The Incredible Journey
A week ago, I was on vacation. Please allow me to tell you all about it?
Friday morning, jisalynn kindly drove me to the ROC airport. There, I encountered 0 lines in security. Nobody ahead of me to get my boarding pass checked, nobody in my scanning line. Weird. Sailed on through and got to my gate, where I just people-watched. It seemed silly to invest my time in reading or podcasts, especially when I should just learn to be able to sit quietly for a while. The flight was uneventful, except for watching the coverage of McCain naming Sarah Palin. It was just as much fun to watch the other passengers watch it & react. I boggled at all the expected talking points. We landed at JFK and I hopped on the subway to meet up with Ash. I had written down some directions from HopStop but it shouldn't be too hard: Take the A train, pop off at "Washington Sq/W 4th St". After an hour+ on the train, I started paying attention to the stop names. The first one we pulled up to, the only signs I could see read "W4" in 1-square-foot squares on columns. "Hmm, I think we're getting close to Washington Square," thought I. I got up, asked the guy next to the door if this was Washington Square. He said "No". The doors closed and the train rolled on. The woman on the other side of me poked me and said "You wanted Washington Square? That was the last stop..." So.. why did the other guy say no? And why didn't she speak up sooner? I got off at the next stop and attempted to catch an E train headed back that way. Nope! I failed. I had managed to get an E train heading in the same direction as the first. I got off that, properly boarded a train headed back to West 4th, aaaand promptly managed to overshoot my backtracking. So I got off at Spring Street, called Ash to let her know of my gaffe, and got on a 4th train that would definitely get me there, right? Right. Phew. I am a bit of an idiot sometimes. To be fair, the referring to "West 4th" as "Washington Sq" (which I'd written down just like that) is pointless. Nothing in the station refers to it as the latter. Bah! Ash & I met on the street, we ran to her apartment to change out of my sweaty travel clothes and into my dress-up clothes, then we ran back out to try to catch a cab. We were cutting it close. And then we were not having ANY luck with taxis, at 3pm on a Friday of a holiday weekend... In the end, we walked about halfway to Lady Mendl's, with a taxi helping us for the final bit. We got there at 3:08, just after our reservation. Wooh! High tea was a delight, and I'd do it again gladly. Plus we both looked good, overdressing compared to a few of the soccer moms. Ash & I caught up on her law career, our respective social lives, family news, etc. Afterwards, we shopped in SoHo for: wine (for me), a backpack (for me), a dress (for her), and a bag (for her). We had great success buying Finger Lakes wine at Vintage New York and found the world's most ridiculous backpack at Burton, which I nearly bought on the spot. It has more modular compartments and zippers than anybody should ever need. It turns out that the target audience is snowboarding photographers. Niche much? Yeah. We also stopped at Longchamp and Reiss, both of which made me dizzy. North Face's backpacks disappointed, compared to the Zoom. Another stop: The Village Scandal for hats. Hat shopping is not an easy task. My head is oddly sized, and some hats make me look very Amish. Tempted to buy a fedora, I thought better of it and we toddled off. We eventually went out for a drink & some apps (still full from tea!) at Slurp which turned out to be 2 blocks from the bar she'd wanted to take me to. Her iPhone failed us at finding that bar. (As did our willingness to wander.) We met up with Kris, Leah, and Leah's immediate family for cupcakes at Sugar Sweet Sunshine and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Leah walked out of the latter about 15 minutes due to excessive Woody Allen-ness. I hadn't really wanted to see the movie and WA left a bad taste in my mouth in college, but I didn't feel like I'd totally wasted 2 hours. Just 60% wasted it. Not impressed. Then our little party split up and I headed to K&L's for the night, which we capped off with mango margaritas & The Daily Show. So that was Friday.
I slept solidly that night on their pull-out couch and woke to plans of coffee and waffles. More hanging out with Leah's family (whom I adore for all their quirks and passions), getting measured for my tux for their wedding, and then I was off to Philadelphia via Amtrak. Once there, I had drinks at 30th Street Station (yep, in it) with Pat Seymour and we met up with Meg. She & I then took the streetcar up to silberzauber's Pre-Labor Day Party! Fantastic times. K&E's house is really really great, and it was good to see them + meet people from all the phases of their lives. We watched Dr Horrible en masse, as Eric had never seen it but so many of us were fussing about it. Meg & I had to leave early due to SEPTA scheduling, then we were off to Malvern for the night. (This paragraph is so much shorter than the previous one!)
After a not-great night of sleeping -- Sammy kept keeping me warm! -- I rolled out of bed on Sunday for a Wawa trip. Oh. My. God. Their version of the McGriddle is so good I could eat it daily but if I did I'd have a heart attack in about three weeks. It was too warm to play outside, so we lounged in the air conditioning, I did some much-needed laundry (hooray for packing light!) and we watched 21 which was just not a good movie. I kept having MIT-related beefs with it, then film-related beefs, and the only redeeming qualities were the soundtrack and Kate Bosworth. Harrumph. We made our way early afternoon to Plymouth Meeting, and I was able to check in to Kris & Leah's & my room for the night. Blah blah hanging around ironing clothes, then K&L and MARTIN showed up. MARTIN MARTIN MARTIN. Man, what a personality. We joked about skinnydipping in the hotel pool, which later turned into a serious plan for him, and generally planned the day. Meg nearly left with my camera but returned it to me because she's a good kid like that. K, L & I got food at the mall from Popeyes, which was a terrible experience. They don't even spell the establishment's name properly on the receipt, instead opting for POPEEYES which became a running gag for us. We scarfed it as we finished getting ready to attend the wedding, which required a shuttle bus ride of about 20 minutes to the William Penn Inn, where Mike & Elise kind of got engaged. The ceremony was fairly simple and elegant, mix of Jewish & Catholic traditions. Ave Maria was sung, a glass was broken, and a priest wore a yarmulke. That sums it up nicely. Pictures are here on Flickr. My ceremony shots aren't that good, sorry. Some of the reception shots aren't either, but there are a few gems IMHO. I had an amazing time with friends from college days, new friends made that night, and it was all just great. Afterparty in the hotel lobby was good times, with MM trying in vain to get me to go for a dip in the pool. HE HAD NO BATHING SUIT. That is all.
Around 6:45 AM on Labor Day, I woke up to loud music coming from the main part of the hotel. Not muzak, but turn-of-the-century pop-rock. SUB-OPTIMAL. I rolled over in my pull-out couch bed and was cranky. Too tired to do anything, but too annoyed to just ignore it, I pouted for a good half hour before being able to get back to sleep. I never figured out why the music played (another wedding's after-after-after-after party? a butts & guts class at the bar?), but Doubletree's getting a piece of my mind just as soon as I sit down and write a firmly-worded letter. K&L eventually got up, leftover chicken was had, and the morning-after brunch was as to be expected: some hangovers, awkward greetings, and copious amounts of coffee. I hadn't had a chance to chat with Audrey on Sunday night but we exchanged quick life-updates and I am intrigued by her lifestyle of self-employment and electronics trade shows. K, L, M and I (what, no J?) drove back to New York around 11:30 and made it back at 1, which is fantastic time if you ask me. We listened to the TAL episode Fiasco which I'd never heard and Santaland Diaries. Lounging in the StuyTown Oval occupied our afternoon. I attempted to darken my chest to the color of my arms, but it seems the sun cannot help me there, only paint. Raw umber paint. Maybe siena. The lighting in here is terrible. Regardless. The afternoon was lazy and delightful before we met up with Robin, Jill, and Jerry (for those not in the know: pretty much everybody I've talked about is a friend from Hopkins) for dinner at Penelope and a viewing of Hamlet 2. Eehhh. I really liked parts, and watching it with my theater-type friends added to the fun, but it won't hold up to time. Another night on the pull-out couch.
K & L had both left for work when I got out of bed on Tue, the first day of the semester and the final of my vacation. Bah. I cleaned up & packed & met up with coffeekat for lunch near her office, then I took a leisurely but direct trip out to JFK for the uneventful flight home. Then it was over, with jisalynn bookending my ROC transportation.
There, I've said it. I took a trip and I liked it. My wallet yells at me for abusing it with big city prices, my body aches from wearing my dress shoes, my eyes have dark circles under them forever, and I've got to get a lot of my life more organized. Autumn, here we come... But first, laundry and a nap?
Friday morning, jisalynn kindly drove me to the ROC airport. There, I encountered 0 lines in security. Nobody ahead of me to get my boarding pass checked, nobody in my scanning line. Weird. Sailed on through and got to my gate, where I just people-watched. It seemed silly to invest my time in reading or podcasts, especially when I should just learn to be able to sit quietly for a while. The flight was uneventful, except for watching the coverage of McCain naming Sarah Palin. It was just as much fun to watch the other passengers watch it & react. I boggled at all the expected talking points. We landed at JFK and I hopped on the subway to meet up with Ash. I had written down some directions from HopStop but it shouldn't be too hard: Take the A train, pop off at "Washington Sq/W 4th St". After an hour+ on the train, I started paying attention to the stop names. The first one we pulled up to, the only signs I could see read "W4" in 1-square-foot squares on columns. "Hmm, I think we're getting close to Washington Square," thought I. I got up, asked the guy next to the door if this was Washington Square. He said "No". The doors closed and the train rolled on. The woman on the other side of me poked me and said "You wanted Washington Square? That was the last stop..." So.. why did the other guy say no? And why didn't she speak up sooner? I got off at the next stop and attempted to catch an E train headed back that way. Nope! I failed. I had managed to get an E train heading in the same direction as the first. I got off that, properly boarded a train headed back to West 4th, aaaand promptly managed to overshoot my backtracking. So I got off at Spring Street, called Ash to let her know of my gaffe, and got on a 4th train that would definitely get me there, right? Right. Phew. I am a bit of an idiot sometimes. To be fair, the referring to "West 4th" as "Washington Sq" (which I'd written down just like that) is pointless. Nothing in the station refers to it as the latter. Bah! Ash & I met on the street, we ran to her apartment to change out of my sweaty travel clothes and into my dress-up clothes, then we ran back out to try to catch a cab. We were cutting it close. And then we were not having ANY luck with taxis, at 3pm on a Friday of a holiday weekend... In the end, we walked about halfway to Lady Mendl's, with a taxi helping us for the final bit. We got there at 3:08, just after our reservation. Wooh! High tea was a delight, and I'd do it again gladly. Plus we both looked good, overdressing compared to a few of the soccer moms. Ash & I caught up on her law career, our respective social lives, family news, etc. Afterwards, we shopped in SoHo for: wine (for me), a backpack (for me), a dress (for her), and a bag (for her). We had great success buying Finger Lakes wine at Vintage New York and found the world's most ridiculous backpack at Burton, which I nearly bought on the spot. It has more modular compartments and zippers than anybody should ever need. It turns out that the target audience is snowboarding photographers. Niche much? Yeah. We also stopped at Longchamp and Reiss, both of which made me dizzy. North Face's backpacks disappointed, compared to the Zoom. Another stop: The Village Scandal for hats. Hat shopping is not an easy task. My head is oddly sized, and some hats make me look very Amish. Tempted to buy a fedora, I thought better of it and we toddled off. We eventually went out for a drink & some apps (still full from tea!) at Slurp which turned out to be 2 blocks from the bar she'd wanted to take me to. Her iPhone failed us at finding that bar. (As did our willingness to wander.) We met up with Kris, Leah, and Leah's immediate family for cupcakes at Sugar Sweet Sunshine and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Leah walked out of the latter about 15 minutes due to excessive Woody Allen-ness. I hadn't really wanted to see the movie and WA left a bad taste in my mouth in college, but I didn't feel like I'd totally wasted 2 hours. Just 60% wasted it. Not impressed. Then our little party split up and I headed to K&L's for the night, which we capped off with mango margaritas & The Daily Show. So that was Friday.
I slept solidly that night on their pull-out couch and woke to plans of coffee and waffles. More hanging out with Leah's family (whom I adore for all their quirks and passions), getting measured for my tux for their wedding, and then I was off to Philadelphia via Amtrak. Once there, I had drinks at 30th Street Station (yep, in it) with Pat Seymour and we met up with Meg. She & I then took the streetcar up to silberzauber's Pre-Labor Day Party! Fantastic times. K&E's house is really really great, and it was good to see them + meet people from all the phases of their lives. We watched Dr Horrible en masse, as Eric had never seen it but so many of us were fussing about it. Meg & I had to leave early due to SEPTA scheduling, then we were off to Malvern for the night. (This paragraph is so much shorter than the previous one!)
After a not-great night of sleeping -- Sammy kept keeping me warm! -- I rolled out of bed on Sunday for a Wawa trip. Oh. My. God. Their version of the McGriddle is so good I could eat it daily but if I did I'd have a heart attack in about three weeks. It was too warm to play outside, so we lounged in the air conditioning, I did some much-needed laundry (hooray for packing light!) and we watched 21 which was just not a good movie. I kept having MIT-related beefs with it, then film-related beefs, and the only redeeming qualities were the soundtrack and Kate Bosworth. Harrumph. We made our way early afternoon to Plymouth Meeting, and I was able to check in to Kris & Leah's & my room for the night. Blah blah hanging around ironing clothes, then K&L and MARTIN showed up. MARTIN MARTIN MARTIN. Man, what a personality. We joked about skinnydipping in the hotel pool, which later turned into a serious plan for him, and generally planned the day. Meg nearly left with my camera but returned it to me because she's a good kid like that. K, L & I got food at the mall from Popeyes, which was a terrible experience. They don't even spell the establishment's name properly on the receipt, instead opting for POPEEYES which became a running gag for us. We scarfed it as we finished getting ready to attend the wedding, which required a shuttle bus ride of about 20 minutes to the William Penn Inn, where Mike & Elise kind of got engaged. The ceremony was fairly simple and elegant, mix of Jewish & Catholic traditions. Ave Maria was sung, a glass was broken, and a priest wore a yarmulke. That sums it up nicely. Pictures are here on Flickr. My ceremony shots aren't that good, sorry. Some of the reception shots aren't either, but there are a few gems IMHO. I had an amazing time with friends from college days, new friends made that night, and it was all just great. Afterparty in the hotel lobby was good times, with MM trying in vain to get me to go for a dip in the pool. HE HAD NO BATHING SUIT. That is all.
Around 6:45 AM on Labor Day, I woke up to loud music coming from the main part of the hotel. Not muzak, but turn-of-the-century pop-rock. SUB-OPTIMAL. I rolled over in my pull-out couch bed and was cranky. Too tired to do anything, but too annoyed to just ignore it, I pouted for a good half hour before being able to get back to sleep. I never figured out why the music played (another wedding's after-after-after-after party? a butts & guts class at the bar?), but Doubletree's getting a piece of my mind just as soon as I sit down and write a firmly-worded letter. K&L eventually got up, leftover chicken was had, and the morning-after brunch was as to be expected: some hangovers, awkward greetings, and copious amounts of coffee. I hadn't had a chance to chat with Audrey on Sunday night but we exchanged quick life-updates and I am intrigued by her lifestyle of self-employment and electronics trade shows. K, L, M and I (what, no J?) drove back to New York around 11:30 and made it back at 1, which is fantastic time if you ask me. We listened to the TAL episode Fiasco which I'd never heard and Santaland Diaries. Lounging in the StuyTown Oval occupied our afternoon. I attempted to darken my chest to the color of my arms, but it seems the sun cannot help me there, only paint. Raw umber paint. Maybe siena. The lighting in here is terrible. Regardless. The afternoon was lazy and delightful before we met up with Robin, Jill, and Jerry (for those not in the know: pretty much everybody I've talked about is a friend from Hopkins) for dinner at Penelope and a viewing of Hamlet 2. Eehhh. I really liked parts, and watching it with my theater-type friends added to the fun, but it won't hold up to time. Another night on the pull-out couch.
K & L had both left for work when I got out of bed on Tue, the first day of the semester and the final of my vacation. Bah. I cleaned up & packed & met up with coffeekat for lunch near her office, then I took a leisurely but direct trip out to JFK for the uneventful flight home. Then it was over, with jisalynn bookending my ROC transportation.
There, I've said it. I took a trip and I liked it. My wallet yells at me for abusing it with big city prices, my body aches from wearing my dress shoes, my eyes have dark circles under them forever, and I've got to get a lot of my life more organized. Autumn, here we come... But first, laundry and a nap?