 Why did Si choose to visit Manhattan and the Kudos Room?
They also had a banquet for him, complete with speeches by such bigwigs of the Department of Space Exploration as Academician Lofting Gubelin and Doctor Hans Girard-Perregaux. Even as Si listened to their speeches, accepted the watch and made a halting little talk of his own, he was grinning inwardly. His explanation was that a phobia against having his eyes touched prohibited either surgery to remould his eyeballs and cure his myopia, or contact lenses. Girard-Perregaux grunted his sarcasm and dialed a glass of iced tea and tequila. He was drafted into the working force reserves, served his time, and is now free from toil for the balance of his life.
 To celebrate his retirement and spend some of his extra funds.
 In hopes of seeing and befriending a celebrity  That's the only place that an alcoholic beverage can be legally purchased.  He was planning to meet an attractive woman there.  To celebrate his retirement and spend some of his extra funds.