Bright Lights, Big City
Mom's gone back to hotland. I spent yesterday in a post-visit slump (lethargic, unmotivated, mopey) and did absolutely nothing. I needed it after almost two weeks of running around, getting up at 6 AM and goingoingoing, and visiting family members. Not at all the routine my summer vacation was used to.
Now that I've recovered, here's more on my visit.
Mom and I went to NYC for a total of about 36 hours. We got a really good fare on Spirit that led to the "Dinner in New York" trip, hence the fact that we went at all. (Side note: I used to love Spirit. Now they charge for EVERYTHING including stowed luggage. This $5 charge is INCREDIBLY biased against women, who cannot carry on all their lotions and potions thanks to Federal Restrictions.) The flight and cab ride there were just fine. We arrived at Steve's apartment after dark. Looking out his 23rd floor window, the city looked beautiful (though I still don't understand how New Yorkers in tall buildings don't need window treatments - I'd be worried about neighboring high rises looking at my junk when I got out of the shower). His apartment is lovely, but teensy.
After a glorious sleep on Tate (the bed with more clothes than I have), we awoke to HOTHOTHOT. Temperatures were expected to reach 97 with a heat index of over 105. Steve warned of the smell of the city, especially on hot days, and that the heat is even worse on the subway. I put on my sensible walking shoes and we headed out.
Ohmygodthestink. It was like someone threw up cottage cheese on every street corner and then pooped on it and left it in the sun. And it seemed to be garbage day EVERYWHERE. There were little sludge puddles at the crosswalks that I went WAY out of my way to avoid for fear that they'd cause me to sprout a 6th toe or something. This prompted me to ask my brother why anyone who lived in the city would ever own a pair of open-toed shoes.
After a delicious breakfast at some cute little diner, we were off on our marathon. We visited Times Square, Madison Avenue, Broadway, Rockefeller Center and dozens of other places, easily walking 10 miles in the hot. We went on a strangely fruitless hunt for some flip flops at several stores. I ended up with a great little street purse.
We headed back to the apartment for a mid-afternoon rest (and, for me, shower number two for the day) and for Steve to do his homework. At around 7, we headed into the Village for dinner. We took a Death Cab to get there. This driver was bent on killing us, all the while laughing at an NPR story about qualifying for the FBI "HAHAHAHA Even Clinton couldn't do it! HAHAHAHA!". I stared in terror out the window at passersby hoping they'd warn others to stay out of the way. The cab stopped and I leaped out and was about the kiss the sidewalk when I remembered how gross it was.
Dinner was at this beautiful little Italian place called Gnocco. We sat outside in this lovely little garden area at a table containing my brother's future husband. For an appetizer, we had this cheese plate with sliced pears and honey. I made the mistake of eating the bleu cheese first (why, because I LOVE bleu). The instant it touched my tongue, I realized that it tasted JUST LIKE THE CITY SMELLED and nearly vomited. But, a fine merlot drove it away. This was the dinner where the Dad Revelations came, so we spent much of the time in conversation.
After dinner, we went to visit Dave Gary, my brother's best friend. Dave is heading off as an understudy in Sweeney Todd (go see him!) and my brother is moping about it. I haven't seen him since probably 1995, so I was shocked by his buffed up stage build. But, he's hilarious.
We headed back to Steve's. I took my THIRD shower of the day (could NOT get the city off of me) and then back to bed. Mom and I had to get up early to catch our flight. It was storming pretty hard when we got up and I was frantically checking weather.com to see how long it would be before it cleared. My brother attempted to get a car for us, but was unsuccessful, which meant we would have to get a cab - GOOD LUCK.
After finishing our styling and packing, we headed down to the street. It was pouring rain and the street was awash in sludgepuddles. It took about 10 minutes to flag down a cab. We piled in and started driving toward the airport 30 minutes away. As we drove through Central Park, we were forced to turn around because the road was flooded out. Our cab driver negotiated an alternate route, only to hear on the radio that the entire city was flooded and that many roads were closed, including subways, tunnels, and bridges. Mohammed (that was the cabby's name) asked if we had a preferred route and we told him we were fine with whatever he decided. He warned us that things were not looking good for getting us to the airport (Surely he's joking, we have three hours!) but he would do his best. We took a tunnel, which wasn't so bad. Then we drove through the Bronx and into Brooklyn and hit a bridge. It took us an hour to go a mile. When we got to the other side of the bridge, we saw why. The end of the bridge had about three feet of water covering it and traffic was being forced off onto this little tiny road that went over the freeway and back on, where traffic was clear. I was frantically calling Spirit to check on our flight status (it was now 30 minute to take-off) and was angry that it seemed to be departing on time - WHAT!?!
We arrived at the airport 10 minutes later. Poor Mohammed was going to have to go BACK through all that to get back to the city, so Mom gave him a nice tip as we apologetically ran into the airport. Since NO ONE could get into the airport, there was no line at check in or security. We made it on to the plane ten minutes before takeoff and back to the Mitten.
In other news: I've got a second interview at Borders today. *fingers crossed*
So, in short, my thoughts on New York: smelly, crowded, and really good food. I liked DC and Chicago better (both were cleaner), but I'd definitely go back. I can't imagine going there for more than a weekend, though. And DEFINITELY not in Summer or Winter.
Now that I've recovered, here's more on my visit.
Mom and I went to NYC for a total of about 36 hours. We got a really good fare on Spirit that led to the "Dinner in New York" trip, hence the fact that we went at all. (Side note: I used to love Spirit. Now they charge for EVERYTHING including stowed luggage. This $5 charge is INCREDIBLY biased against women, who cannot carry on all their lotions and potions thanks to Federal Restrictions.) The flight and cab ride there were just fine. We arrived at Steve's apartment after dark. Looking out his 23rd floor window, the city looked beautiful (though I still don't understand how New Yorkers in tall buildings don't need window treatments - I'd be worried about neighboring high rises looking at my junk when I got out of the shower). His apartment is lovely, but teensy.
After a glorious sleep on Tate (the bed with more clothes than I have), we awoke to HOTHOTHOT. Temperatures were expected to reach 97 with a heat index of over 105. Steve warned of the smell of the city, especially on hot days, and that the heat is even worse on the subway. I put on my sensible walking shoes and we headed out.
Ohmygodthestink. It was like someone threw up cottage cheese on every street corner and then pooped on it and left it in the sun. And it seemed to be garbage day EVERYWHERE. There were little sludge puddles at the crosswalks that I went WAY out of my way to avoid for fear that they'd cause me to sprout a 6th toe or something. This prompted me to ask my brother why anyone who lived in the city would ever own a pair of open-toed shoes.
After a delicious breakfast at some cute little diner, we were off on our marathon. We visited Times Square, Madison Avenue, Broadway, Rockefeller Center and dozens of other places, easily walking 10 miles in the hot. We went on a strangely fruitless hunt for some flip flops at several stores. I ended up with a great little street purse.
We headed back to the apartment for a mid-afternoon rest (and, for me, shower number two for the day) and for Steve to do his homework. At around 7, we headed into the Village for dinner. We took a Death Cab to get there. This driver was bent on killing us, all the while laughing at an NPR story about qualifying for the FBI "HAHAHAHA Even Clinton couldn't do it! HAHAHAHA!". I stared in terror out the window at passersby hoping they'd warn others to stay out of the way. The cab stopped and I leaped out and was about the kiss the sidewalk when I remembered how gross it was.
Dinner was at this beautiful little Italian place called Gnocco. We sat outside in this lovely little garden area at a table containing my brother's future husband. For an appetizer, we had this cheese plate with sliced pears and honey. I made the mistake of eating the bleu cheese first (why, because I LOVE bleu). The instant it touched my tongue, I realized that it tasted JUST LIKE THE CITY SMELLED and nearly vomited. But, a fine merlot drove it away. This was the dinner where the Dad Revelations came, so we spent much of the time in conversation.
After dinner, we went to visit Dave Gary, my brother's best friend. Dave is heading off as an understudy in Sweeney Todd (go see him!) and my brother is moping about it. I haven't seen him since probably 1995, so I was shocked by his buffed up stage build. But, he's hilarious.
We headed back to Steve's. I took my THIRD shower of the day (could NOT get the city off of me) and then back to bed. Mom and I had to get up early to catch our flight. It was storming pretty hard when we got up and I was frantically checking weather.com to see how long it would be before it cleared. My brother attempted to get a car for us, but was unsuccessful, which meant we would have to get a cab - GOOD LUCK.
After finishing our styling and packing, we headed down to the street. It was pouring rain and the street was awash in sludgepuddles. It took about 10 minutes to flag down a cab. We piled in and started driving toward the airport 30 minutes away. As we drove through Central Park, we were forced to turn around because the road was flooded out. Our cab driver negotiated an alternate route, only to hear on the radio that the entire city was flooded and that many roads were closed, including subways, tunnels, and bridges. Mohammed (that was the cabby's name) asked if we had a preferred route and we told him we were fine with whatever he decided. He warned us that things were not looking good for getting us to the airport (Surely he's joking, we have three hours!) but he would do his best. We took a tunnel, which wasn't so bad. Then we drove through the Bronx and into Brooklyn and hit a bridge. It took us an hour to go a mile. When we got to the other side of the bridge, we saw why. The end of the bridge had about three feet of water covering it and traffic was being forced off onto this little tiny road that went over the freeway and back on, where traffic was clear. I was frantically calling Spirit to check on our flight status (it was now 30 minute to take-off) and was angry that it seemed to be departing on time - WHAT!?!
We arrived at the airport 10 minutes later. Poor Mohammed was going to have to go BACK through all that to get back to the city, so Mom gave him a nice tip as we apologetically ran into the airport. Since NO ONE could get into the airport, there was no line at check in or security. We made it on to the plane ten minutes before takeoff and back to the Mitten.
In other news: I've got a second interview at Borders today. *fingers crossed*
So, in short, my thoughts on New York: smelly, crowded, and really good food. I liked DC and Chicago better (both were cleaner), but I'd definitely go back. I can't imagine going there for more than a weekend, though. And DEFINITELY not in Summer or Winter.