Dear Friends...
Hey! I'm still alive! Like school and work isn't enough, Hurricane Franny comes barreling through. The bitch killed two of my big trees! Although, she did give me a day off from school, so she's pretty all right with me. Plus, I know I'm not the only one that gets excited about natural disasters. Ummm..that sounds horrible. I hope you know what I mean by that. Anyway, here's part deux of our terrific, tremendous, totally thrilling trip.
<3, ashleigh
Day 4:
It was Wednesday, hump-day, except I think that refers to a workweek and neither one of us had work so it was just Wednesday to us. We had a guided tour planned out for the Statue of Liberty so we made sure to get there early. We passed a girl kneeling on the ground puking what looked like important organs as we waited in line to get on the ferry. We went to the top deck and the boat moved like people were pushing it on either sides. Luckily the trip wasn’t too long and we had some time to spare at Liberty Island before our tour. I got an iced lemonade and Diana got an ice cream bar that later would both drip all over our pants. We checked out the expensive crap in the gift shop while we waited. Then we found a place to sit underneath a tree and talked about how weird boys are and relationship stuff. Like Diana says…”we bonded.”
It was finally time to go see the green lady and we had to go through weird security tests to get there. At one point we had to walk through this thing that blew air so hard at you that your hair stood up for a second. (We found out later that it’s supposed to detect gunpowder or something.) Then we got our tour guide. She looked like a Sheniqua and she had about a first graders education of the statue of liberty. I caught her reading the display sings word-for-word a few times. Then we got a new guide and went to the fifth floor. We went outside on the balcony and looked over the edge. It was really high and the air was kind of cold and blowing hard. The tour wasn’t that long and we were back on the island. By now the sky was almost completely grey and we didn’t have any type of rain gear so we walked briskly back towards the ferry. The line to the ferry was huge! We walked fast through a gap on the side of the line and snuck in in the front. Then the rain came. We took off our top shirts to keep them dry and put them in our purses but we were still going to be soaked in a matter of minutes so we both ducked underneath some old lady’s umbrella. She didn’t seem to mind, and I think was maybe even laughing at us, so Diana, me, and somebody’s grandma shared a little black umbrella waiting for the boat.
By the time we got back it was close to four and we had to be at NYU for Diana’s tour very soon. We ended up running through the rain into the business building at NYU. Diana and I were soaked, and it was close to freezing in there. So I read a few magazines while Diana went on an interesting, yet discouraging, tour of the building.
Afterwards it was time for some dinner! We slowly meandered down the street to find something, anything, but a panini. Diana’s feet were blistered from wearing new shoes two days in a row, and we went into a little place that looked like a general store. Inside we found a buffet with a lineup of mashed potatoes, chow mein noodles, and cucumber salad among other really good stuff that didn’t go together. The sign read “$4.99 per pound of food” so we carefully selected a pound worth of un-panini dinner.
During dinner the rain started again, this time worse, and when we went to get a cab to go home we realized they were all full. We stood watching for longer than usual until a man stopped his taxi in the middle of the street for us. Back at the hotel we took showers and Diana convinced me I would like beer if I drank it from a shot glass every minute. (Power Hour) Then we bought a six-pack for ten dollars, two of it the man pocketed, and played pour hour while watching the dumbest show I’ve ever seen. “The Player” is a reality series gone wrong. “Game ova, playa.”
One of New York’s finest advantages is the subway system. It’s like a DD every night of the week. We were quite trashed by the time we got on the train to go to Bleaker Street. Maybe that’s why we got lost as soon as we got there. We went to a bar called Slante’ and met a guy named Jake, who we managed to convince we were New Yorkers.
“I’m gonna call you next weekend, alright?”
“Suuuuure. We’ll hang out.” I lied even though I had just put an 813 number in his cell.
Then he went to the bathroom and we bolted.
We stepped into the next bar…another advantage: bar-lined streets…to have some more beer, which I wouldn’t have touched the night before. I downed something with the words “granny apple smith” and we got outta there. After a few more beers we met Beau. Actually Diana met Beau first because he asked her to help him pick out a cantaloupe at a produce stand on the street. Diana gave her best bullshitted answer about the melon and we left only to run into Beau and his nerdy, but cute, friend about an hour later on the next street. We went into “Off the Wagon,” a bar on MacDougal. There we met a strange guy that had neverending stories about burning men in the desert and robotic machines. He made me feel reeeeal trippy, and I wanted to get away from him but he was sitting on the outside seat of the booth we were in. Finally he left after we promised to visit the website and we played foosball and darts with rhyming Beau and Joe. Joe and I kicked ass at foosball, but I was definitely holding the team together. Joe bought me a shot of Jaeger even though I was past drunk and I couldn’t say no.
Then somehow without us noticing the boys jumped in our cab. And whaddayaknow, they jumped out at our stop too. We bought more ten-dollar beer and went to the room. Di and Beau hung out on the stairs while Joe and I hung out in the room. He put some lame move on me and we ended up kissing. I was getting into it when I remembered Diana and went to find her. She was sitting on the steps being a good girl with Beau and I went back to the room only to find jackass snoring and asleep on Diana and I’s bed! So we talked a little longer and knocked Joe off the bed to sleep on the little space on the floor with Beau.
Day 5:
We were leaving my favorite city today so we had to wake up semi-early around nine. Diana flung open the blinds and started making orders at the boys on the floor.
“Time to goooooo!!!! You guys gotta go nowwww!!”
It was like Major Pain, girl style. We finally got them out after they complained that they had to walk home cause they were broke, and then we packed our bags. We got everything packed very slowly and got in the cab towards La Guardia airport. We were feeling those beers big time by this point and I felt all throw-upy all the way to the airport. It was getting worse and worse and Diana and I didn’t talk all the way there for fear of opening our mouths and last nights beer coming back out.
By the time I got there I was real bad. I wasn’t talking anymore, only nodding to Diana’s questions. I was dreading the plane and was going to demand an isle seat. We went to the airport Chili’s and had some chips and soda to soak up the granny smith and miller lights.
We finally went to the waiting area and our plane was supposed to leave at seven. Seven came and went and it was delayed over and over again. There were bad thunderstorms up and down the east coast and they wouldn’t let the plane leave Florida to come back to get us. We waited until elevenish and they finally canceled the flight. With Hurricane Charley on it’s way to Tampa, we couldn’t get another flight back until Saturday afternoon, so we borrowed money from our parents and took a taxi back to the ‘ole 31.
That night we went to 3rd Avenue which had cute little bars lined up on one side of the street. First we went to a bar that had big flat screen TVs on the walls. They were playing top 40 music videos, like Ushers “Let it Burn” which has been played out for a while now. We met some unattractive and annoying guys that were being overfriendly. One in particular was pestering me the whole time. After about twenty minutes and the guy asking to buy me a drink twenty-five times I gave the “let’s get outta here” look to Diana. She didn’t want to leave, but I insisted and I practically ran out of the place.
Then we found another similar place with TVs on the wall, but they were playing 80s stuff. We sat down on stools at the bar while listening to Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” and two guys sat on either side of us. I can’t remember what the one sitting next to me said, probably because I was in a trance from his looks. He had one of the best smiles I’ve ever seen and I was pretty excited until I saw his friend next to Di. The friend was a Tiger Woods look-alike, and obviously not Diana’s type, but I had to talk to the smiler. His name was Justin and he was a real estate broker in Manhattan. HOT. He also happened to have a degree in Psychology, which is right down my alley. We flirted for a while and I temporarily forgot about Tiger and Diana. Then they bought us some kind of weird shots that burned my throat. Justin was drinking a whiskey and coke, which I told him was a grandpas drink. Then I went to the bathroom to look in the mirror and assure myself that I was in this guy’s league. When I came back, Justin had bought me another shot, some type of raspberry vodka which was also gross. Finally I couldn’t ignore Diana’s “let’s get outta here” looks and we told them we were going back to the other place. I told Justin they could come along, but should have let Tiger go home. We got to the other bar and I could tell Diana was getting sick of the guy, but Justin was getting more attractive and charming as the night went by. We hung out for a while and then Diana told me she wanted to go, and walked towards the door. I understood, but I didn’t want to leave so I dragged out the goodbye. He gave me his business card and I gave him my number and then we started to kiss. When I turned around and saw that Tiger had been watching the whole thing it kinda grossed me out so I said bye again and walked out quickly.
Then as we walked home Diana told me all the idiot things the guy had told her, and I felt worse for making her suffer while I was falling in lust. Thanks for taking one for the team.
Day 6: Friday we slept until one o’clock, the latest since we had gotten to New York. We got dressed and wanted to see Central Park and maybe a museum, so we took the train there. As we were walking through the station underground, all of a sudden we ran into a door for Bloomingdale’s. This came out of nowhere and we couldn’t resist, so we went inside. We realized immediately that we would only be looking, not buying, but we still visited almost every floor. As we strolled through the cosmetics and perfume department, Bloomies employees spritzed us with pretty smelling perfumes from designer makers. We then went to see clothes that we couldn’t afford, and even found Marc Jacobs, Diana’s fave. The first tag I looked at was for a cropped plaid blazer and it was $1300, so I stopped checking.
After teasing ourselves we went to have lunch. We both had sandwiches and then headed down the street, not really knowing where we were going. We walked down the street and then Diana pointed and said
“Look! Trees!”
They were the first trees we had seen since we got there and assumed it must be the park. When we got to the park we sat down on a bench because my legs were about to collapse. Diana got all crazy cause there were some bold pigeons that were close to her feet. Even though I told her they wouldn’t hurt her, she was causing a scene by squealing and jumping around so we just continued walking. Freakgirl. We walked through the park, and didn’t really see the big deal. Maybe being from Florida where there are huge spaces of green grass and trees lessened our appreciation. We left the park to go see a museum, but decided against it when we found out how far it was and then it started to pour again. We ran underneath an awning for an elite apartment building to try to stay dry and hailed a cab to go back to the room.
We must have been exhausted because as soon as we got back to the room, we went back to bed and slept for a little over an hour.
It was our last night so we wanted to leave with a bang. We went back to 3rd Avenue cause it was close and we had had about enough with the walking. We had a few drinks at the first one, and then walked down the street to another bar, but got stopped by some friendly gentlemen on the way. They pointed out a bar and said it was one of the best so we went in to test their opinion. Shortly after, they came in also and we started talking. They were being very friendly, and I don’t mean that in a “want to get in your pants, will do anything it takes, friendly.” Genuinely friendly, and I was beginning to feel more than comfortable in a city 1165.77 miles away. We talked about the city mostly because I never get tired of talking about New York and the guys said Di and I were different than typical New York girls. They described NY girls as snobbish and cold, which I agree that we aren’t. We danced to goofy 80’s songs, and they really had a hay day when The Humpty song came on. I never knew anyone that actually knew the words to that one. They insisted on buying us drinks. I would never accept a drink from a Tampa guy unless I was really interested, because they act like once they buy you a five dollar drink they own you for the night, but New Yorkers don’t seem to have the same mentality. We went to a couple other bars and danced and talked and had an awesome time.
Then it got a little later and they asked us if we wanted to go back to their place. They had an apartment on 92nd (I think). Diana explained that it was our last night and we wanted to check out some other places first…without them. I don’t really remember how she put this, but it must have come out bad because they thought we wanted to ditch them. I gave Mike, the guy I had been talking to, my cell number and he thought it was a fake. He even asked Diana to repeat it to check. I was a little offended, but he insisted that girls around there did that kind of thing all the time so he couldn’t be too sure. I got his business card and told him we’d call them later and then we left.
I told Di it was a good idea, that it was our last night and we should explore our options! So we went back to our room and changed in about three minutes. Thought we should kick it up a notch for the other side of town. We arrived at MacDougal Street and it was getting late so we walked around a little and decided it was time to go back when we ran into two more guys. Now, these guys had my attention They were both pretty hot, but almost “too hot.” They were wearing really nice clothes, both wearing pants that might have been a little tighter than I usually see on a boy. They literally were begging us to go to a club with them and promised an interesting after-hours club in the East Village. We were hesitant, but didn’t want to go home, so we jumped in a cab with them to the EV. On the way there one of the guys told us about his pants that he got in Italy, in other words profounded his gayness to us. It didn’t take long to get there but as we were walking, and walking, and walking, I began to wonder where exactly we were going. I was even getting a little nervous. We had left the busy, and well-lit side of town and were now in a quiet and dark area. I gave Diana a look like “what the hell…where are we going?” We finally got to the club and they the boys walked up to a bouncer which was standing on stairs leading down a stairwell. They exchanged words, whatever words they were, and they turned around looking upset. They said something like let’s try this other place and started walking again. We, like lost puppies, followed them. When we got to the second place the bouncer said they were closing and then the gayish boys invited us back to their place. They promised a rooftop view, which I didn’t give a damn about and I told them we were going home. I insisted. They continued to actually beg us again, but I wasn’t folding. We didn’t know them, and didn’t trust them. I swear they were gay, and what the hell did they want with us if they were?
Anyway, we got in a taxi and called Mike. We were dropped off in front of his place and he met us outside. He proceeded to tell me how he really didn’t think we were going to call, making me happier that I did. I don’t know why I trusted him so much. I probably shouldn’t have, but I just had a good feeling. Maybe it was the Amaretto Sours, or whatever I was drinking that night. We just sat around talking for a long time, watched some Ali G show, and checked out the outrageously expensive apartment. Mikes friend was getting a little pushy. He wanted us to spend the night…actually his terms were “stay and get to know us better.” He was trying way too hard and I could tell Mike was a little embarrassed.
We finally left at about six. We were both quiet in the car as the cabbie jerked around corners. I hadn’t noticed how tired I was until we had gone outside and seen that the sun was up. My phone beeped and Mike had sent me a text message. Something like “have a safe trip home.” It oozed sweetness and I was glad we had met.
We went to bed sometime about seven o’clock only to wake up at around nine thirty. We were both exhausted and Diana was getting some kind of strep throat or something. We were definitely ready to go home.
On the flight home as Diana was falling asleep I closed my eyes and promised myself I would be back soon, to live, not just visit. Then I drifted off as I listened to the jet engine hum.