 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. It was better to retire on a limited crediting, on a confoundedly limited crediting, than to take the two or three more trips in hopes of attaining a higher standard. There on the long, long haul to the Jupiter satellites, fearfully checking the symptoms of space cafard, the madness compounded of claustrophobia, monotony, boredom and free fall. Time to decide that a one room mini-auto-apartment, complete with an autochair and built-in autobar, and with one wall a teevee screen, was all he needed to find contentment for a mighty long time. Possibly somebody like Doc Girard-Perregaux might be horrified at the idea of living in a mini-auto-apartment ... not realizing that to a pilot it was roomy beyond belief compared to the conning tower of a space craft. Even as Si listened to their speeches, accepted the watch and made a halting little talk of his own, he was grinning inwardly. In fact, Academician Gubelin was possibly the only living man on North America who still wore spectacles. 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 said, "Nevertheless, both you and I conform with the present generation in finding it far more pleasant to follow one's way of life in the comfort of one's home than to be confronted with the unpleasantness of facing nature's dangers in more adventurous pastimes." He was drafted into the working force reserves, served his time, and is now free from toil for the balance of his life. Girard-Perregaux was wagging his finger again, a gesture that, seemingly mild though it was, had an astonishing ability to break off the conversation of one who debated with the easy-seeming, quiet spoken man. Girard-Perregaux nodded his agreement. Then in port, it would be one short drink with the boys, before taking his accumulated pay and heading home. And morning would find him, drunk, rolled, tattooed and possibly sleeping it off in jail. "Unfortunately, our present-day sailor can't be separated from his money quite so easily.
 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.