Back in the New York Groove, Day 4

Our final day in the Big Apple. We had but one mission: make Justin Khuel jealous.

Crumbs - 2 Park Avenue
Totally awesome bakery in lower Manhattan (and other places). Enourmous cupcakes (more than one sitting for normal human beings). I got a cookies-and-creme as well as a s'mores; Jennifer got red velvet and a peanut butter cup. Pictures were taken. Most of them flew back to Huntsville with us.

Some notes on the New York City Subway System:
On the whole, I was not nearly so annoyed with them this time. Partly, I think the because the L, N, and Q trains in Brooklyn are fairly well run. Also, I was somewhat prepared for the waits, and in less of a hurry to take everything in. They're still a little weird, and very germ-y, but it wasn't awful. Also, we saw some drunk guy stumble to the door, step out between cars, and start to take a leak - as we were pulling into a station. Stay classy, Brooklyn.

On the whole, our flights home went pretty well. No serious delays, plenty of time for lunch at DCA. There was a bit of a kerfuffle about carry-on bags as we were leaving DCA. Jennifer & I had checked a shared suitcase; I had a small duffle and the cupcakes and she had her computer backpack and purse. Those were perfectly acceptable carry-ons, 1 for the overhead and 1 for our feet. Some jerk really wanted Jennifer to move her backpack so he could stuff his suitcase above us. He learned his lesson. I stayed out of it.

We had fun, but its great to be back. Hopefully I'll add some photos into these posts. But don't hold your breath.

Back in the New York Groove, Day 3

This was our last full day in NYC, and for the most part, we wanted to take it easy.

Brooklyn Bridge Promenade / Park
This is always a nice little stroll, with a great view of southern Manhattan. Brides are legally required to take photos there, if not hold the wedding on the premises. Additionally, a park has been added where a bunch of unused docks used to be. Very nice. Also a at the foot of the bridge is the seriously awesome Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.

United Nations
Just strolled by. None of the flags were flying - I'm assuming because the UN was not in session. Boo (about the flags, that is).

Good Burger - 800 2nd Ave
Home of the Good Burger. Interestingly enough, it was good. Not too pricey for Manhattan standards, and not nearly as tacky as I was afraid it might be.

Brothers' Residence - Bedford Park, The Bronx
We made a run up to the Brothers' house in Bedford Park to say hi. Of the three Brothers in residence (Ed, Bill, Joe), only Bill was around. It was nice to catch up with Bill, and see him wave enthusiastically at Jennifer (inside joke).

Central Park
We strolled around for a bit, walked through Strawberry Fields. It's supposed to be a nice quiet spot for reflection. Unless, of course, its the anniversary of some milestone in John Lennon's life (birth, death, 1st baby tooth, last haircut) - then its an excuse for hippies and hipsters alike to throw a party. This time was his birthday, I think. We eventually caught up with Bekky, who was done with church (Paul went golfing).

L&B Spumoni Garden Brooklyn
Paul insisted we were still in Brooklyn. I'm not sure that we weren't in Canada. Paul & Bekky strongly recommended it. The place is well-known for its Sicilian style pizza. The Robbins' insisted that it didn't even need toppings, but I couldn't change my philistine ways, and insisted on pepperoni. I think they added to the experience. Also, the serve spumoni there (who knew?). It's like neapolitan ice cream, except with pistachio instead of strawberry. Weird, Italian, good. I think Jennifer is still waiting on her lasagna.

Tomorrow: I'll show you were you can put that carry on bag, sir.

Back in the New York Groove, Day 2

More New York Trip! It's like cowbell.

The American Museum of Natural History
This place is pretty awesome, and I could probably spend the whole day in there. Admission is "free;" they do ask for a donation (recommended $15 per adult - pshaw!). I'd been once before, back in 2005 when Jennifer was volunteering. A few new exhibits have opened up since then: geology and seismology, the brain, and human evolution. They would have been more enjoyable if parents had kept their kids in check. The Museum shares some of the blame in the geology exhibits, because many areas are just begging to be climbed on. I'm sure I'll change my tune when I have annoying kids of my own.

Lunch - some healthy wrap place, I forget the name. We thought it would be quick, but it was not. The food was tasty though. I had some kind of chicken-apple sausage in my wrap. Weird.

Grant's Tomb - Riverside Drive
It was on my list of things to do in NYC, and we never made it by there in 2005-2006. We were a bit rushed, but it was still impressive. Let there be peace.

We also strolled through the Columbia University campus and the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. The campus was nice, the cathedral was epic.

The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater - 307 W 26th
In the past, we'd go to the free 9:00pm show on Sunday evenings. To make sure and get in, with decent seats, we'd make an evening of it - camping out in the cold for line placement tickets, dinner, return to the line. This time, we all decided that $10 was worth an earlier show and no camping. It was the right decision. Also, the inimitable Dave Grandy joined us. This show featured writes from 30 Rock, a show I don't watch. It was pretty good.

The High Line - Meatpacking District
It used to be an elevated railway, then an abandoned elevated railway, now it's an elevated greenway. Its a good use of something that was already there. My only complaint is the artistic choices that were made with some of the planters seriously constrict foot traffic. Stupid artists.

Park - 118 10th (Meatpacking District)
Thai food. I had never really had it before, but it was pretty tasty. My chicken dish had some zing to it, but nothing I couldn't handle. Grandy joined us for this too. The only down side was that it got very late (a usual occurrence in NYC).

Tomorrow: I scream, you scream, we all scream for...spumoni?

Back in the New York Groove, Day 1

We did a lot on this trip, so I'm doing the best I can to recount it. Trips up to NYC always wind up operating at really weird hours (for me, at least). It started with a fairly late arrival into town Thursday night / Friday morning. Couple that with the non-trivial hour jet-lag from the Central Time Zone, and it can be well past 10am before you make it out the door. You just have to roll with it, and be prepared for a couple of lousy days at work when you get back. Now, on to the day:

TKTS Booth - Brooklyn Location
Taking in a Broadway show was on the must-do list. The TKTS booth tries to minimize losses for plays by offering day-of and next-day tickets for Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions at huge discounts. It can range from 30-40% for new shows to 50% or better for older plays. We decided on Memphis. And no, that's not ironic.

Lunch? The tacky McDonald's in Times Square. It was cheap, we were hungry, and it was right next to the next stop on our New York adventure...

Madame Tussauds - Times Square
I had never been, Jennifer had visited the one London (I think). We had a coupon from the Entertainment Book that Jennifer's mom got us. So that alone paid for the book. Some of the mannequins looked kinda fake, however; I'm almost certain that was the REAL Michael Jackson. We took a lot of pictures. I'm not sure why people went there before cameras were commonplace.

Strand Books - Broadway between E 12th and E 13th
Home of 18 miles of new, used, rare, and out-of-print books - in other words, Heaven. Jennifer had to cut me off, as usual. I love, love that place.

John's Pizzeria - 260 W 44th
Dinner before the play - highly recommended by Paul & Bekky Robbins. The three of us split a pie with prosciutto while Jennifer tried the chicken Alfredo. Everything was delicious. And pretty much right across the street from the playhouse.

Memphis - The Musical
Not a bad show. It won a Tony in 2009 for something. It sold itself as more of a rock-n-roll show, which I was hoping for. Instead, we got more rhythm and blues. Not bad, but not what I was expecting. It was a lot like Hairspray, only not as wacky. Also, seating in the theater was worse that the Pyramid.

Junior's Cheesecake - 1515 Broadway
Delicious. I had the chocolate swirl, Jennifer got it straight. Bekky got the pumpkin, and Paul got something, but I don't remember what. We had it to go, and ate it back at Casa de Robbins. It was hard not to demolish the bag on the subway.

Tomorrow: Thai Me Down!

Back in the New York Groove, Day 0

Maybe this was written retrospectivelly, maybe it wasn't. No one is going to read this anyway, so who cares?

Thursday was a long day - I put in a full day at the office before Jennifer picked me up and we drove to Huntsville International (the name itself is hilarious - there are maybe 11 gates). I've been flying out of HSV for business travel for years now, but this was Jennifer's first time. Security has always been easy enough there, and this time was no different. I did get a pat-down from the TSA agent at the metal detector. It was a little weird, I guess. Maybe some folks will eventually get in an uproar about them.

We flew US Airways for this trip. Nothing wrong with them, I guess. I was worried that we were getting a little sporty with a 45 minute layover at Reagan National (DCA). As luck would have it, events beyond our control doubled that layover. I wasn't really worried about missing the connection (the commuter terminal is pretty small); I just get anxious about being late. Also, usually when I travel I have the unstoppable force of the US government behind me. Its weird how comforting that can be. Anyways, while DCA can be a headache and a half, I do like the meal options. We had enough time for Five Guys for dinner and Cinnabon for dessert. Doing that in 45 minutes would have been nuts.

The downside to that luxurious layover put us in at LaGuardia (LGA) pretty darn late. Our gracious hosts, Paul and Bekky Robbins, had to wait a bit for us. Also, our suitcase that we shared was deemed abandoned by the baggage clerks because it was the only one that came off the plane, or something.

Finally, we made it to the stately Robbins estate in Brooklynn. I did not sleep until we got there.

Tomorrow: There's No Business like Show Business.