NYC 10-31-08 to 11-2-08

**I used to have a travel journal but in the interest of condensing, I'm going to post my ramblings about our recent trip to NYC here. So, this will be a bit of a different type of post--longer than usual and written in a different style than I usually write. Enjoy!**

Friday October 31st

The day begins bright and early for the Horvath's, as we eagerly get up and prepare to embark on our long-awaited weekend getaway to NYC with Lindsay's cousin Erin and her husband Ken. Little G3 has already been deposited at Grammy and Grandad Flock's, the sun is shining, and temperatures are rising. Despite Lindsay having suffered a night of insomnia, the day is off to a spectacular start!

Our ride is faster than anticipated, and in under 2 hours we are in Newark, NJ at The Tops Diner, our spot for meeting the Kostevas. Though we arrive nearly 40 minutes before Erin and Ken, it takes us nearly that long to peruse the entire menu. Around noon our travel buddies arrive, and we order quickly amid our excitement at seeing each other and anticipation of our weekend ahead. Everyone orders yummy salads and wraps, except for Ken who opts for a beer and a peanut butter milkshake. Let the good times roll...

After eating, we load up everything into the jeep and contemplate options for where to leave Erin's car. Option 1 is to leave it in the Tops Diner lot and hope it isn't towed. Option 1 is pretty much the only option, so we lock up the Civic and hope for the best.

In just minutes we are over the bridge and in the city! Gabe performs well at the wheel, weaving in and out of traffic like a pro. Ken plays navigator while Erin and Lindsay catch up on gossip in the back seat. We reach our hotel with no real mishaps, despite the death-defying lane changes. Ken checks in, and we learn that we must park our car across the street...in a nutshell, un-parallel park and cross several lanes of backed up traffic. In a move so daring she will earn Gabe's respect for life, Erin exits the car and stops traffic by standing in the middle of the road and holding her hand up. Impressive.

We drag our stuff to Room 615, our home for the next 3 days. The room is the size of a shoebox. Apparently, $750 in NYC will get you what $85 anywhere else will. Nonetheless, the room is clean and sufficient, and we all know each other well enough not to be too skeeved out by such close quarters. Gabe immediately checks out the bathroom while Erin, Ken, and Lindsay set up the various food and drink (okay mostly drink) that we have brought along.

Once settled in, we head outside to enjoy the afternoon. The day is spectacularly mild, with temps in the 50's and blue skies. Its Halloween and just in case we forget, there are people in costume every which way you turn. We excitedly set out on foot to explore our neighborhood. Highlights include...

* A stop at Bar Americain for our first official drink in New York. Erin is excited because its one of Bobby Flay's restaurants.

* Times Square. The "center" of NYC, full of neon lights, tall building, thousands of tourists, and people dressed up in Halloween costumes. The energy is full and alive here...its definitely a "touristy" spot but, well, judging by the camera around Lindsay's neck and the NYC map tucked into Erin's purse...we are tourists!

* Bryant Park, where we sit and watch amateur and professional ice skaters do their thing. Its somewhat intoxicating watching people go round and round in a circle. But, we finally break the trance when Lindsay announces "One more wipeout, and I'm ready to go!"

* Lindsay and Erin meet with and pose for pictures with their very own Tin Man!

Around 5pm, we head back to our tiny quarters to get dressed and have a snack and a few drinks. Ken pours the red bull and vodka liberally, and we polish off most of the bottle of Bitch wine (which the Kostevas brought just for Lindsay.) During the mad rush to get ready Lindsay loses a diamond earring and accidentally flashes Ken. Hair is straightened, ties are tied, cheese and salami are consumed, and we head down to Serafino (our hotel's bar) for another drink before heading out..

.

The destination of our night is Wicked!! This is one of two concrete ventures that this weekend was planned around. Erin, Ken, and Lindsay have all read "Wicked" the book, and Gabe is content knowing that there's a character with no arms. We reach the theater and are absolutely delighted to discover we can polish off even more vodka drinks in our very own Wicked sippy cups. We settle into our seats and before we know it we're immersed in the world of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West!

The show is amazing. Everything entrancing about a live performance--the singing, the dancing, the acting, the production...everything is over the top spectacular. We are all swept away to the land of Oz, and although the show is quite different from the book, its still incredible. When the curtain draws for the last time, we leave with happy hearts and purses full of sticky plastic Wicked cups. Even Gabe, who admits he barely knows the story of the Wizard of Oz, is thoroughly impressed. So impressed, he announces he'd like to pursue a career as a dancing monkey.

Our next stop is a much needed dinner, and we randomly wander in to Natsumi, which is connected to a hoppin' bar. We leave the bar side in favor of the Japanese cuisine side, and we quickly fill up on sushi and sake. After eating, we head to our hotel bar, only to be ushered upstairs to the lounge for the hotel's Halloween party. We ride the elevator with ghosts, freaks, and superheroes--and quickly decide the Halloween party atmosphere is not for us.

Our next stop is intended to be one of the bars that Lindsay's New York friend has recommended, but for reasons unknown (possibly alcohol related) we wander next door to a small Italian piano bar. Here, we spend a good hour or so just talking and enjoying the (late) night. Outside, Halloween continues on...

Eventually we head back to our room, and immediately upon walking into the room Erin spots Lindsay's lost diamond earring. WHEW, dodged that bullet! Erin dons her bubble-gum pajamas and Ken tends bar. We all have a pre-bed nightcap, except we're literally in bed since there is only 1 chair in our room. A lot of laughter fills the night as we reminisce about the past and discuss Lindsay's favorite movie..."Hip Hop Girls". Eventually, we all drift off, and its well after 2a.m...

Saturday, November 1st

The day begins around 9a.m. as we all begin to rouse from our slumber. Even Gabe gets up quickly, but really, in a room the size of a coffee table, he doesn't have a choice. Lindsay is crabby due to a 2nd night of poor sleep, thanks to Gabe's snoring and bed hogging. A short jaunt to Starbucks for some coffee improves her mood significantly.

Once we're all ready, we head outside for the day. The weather is once again phenomenal, especially for November...sunshine, balmy air, and temps already in the 60's. Our day starts and ends on 5th Avenue, where we stroll with the throngs of tourists, peeking in the windows of all the stores. Highlights of our day include...

*St Patrick's Cathedral. Impressive even for those of us who aren't into the whole church thing. And, Gabe didn't burst into flames upon entering as he's been led to believe.

*Lindsay and the Kostevas spend a good deal of time ogling the jewelry at Tiffany's, while Gabe waits outside after reminding Lindsay that she doesn't have a good track record with diamonds.

*We browse a lot of touristy shops, and things like $10 "100% cashmere" scarves and little boy sized "I heart NY" t-shirts are purchased from street vendors. We get a kick out of the Broadway themed shops and Lindsay almost buys herself a purple Wicked t-shirt at Erin's insistence...

* Erin's love of the HBO vampire show "True Blood" is evidenced by her excitement each time we pass a poster or advertisement. She is beyond thrilled to discover "Fangtasia" paraphernalia in the HBO store, and quickly purchases not 1, but 2 Fangtasia t-shirts. Gabe, Lindsay and Ken intermittently call out lines from the show in heavy southern accidents. Each time we pass a True Blood sign, a chorus of "Sooookie!" and "Bite me Bill! Not the neck!" can be heard from our little group.

* We take a walk through Central Park. This is one of the few NYC "must see" spots that none of the 4 of us have been to before. We stroll about the oasis of green and fall flowers, marvelling the good weather and just in general enjoying ourselves. Gabe puts Lindsay's vast knowledge of dog breeds to the test by asking her what each and every dog they pass is. She earns some respect when she correctly identifies a very cute "mutt" as a Puggle.

* Around lunchtime, we catch a cab over to Chelsea Market. Here, we stroll about the food shops, get a bite to eat, view a bunch of artistically carved pumpkins, and indulge in some to-die-for gelatto. Purchases include capers and sun dried tomatoes for Gabe and peanut brittle for the Kostevas.

* We decide to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and walk the 25 or so blocks back to the theatre district. Our motives for walking are two-fold--enjoying the weather and finding Urban Angler, the fly-fishing store Gabe wants to see. Yes, even in Manhattan Gabe manages to fit in fishing somehow! We also hit an Orvis store, and the Horvaths make a few purchases.

* A pit stop is made at Heartland Brewery, where bladder and, um, digestive issues are take care of. We sip tasty microbrews at the bar for a bit before heading back out to the street.

Eventually, we make it back to our hotel and the Kramer cousins immediately dive into some snacks and promptly fall asleep on one of the double beds. Gabe is the first to shower, and Ken watches TV after a serious battle with the remote which requires calling the front desk for assistance. Eventually, Erin and Lindsay come to life again, with a little help from some red bull and vodka. We all get ready--tonight is the 2nd concrete event of our weekend...dinner reservations at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant. We have all been looking forward to this, especially Erin and Gabe.

We head out and walk a bit before catching a cab, and Lindsay immediately regrets her decision to wear heels two nights in a row. She ambles along at a leisurely pace about half a block behind the others, but really she is in some hardcore pain. Our cabbie gets confused and takes us to Macy's first instead of Mesa Grill, but we eventually arrive at our destination with plenty of time to spare.

Since we're early, we snag some seats and some drinks at the bar. Conversation is plentiful and engaging and the food we're eyeing on others' plates looks tantalizing. We are led to our table at 8:38 pm, a mere 8 minutes after our reservations. Since one of the only negative things we've heard about Mesa Grill is that the wait is often astronomical, we're pleasantly surprised.

Dinner begins wonderfully. Our waitress is friendly and knowledgeable. She entertains us with tales of working for Anthony Bourdain. We order two delicious appetizers and a really fantastic bottle of wine. We take a few pictures of ourselves smiling and dressed up at Mesa Grill, imagining it will be one of those experiences you never want to forget...

And it is...just not in the culinary sense. Or rather, not in the positive culinary sense. Moments before our food is slated to come out, a woman faints right next to our table. A bunch of wait staff quickly crowd around the swooning woman, while her husband continually says to them, "Oh she's fine. She'll be fine." The woman's head lolls about and the servers are obviously struggling to hold her up, despite the fact that a chair has been put under her. A chair that is in fact, about 2 feet away from Ken. A chair that is closer to Ken than any other person in the whole restaurant.

And then, she pukes. Multiple times. Chunks everywhere. As far as we can tell the woman is still incoherent, and our server conspiratorily informs us that she had too much to drink. No kidding. The staff quickly tries to do damage control which includes dumping lysol on the puke and holding up white tablecloths to block the diners view of the puke. The paramedics squeeze their gurney through the tables and we all get a bird's eye view of the woman's feet and legs as they hoist her up...and her bottom half is saturated in barf. The smell of puke and Lysol is overpowering, and so when our waitress asks if we'd like her to hold off on bringing our food for a few minutes, we say yes.

We are whisked to another table and each of us takes a minute to go outside for some fresh air. About 20 minutes after the puker, our food arrives--the moment we've been waiting for, even though its been tainted. After just a few bites, it becomes clear to all of us that our food--pork tenderloin, lamb, salmon--has been sitting for the last 20 minutes. Its cold. Its terrible. We eat half-heartedly and none of us enjoy it. Not one bite of the $243 of food is even close to what it should have been.

Its safe to say that Mesa Grill did NOT live up to our expectations. Though no one could have predicted that a middle-aged asian woman would have too much to drink and toss her cookies just feet away from our table, we're still disgruntled. We finish our wine, pay our bill, and head back into the night. We're all disapointed.

Back to Times Square. We head to the ESPN zone to catch the end of the Texas/Texas Tech game. Apparently this is a big game, and everyone's mood lifts except for Lindsay's. She doesn't like the ESPN Zone, and she doesn't like football. And, her feet are about ready to fall off. Annoyed, she heads outside to get some air at apparently the most critical moment of the game. While she's hobbling up the stairs to the street, hundreds of people are errupting into cheers and mass chaos as Texas Tech wins the game in a stunning victory, and Gabe jumps so high into the air he hits his hands on the ceiling. Good times!

We head back into the night, and briefly debate going into Lace, the gentleman's club we have been passing all weekend. Erin and Lindsay are game to join their husbands at a strip club, but the steep cover charge of $20 a person is discouraging to all besides Lindsay, who announces "As long as I'm not watching football, I don't care what we do!" In the end we forgo Lace in favor of a slice of New York pizza for Ken, while gluten-free Gabe watches him eat with drool running down his chin. Ironically, Ken notes, "We could have spent $30 bucks on pizza and beer and had a meal a thousand times better than Bobby Flay!" And, he's right!

We head back to our hotel, and the night winds down much as the previous one, with drinks in our PJs and lots of laughing, reminiscing, and story-telling. By 2pm we are all asleep...

Sunday, November 2nd

We "sleep in" until about 9:30, but its really only 8:30 due to daylight savings time. Its a slower start this morning, and Gabe is reluctant to join the land of the living, slumbering away as the rest of us shower and pack. He eventually comes to life and we decide to head out for breakfast before check-out.

We wander aimlessly in search of a good diner (again forgoing the recommendations of Lindsay's friends.) After a lot of walking and perusing menus (and deciding the $26 for eggs is where we draw the line) we spontaneously wander into a restaurant called Junior's. We are pleasantly surprised with a decent breakfast meal, and we loiter here for a bit before heading back to our hotel. Lindsay makes a few street purchases on the way back, and then its time to check out.

We load up the jeep and Gabe takes the wheel once again, weaving in and out of the crazy New York City traffic. We are quickly over the bridge and viewing the island from afar as we head into Newark. Since we have no reverse directions, its a bit hectic finding the Tops Diner, but after a dead end or two we make it. Erin, who has been holding her breath since we left the city, sighs with relief to find that her car has not been towed, and her "parking fee" (aka ticket) is only $55.

We say our good-byes and each head our separate ways; the Kostevas back to DC and the Horvaths to Drums. A truly enjoyable trip was had by all, and--if Lindsay gets her way--it will be a tradition in the making!