and I keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat
So I may have mentioned something about a little trip I took this past week to New York City by way of Ohio? And I may have done more than my share of drunk posting? Who can say. But I'm back in Knoxville now, and I'm done feeling sorry for myself about it and ready to tell you all about the trip.
My trip started by driving from Knoxville to wonderlandchick's house in northeast Ohio. The trip was uneventful, and I was glad to meet up with Sarah and meet her adorable Chihuahua, who is the boss of everyone he sees. Later jengeorge joined us for takeout Chinese and wine, and we talked about how much fun we were going to have in New York.
I hung out in Ohio on Thursday with Sarah and Jen, then on Friday morning we got up long before the crack of dawn. Jen drove us to Pittsburgh in the Gay Saab. We arrived at the Amtrak station in plenty of time, with plans to park in the Greyhound parking garage right across the street. Except that when we got here, the power was out, and despite the fact that the Pittsburgh Parking Authority officials were standing Right There, none of them could advise us on the next closest parking garage. Which happened to be about two blocks away, so fuck you very much, Pittsburgh Parking Authority.
Anyway, we finally found the convention center parking garage and hoped that we wouldn't get towed over the weekend. Then we (literally) ran for it and made the train with exactly four minutes to spare. Let me tell you that the Amtrak does not mess around. When they say they're leaving at 7:43, they mean 7:43. Just for future reference.
But we made the train, and eight hours and change later we arrived at Penn Station.
I took that picture specifically to text it to my nephew and torture him, because I was in NYC and he was not. I never claimed to be a good person.
We took the subway to Times Square and checked into our hotel, then we freshened up and headed to the top of Times Square and Havana Central. I had my doubts, since it is a touristy restaurant and therefore pretty pricey, but the food was pretty amazing. And we made it in time for happy hour, so our Sangrias were half price. That means we could drink more!
Sangria #1, garnished with an orange slice.
Sangria #2, garnished with a naked lady. Score.
jengeorge and myself before we started drinking. You don't want to see me after.
After dinner I dragged Jen and Sarah a couple blocks north to take pictures of Donna Bell's Bake Shop for ophelias_heart.
It's not that exciting to look at, but Paulie Perrette founded it based on her mom's recipes, so I imagine they do okay.
After that we stopped at Junior's for more drinks (what?) and dessert, then we headed back to the hotel for some hard-earned rest.
Saturday morning I dragged everyone back to Junior's, mainly because I really wanted some authentic corned beef hash for breakfast. WORTH IT. After that we got on the subway and headed to the Museum of Sex, where I took the picture of the Kurt/Puck cake topper.
Here's another angle:
There's a bar underneath the museum where they have these really cool terrarium lamps. I took some pictures of those to steal the idea:
After that was a visit to The Strand for book shopping, then Max Brenner for lunch. I might have eaten chocolate pizza for lunch. I'm not saying one way or the other.
Don't judge.
Then it was on to a brief stop at the Trader Joe's Wine Shop, just for the novelty. I picked up a three buck chuck while we were there, since I've never had their house wine before. I am drinking the very last glass of shiraz right now. BOO.
But Saturday night, of course, was the whole reason we went to the city in the first place. mysticshell and olukemi came into the city for pre-dinner drinks, and after failing to hail cabs to the restaurant, we ended up in a pair of rickshaws. This was a Bad Idea. Holy fuck, those things are expensive. Lesson learned! Never again, but it was actually sort of an interesting experience. Plus, my parents used to ride around in rickshaws all the time when I was a baby in Taiwan, so my mom will appreciate it.
The view from the rickshaw, before we knew how much it was going to cost, and therefore could enjoy the ride. But they got us to the restaurant in time, where we met up with another friend and had delicious Indian food and more drinks.
After that it was back into actual cabs this time and downtown to the Nederlander Theater and NEWSIES ON BROADWAY BITCHES.
Hello, random gentleman in the picture.
I bought us tickets on the right hand side of the stage just because I had a feeling, and it turned out that Jess spent most of the show dancing on that side! So that was a huge bonus. It was great to see so many of the SYTYCD guys doing so well, and the show was really good. There are definite changes from the movie, but nothing annoying, and the cast was really fantastic. I hope they win something at the Tonys next month.
Headed into the theater.
The stage pre-show. After the show some of the actors came out to sign autographs. We didn't stop, because what's the point and also we were on our way to have more drinks, but I did catch a glimpse of Alex Freaking Wong signing playbills. He looked really happy, which was nice to see after his two giant disappointments on SYTYCD.
On Sunday we started our day by wandering past Bryant Park to see the lions outside the NYPL:
I meant to take us inside the library at some point, but it never happened. Next time!
We wandered up Fifth Avenue and did some window shopping, with stops for coffee and ogling the windows at Tiffany's. We hung out in Central Park for a little while, where we saw the Dancing Crane Cafe:
I took a picture just because of the name. Obviously.
Sarah and Jennie enjoying the sunny Sunday weather outside the Central Park Zoo.
We also spent some time people-watching at the fountain outside the Mac Store on 5th Ave:
The Plaza.
After that it was off to Lips NYC for their Broadway Drag Brunch. I wasn't sure what to expect, since NYC is not really the hub of drag culture, but it was pretty fabulous. The decor alone made me want to redecorate my entire house.
I took this picture just to capture some more of the room, but I accidentally got a shot of our tablemate, who Jennie struck up a conversation with and discovered that he is a baby drag queen. Adorable.
They really pulled out all the stops for "Defying Gravity".
My favorite. She was so gorgeous.
I almost made us stop. We killed four pitchers of mimosas during brunch; I was pretty tipsy at this point.
And true to my word, we stayed drunk most of Sunday, so I stopped taking pictures after that. As reported on the day, we went to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and it was fantastic. It was a drag kind of day. We also had drinks and appetizers at the Bryant Park Grille, which is overpriced, but the park is so beautiful that it's kind of worth it.
On Monday I was in denial about having to leave New York and come back here, so I didn't take any pictures on the train. It was pretty boring, so you're not missing anything. Though it wasn't a terrible way to travel, I have to say. Before we got to Penn Station I made us stop for authentic bagels at Best Bagel & Coffee. It was worth the effort. I haven't had a decent bagel since my grandmother left New Jersey, and I won't be having one again until I'm back in the greater NYC area, so the memory will have to last me for awhile.
So that's our trip in a nutshell. It was really fantastic and I'm not at all happy to be home. The only thing I'm looking forward to now is the premiere of SYTYCD, and there's not going to be any Jess, so even that's a mixed blessing.
Every time I go north I say I'm going to make a plan to get out of the south and move home. I always say it, but then life gets in the way and I fall back on bad habits and like 90 Glee fics happen. I swear I'm not going to do that this time. I've got a plan and I'm sticking to it, by God. I just need to be back among my people. Whenever I go north I remember just how true that is.
My trip started by driving from Knoxville to wonderlandchick's house in northeast Ohio. The trip was uneventful, and I was glad to meet up with Sarah and meet her adorable Chihuahua, who is the boss of everyone he sees. Later jengeorge joined us for takeout Chinese and wine, and we talked about how much fun we were going to have in New York.
I hung out in Ohio on Thursday with Sarah and Jen, then on Friday morning we got up long before the crack of dawn. Jen drove us to Pittsburgh in the Gay Saab. We arrived at the Amtrak station in plenty of time, with plans to park in the Greyhound parking garage right across the street. Except that when we got here, the power was out, and despite the fact that the Pittsburgh Parking Authority officials were standing Right There, none of them could advise us on the next closest parking garage. Which happened to be about two blocks away, so fuck you very much, Pittsburgh Parking Authority.
Anyway, we finally found the convention center parking garage and hoped that we wouldn't get towed over the weekend. Then we (literally) ran for it and made the train with exactly four minutes to spare. Let me tell you that the Amtrak does not mess around. When they say they're leaving at 7:43, they mean 7:43. Just for future reference.
But we made the train, and eight hours and change later we arrived at Penn Station.
I took that picture specifically to text it to my nephew and torture him, because I was in NYC and he was not. I never claimed to be a good person.
We took the subway to Times Square and checked into our hotel, then we freshened up and headed to the top of Times Square and Havana Central. I had my doubts, since it is a touristy restaurant and therefore pretty pricey, but the food was pretty amazing. And we made it in time for happy hour, so our Sangrias were half price. That means we could drink more!
Sangria #1, garnished with an orange slice.
Sangria #2, garnished with a naked lady. Score.
jengeorge and myself before we started drinking. You don't want to see me after.
After dinner I dragged Jen and Sarah a couple blocks north to take pictures of Donna Bell's Bake Shop for ophelias_heart.
It's not that exciting to look at, but Paulie Perrette founded it based on her mom's recipes, so I imagine they do okay.
After that we stopped at Junior's for more drinks (what?) and dessert, then we headed back to the hotel for some hard-earned rest.
Saturday morning I dragged everyone back to Junior's, mainly because I really wanted some authentic corned beef hash for breakfast. WORTH IT. After that we got on the subway and headed to the Museum of Sex, where I took the picture of the Kurt/Puck cake topper.
Here's another angle:
There's a bar underneath the museum where they have these really cool terrarium lamps. I took some pictures of those to steal the idea:
After that was a visit to The Strand for book shopping, then Max Brenner for lunch. I might have eaten chocolate pizza for lunch. I'm not saying one way or the other.
Don't judge.
Then it was on to a brief stop at the Trader Joe's Wine Shop, just for the novelty. I picked up a three buck chuck while we were there, since I've never had their house wine before. I am drinking the very last glass of shiraz right now. BOO.
But Saturday night, of course, was the whole reason we went to the city in the first place. mysticshell and olukemi came into the city for pre-dinner drinks, and after failing to hail cabs to the restaurant, we ended up in a pair of rickshaws. This was a Bad Idea. Holy fuck, those things are expensive. Lesson learned! Never again, but it was actually sort of an interesting experience. Plus, my parents used to ride around in rickshaws all the time when I was a baby in Taiwan, so my mom will appreciate it.
The view from the rickshaw, before we knew how much it was going to cost, and therefore could enjoy the ride. But they got us to the restaurant in time, where we met up with another friend and had delicious Indian food and more drinks.
After that it was back into actual cabs this time and downtown to the Nederlander Theater and NEWSIES ON BROADWAY BITCHES.
Hello, random gentleman in the picture.
I bought us tickets on the right hand side of the stage just because I had a feeling, and it turned out that Jess spent most of the show dancing on that side! So that was a huge bonus. It was great to see so many of the SYTYCD guys doing so well, and the show was really good. There are definite changes from the movie, but nothing annoying, and the cast was really fantastic. I hope they win something at the Tonys next month.
Headed into the theater.
The stage pre-show. After the show some of the actors came out to sign autographs. We didn't stop, because what's the point and also we were on our way to have more drinks, but I did catch a glimpse of Alex Freaking Wong signing playbills. He looked really happy, which was nice to see after his two giant disappointments on SYTYCD.
On Sunday we started our day by wandering past Bryant Park to see the lions outside the NYPL:
I meant to take us inside the library at some point, but it never happened. Next time!
We wandered up Fifth Avenue and did some window shopping, with stops for coffee and ogling the windows at Tiffany's. We hung out in Central Park for a little while, where we saw the Dancing Crane Cafe:
I took a picture just because of the name. Obviously.
Sarah and Jennie enjoying the sunny Sunday weather outside the Central Park Zoo.
We also spent some time people-watching at the fountain outside the Mac Store on 5th Ave:
The Plaza.
After that it was off to Lips NYC for their Broadway Drag Brunch. I wasn't sure what to expect, since NYC is not really the hub of drag culture, but it was pretty fabulous. The decor alone made me want to redecorate my entire house.
I took this picture just to capture some more of the room, but I accidentally got a shot of our tablemate, who Jennie struck up a conversation with and discovered that he is a baby drag queen. Adorable.
They really pulled out all the stops for "Defying Gravity".
My favorite. She was so gorgeous.
I almost made us stop. We killed four pitchers of mimosas during brunch; I was pretty tipsy at this point.
And true to my word, we stayed drunk most of Sunday, so I stopped taking pictures after that. As reported on the day, we went to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and it was fantastic. It was a drag kind of day. We also had drinks and appetizers at the Bryant Park Grille, which is overpriced, but the park is so beautiful that it's kind of worth it.
On Monday I was in denial about having to leave New York and come back here, so I didn't take any pictures on the train. It was pretty boring, so you're not missing anything. Though it wasn't a terrible way to travel, I have to say. Before we got to Penn Station I made us stop for authentic bagels at Best Bagel & Coffee. It was worth the effort. I haven't had a decent bagel since my grandmother left New Jersey, and I won't be having one again until I'm back in the greater NYC area, so the memory will have to last me for awhile.
So that's our trip in a nutshell. It was really fantastic and I'm not at all happy to be home. The only thing I'm looking forward to now is the premiere of SYTYCD, and there's not going to be any Jess, so even that's a mixed blessing.
Every time I go north I say I'm going to make a plan to get out of the south and move home. I always say it, but then life gets in the way and I fall back on bad habits and like 90 Glee fics happen. I swear I'm not going to do that this time. I've got a plan and I'm sticking to it, by God. I just need to be back among my people. Whenever I go north I remember just how true that is.