000 sq mi). It covers approximately 20% of Earth’s surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known for separating the “Old World” of Africa, Europe, and Asia from the “New World” of the Americas in the European perception of the World. The name Atlantic refers to the ocean being beyond the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Africa, opposite the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.

There are 3360 miles between Hartford and London, or 2929 nautical miles – very close to Emily’s estimate of 3000.

Note that Emily thinking of the lovely miles of water that used to separate her and Trix is very similar to Lorelai once saying that the best thing about Stars Hollow is the “miles and miles and miles” it is from Hartford – underlining that Lorelai’s relationship with Emily is very much like Emily’s relationship with Trix.

Holiday Inn

RICHARD: Well, she’s going to be staying with us, Emily. She just wants to know she’ll be comfortable.
EMILY: Yes, because we usually give our guests the towels we’ve stolen from the Holiday Inn.

Holiday Inn, previously discussed. Lorelai and Rory actually stole their wine glasses from a Holiday Inn they stayed in.

Emily is very uppity about stealing from hotels, considering that she and Lorelai stole their bathrobes when they stayed at a spa. (Although Lorelai had to stop Emily from returning hers).

Egyptian Cotton

EMILY: That was your mother, Richard. She just wanted to make sure that all our towels are Egyptian cotton.

Egyptian cotton has long been considered superior to “normal” cotton. The ideal growing conditions in Egypt lead to a very fine yarn, and the plants are harvested by hand, so that the cotton is supposedly stronger, more flexible, softer, longer-lasting, and doesn’t “pill”. Egyptian cotton is said to be more moisture absorbent, making it a good option for towels.

Hoosiers, Litchfield

RORY: But didn’t we only make it this far because the Litchfield team got food poisoning?
TAYLOR: Well, I admit it’s not exactly the plot of Hoosiers, but still it’s very, very exciting.

Hoosiers, 1986 sports drama film directed by David Anspaugh in his feature directorial debut, and starring Gene Hackman. It tells the story of a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that enters the state championship. It is inspired in part by the Milan High School team who won the 1954 state championship. The film was critically acclaimed, and is regarded as one of the best sports film ever made.

Litchfield, previously discussed.

Pizza at John’s in the Village

RORY: How’s it going?
LORELAI: Good. A lot of walking. We all had pizza at John’s in the village and wrote a musical.

John’s of Bleecker Street, simply known as John’s Pizzeria, is a historic pizzeria in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Founded in 1929, John’s is known for its graffiti-carved wooden booths where any patron can carve their name. It has been ranked as one of the best pizzerias in the US.

SoHo

LUKE: Got a great book, it has walking tours of old historic Manhattan. You know, before Disney got a hold of it. The SoHo one’s pretty good.

SoHo, neighbourhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists’ lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its variety of shops ranging from trendy upscale boutiques to national and international chain store outlets.

The name “SoHo” derives from the area being “South of Houston Street”, and was coined in 1962 by urban planner Chester Rapkin. The name also recalls Soho, an area in London’s West End.

Note a few changes in Luke since he started dating Nicole – he readily discusses fashion, musicals, and historic walking tours with Lorelai. She is a little surprised at how authoritative he has become in these areas so quickly. I can’t help feeling Luke is slightly rubbing her face in it, since he has always resisted Lorelai’s attempts to get him interested in such things.

The book Luke has is possibly fictional, although there are plenty of books in real life with historic walking tours of New York.

Manhattan Before Disney

LUKE: Got a great book, it has walking tours of old historic Manhattan. You know, before Disney got a hold of it.

I don’t know if you can say Disney “got a hold” of Manhattan, but they do have a significant presence there, like other major corporations. Their offices were at this time on the Upper West Side, there was a Disney store on Fifth Avenue [pictured], a TV station in Times Square, and the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway, to name a few. The Disney cruise lines also dock at a pier on the Hudson River.

Levittown

LUKE: Oh, what show?
LORELAI: Levittown, it’s a new musical.

The musical that Lorelai is going to see with Alex, Sookie, and Jackson is fictional. Levittown is a hamlet on Long Island, New York, built by Levitt & Sons as a planned community for returning World War II veterans between 1947 and 1951.

It was the first mass-produced suburb, and became a symbol of the American Dream, and of racial discrimination – the Levitts would only allow whites to buy in the suburb, and as late as the 1990s, only a tiny portion of the community were non-white. They built other Levittowns in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico.

Oddly enough, a real play called Levittown – a drama, not a musical – opened off-Broadway in 2009, to lukewarm response, although successful enough to be staged a few times since then.

In real life, there weren’t any new musicals debuting in New York in February 2003.