The Big Apple

Donald and I went to NYC last week, thanks to a conference that Donald had to attend. Here is my (very wordy) trip recap.

Tuesday: Plane trip was uneventful (thankfully!). Arrived at LGA, where the car service guy greeted us at baggage claim. Walked out to the parking lot to a very nice black Suburban. Tried to make conversation with the driver, but I think he spoke little English or he just didn’t want to be bothered with us. NY Lesson #1 – Don’t try to be friendly with people. He zipped in and out of traffic like a mad man. I also noticed we didn’t go through any tolls (though all the online information said the ride would include tolls, which was supposedly included in the exorbitant price of the car service). We did go over a very cool bridge, but I couldn’t tell you the name since our driver was mute.

Arrived at the Hilton NY around 2:30. Our driver said it would take a half hour from the airport, but we landed at 1:23, so the entire process of getting our luggage, getting to the car, etc. took just over an hour. We got checked in and went up to our room, which is relatively nice, though a little on the small side (from what I’ve heard, it could be worse, though). Unpacked and relaxed for a brief period, then we realized we were starving! Looked out our window (which is directly across from a large Wachovia office building and I can see the Ziegfield Theater below) and noticed a Connolly’s Pub about a block away, so we went in search of Irish food and beer. Entered the place and saw a sign pointing to the bar downstairs and the restaurant upstairs. How confusing! We wanted to drink, but we needed food, too. Just then a woman came down the stairs and we were taken upstairs without any question (and were the only customers in the place, but it was 4:00 in the afternoon). We ordered drinks (the Guinness went down so well after a long day), mulled over the menu for a bit (prices weren’t too high compared to some NY restaurant menus I looked at before the trip), then ordered. Donald got the shepherd’s pie, while I ordered bangers & mash. Then we waited. And waited. A man came in and was seated a couple tables down from us. I noticed our waitress changed her clothes and then left. Then someone from the kitchen brought out the food for the man. We were starving! Finally a waiter saw us and came over and within minutes brought us out our food. It was excellent, but it could’ve also just been fabulous because we were that hungry. The sausage was a little overcooked and the edges were hard and crunchy. But I cleaned my plate anyway and sucked down my beer. Good stuff. While we were eating it started to snow. It was slow and first and Donald wasn’t even sure if it was snow or just something in the air. Then it came down faster for a few minutes, and then it was gone. We joked that Columbia would’ve shut down with that amount of snow.

After dinner we decided to walk a little to get our bearings of exactly where we were. We went down one block and we were on Fifth Avenue! Donald was exhausted from the long day, but he wandered down the street with me anyway. We went into the World of Disney to look for something for Ella (need to go back and get the Minnie Mouse dressed as the Statue of Liberty), then wandered down the street a bit to find FAO Schwarz. We passed Tiffany’s, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Trump Tower, etc., until we got to FAO Schwarz. The first thing we noticed outside was the Apple store. What a cool storefront! All you see from the street is a giant glowing Apple encased in glass. The store itself is located below (you ride an escalator down to it). It looked crowded, so we just went to the toy store. I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the store. Aside from all the stuffed dogs, I didn’t really see anything unique. It was all stuff I could get just about anywhere. Donald was getting a little grumpy, so we decided to head back to the hotel. My feet were hurting already and I had a bad blister forming on my heel (just from walking an hour!) The streets and sidewalks were packed with cars and people. It was insanity! You could barely move through the mess. Got in and relaxed for a while before heading out to Broadway to see Spamalot.

Our original plan was to take a cab to Broadway. We had no idea where it was located, but once we got outside and started walking, we decided to keep going. We had plenty of time, so why not. We walked passed Radio City Music Hall, then NBC Studios and part of Rockefeller Plaza. We passed several TV studios and before we knew it, we were in Times Square. We had no idea we were even headed towards it! All you see is neon everywhere. It’s much bigger and brighter than I ever imagined. It was also really, really crowded, so we kept walking. The Shubert Theater was just a block or two down from Times Square. The tiny lobby inside was jam packed with people and we made our way through to the ticket booth to pick up our tickets. I gave the man my name and he got the tickets, then told us that he had 2 tickets in the front and could exchange our tickets for those if we wanted them. So we went from seats in the middle of the 3^rd row in the Upper Mezzanine to seats on the aisle on the 5^th row in the Orchestra! They were such awesome seats! I have no idea why he made the exchange, but we were grateful. We still had an hour before the show, so we walked across the street to Sardi’s and went to the bar for a drink. Donald ordered a Jack & Coke and I had a glass of Pinot Grigio. I nearly choked when the bartender said $19.11 for the total. I can buy an entire bottle of Pinot Grigio for that!! Insane! We sat in the bar for a half hour or so while we watched the line for the theater grow longer and longer and longer. Then it started to rain and we didn’t have an umbrella. Great. We got in line about 5 minutes before show time, so we only had to stand in the rain for a minute or two. Got to our seats, which really were spectacular, and the show started just moments later. Good timing. The show was so awesome. I laughed so hard at some parts that I had tears streaming down my face. It was just absolutely hilarious, so well acted and the songs were brilliant. Even though it was a 2-hour show, it seemed like it lasted all of 5 minutes because it’s so good, it just flies by. When we left the theater, the rain had stopped but it was so unbelievably cold! It was cold all day, but this was a bone chilling cold. We walked to Times Square and decided that was enough. Luckily we were able to hail a cab quickly (our first NYC cab ride!). The driver was swerving through traffic, driving fast, etc., and I have to say it scared the crap out of me! NY Lesson #2 – Do not look at the road when riding in a NY cab. They’re professionals, they know what they’re doing and you have to trust them. We did get to the hotel in one piece ($5.40 fare, not bad and totally worth it) and as we walked into the lobby we both realized we were hungry. We really didn’t want to get back in the cold, wet weather, but we went out in search of something close and cheap. I really wanted a slice of pizza and I can’t believe that we haven’t seen a pizza joint anywhere near us. I thought they’d be on every street corner (along with bagel shops, which I also haven’t seen)! We ended up at a hot dog street vendor cart where we both got hot dogs that were so fabulously disgusting. NY Lesson #3 – Hot dog vendors use a Dijon mustard instead of plain yellow mustard and the onions are soaked in this weird red sauce. Definitely not what I’m used to eating at home. Got back to the hotel and we both crashed hard. What a long (but fun) day.

Wednesday: What a crappy, rainy day. Donald was at his conference all morning, so I spent the time in the hotel room. I would’ve gone out walking, but it was so wet and cold. When Donald got back to the room, we headed out to Ray’s Pizza for lunch. It was our first experience with authentic NY pizza. The people working appeared to be Russian and they were nearly impossible to understand. We managed to each order a slice (I got plain cheese, Donald got pepperoni and sausage) and drinks. The slices were huge, much bigger than I expected. The pizza was good, but it didn’t taste much different than Schiano’s (a local pizza joint), except the crust was a bit crispier. We both enjoyed it nonetheless.

After lunch we took a walk down the block. We stopped in at one of the many souvenir shops and I picked out a souvenir for my niece and stepdad, as well as a couple postcards (which I never sent out). Then we headed over to Rockefeller Plaza to NBC Studios. The plaza was only a couple blocks from our hotel (we were in such a great location), so the walk wasn’t too bad. There weren’t many people around due to the bad weather. I was surprised by the size of everything. It seems much bigger on TV. We went inside the building to get our tickets for Late Night with Conan O’Brien. We didn’t have to wait long before they passed out the wristbands and told us to be back by 4:30. We went for another walk and happened upon the Soup Man, which is the restaurant chain owned by the Soup Nazi (made famous by Seinfeld). We ordered the lobster bisque to share and I was less than impressed, but Donald enjoyed it. We didn’t get to see the Soup Nazi either (it’s a chain now much like McDonald’s or Wendy’s; totally unimpressive.)

We headed back to 30 Rock in time to wander around aimlessly looking for a restroom (which we never found), then went to the hallway where we had to wait. We waited and waited and waited. They separated the groups by numbers and letters. We were numbers and thought for sure we’d get priority seating since we had reserved tickets. We assumed the letters were for people who did standby for their tickets. After a long wait, an NBC page took the letters to the studio and left us waiting. Again, we speculated on what the different groups meant. After an even longer wait, we were finally taken to the studio where we found out that the letters had priority seating over the numbers. Our seats weren’t bad, but we were probably more than halfway up the small seating area and we were on the far right (Donald sat next to the wall), which made it difficult to see Conan over the large cameras when he was sitting at his desk. We were given instructions on what to do during the show and told that cameras were strictly prohibited and if they caught us trying to take pictures, they would take our cameras from us (apparently this is a NYC law). Max Weinberg and his band came out and played for awhile, then Conan came out and talked to everyone, then the taping began. The monologue was hilarious. Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU) was the main guest. I adore him, so I was excited when I heard he’d be there. He’s even more gorgeous in person and he was quite entertaining. There was a goofy bit done by Conan and his crew, then some Sheriff guy on a stupid reality show (Smile, You’re Under Arrest), then a band called the Derek Trucks Band. Between interviews, they actually took breaks and the Max Weinberg band played to entertain us. The whole show moved very quickly and was quite funny. We were both impressed with everything. We were out of there by 6:30, which was earlier than expected, so we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and to figure out our dinner plan. We chose a Mexican restaurant near Broadway called Toloache. We both ordered margaritas and split an order of guacamole. It was quite possibly the best guacamole I’ve tasted. Delicious! Donald ordered Suadero tacos (Negro Modelo-braised brisket with tomatillo salsa horseradish crema) and I ordered Pollo tacos (chicken breast adobado with pico de gallo and manchega cheese). They were small, but packed a lot of flavor. The meal was a bit on the pricey side, but totally worth it. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone. The food was excellent, nice ambiance and the service was good. This is my favorite pick of the entire week. Donald enjoyed it so much that he went back the next day for lunch.

After dinner we decided to walk to Times Square and check things out. We wandered up and down the streets, went to the M&M Megastore (M&Ms in every color you can imagine!), stopped at a bakery to buy coffee and a black & white cookie, and talked to a guy on the street trying to sell tickets to a comedy club. Turns out he is originally from Charleston and went to Midlands Tech in Columbia. Small world! It was getting late, so we got a cab and went back to the hotel. My dear friend Johnette was coming to join us and her flight was arrive that evening. We relaxed in the room while we waited for her, then when she arrived we met her in the lobby. Her flight was delayed and she didn’t get in until 11:30. Donald went to get her some pizza and then we all chatted for a couple hours before crashing for the night.

Thursday: Donald attended his conference that morning. Johnette and I managed to get moving and headed out for a stroll. We stopped at the bagel cart by the hotel and picked up bagels and drinks, then walked the 10 or so blocks to Central Park. We stopped at a bench to eat and watch the birds and squirrels try to dive bomb us for our food. It was quite the adventure! We walked all over (a tiny portion of) Central Park, keeping a close eye on the squirrels, while Johnette pointed out the various spots where bodies were usually stashed on episodes of CSI and/or Law & Order.

After a good hour or so of wandering, we finally found Strawberry Fields, which is where the Imagine memorial is located for John Lennon. We took a few pictures and did a lot of giggling before Johnette noticed that this portion of the park is designated as a quite area. Oops! Leave it to us to be loud and obnoxious. We left the park and walked over to the Dakota where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived (she still lives there). It’s quite an impressive building. Johnette snapped a million pictures, which is good considering she was dubbed the Official Trip Photographer. We continued to walk down the streets just checking things out. We happened upon the Lincoln Performing Arts Center and realized we only had about 2 hours before we met Donald, so we hailed a cab back to the hotel. On the way back to the hotel we drove around Columbus Circle and we saw the building where they film Late Night with David Letterman. I’m sure we saw other things, but those were the two that stood out.

We stopped at the Museum of Modern Art Design Shop to look around. There were so many cool (and expensive) items in there. They had really ugly plastic chairs on sale for around $275. I did like the ceramic coffee cup and rubber lid (they both looked like the stuff you’d get at Starbucks, but they’re reusable!), as well as a lantern with a tree design that would put the design on the wall when you lit it. They also had some really cool bags that were made out of recyclable materials like soda can tabs and candy wrappers. After shopping for awhile, we walked down to Burger Heaven for lunch (we both had cheeseburgers and split an order of fries – the burgers were very good, the fries were just okay). After lunch we met Donald back at the hotel and then headed over to Rockefeller Plaza yet again.

Our NBC Studios tour was scheduled for 3:00pm and we arrived a half hour or so early, so we walked around the NBC Experience Store. It has some really great t-shirts and gifts. We were laughing over all the Office, Seinfeld, Friends and SNL stuff. Johnette bought a great Lazy Sunday (SNL) shirt for James and I contemplated between a Seinfeld shirt (“they’re real and they’re spectacular” or “Little Jerry”) and a Friends shirt (How YOU doin’?), but ended up not getting anything (the shirts were $30 each, which was a bit too rich for my blood). After shopping, we headed off on our tour. While waiting in line for the elevator we saw Jason Sudeikis (SNL cast member) get on another elevator. The tour began with a small movie about the history of NBC. It was very well done and funny. Then we were whisked off to see the studio where MSNBC films their news shows, as well as where the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams is taped. We walked down another hallway filled with photographs of SNL cast members and guests and into a viewing room where we could see the SNL stage. It just so happened that Neil Patrick Harris and Taylor Swift (who were the guests for the week) were on stage filming promos for that week, so we got to sit and watch them. I love Neil Patrick Harris! He’s adorable in person, pretty much exactly what he looks like on TV. We were given a lot of detailed information about SNL and it was interesting to hear about how they build and break down all the sets. Next we were off to a room showing us how the special effects makeup is created for the show. Each cast member and guest has to have a bust made of their heads to help the makeup artist create anything needed for the shows. The NBC page told us that there is a huge storage closet in the building that is filled with 30+ years of busts of cast members and guests. I’d love to see that closet!

After the tour we went to Top of the Rock to see the NYC skyline and get some great pictures. The view was spectacular, but holy crap it was FREEZING up there. I’ve never been so cold in my life. The wind is whipping around and it’s just insane. The trip up was quick, though, and from what I hear it’s better than going to the top of the Empire State Building (which we didn’t do).

For dinner we decided to venture out of our Midtown bubble, so we took a cab to Lombardi’s in Little Italy. It was an interesting ride down and we got to see a few things we wouldn’t have if we’d taken the subway (like the Flat Iron Building). We got to the restaurant where we ordered a pepperoni pizza and a couple of beers and we just had a nice dinner chatting. The pizza was good, though the crust was a bit on the dry side. I think I enjoyed the pizza from Ray’s a little more, but the cheese on the Lombardi’s pizza was so fresh and delicious, unlike anything I’ve had before. Johnette was craving cannoli, so we got a recommendation from our waitress and headed off to walk a couple blocks down to Ferrara Bakery (which is apparently America’s first espresso bar). Johnette ordered a cannoli, Donald ordered a cream puff and I had the trio of miniatures, which included a miniature sized cannoli, cheminee (Chocolate chimney filled with chocolate & vanilla mousse & a berry), and a chocolate mignon (Mini cream puff filled with chocolate cream and topped with chocolate sauce). It was all delicious!

We decided to take a bit of a stroll and ended up in Chinatown. We walked down Canal St. for a bit, but it was pretty dark and quiet, which made us all uncomfortable. So we hailed a cab back to the hotel and just chilled out for the rest of the evening.

Friday: Another bagel cart breakfast morning. I love the bagel cart! I can’t tell you how much I hate not having access to good bagels here in Columbia. I think the bagels are my favorite thing about NYC.

After breakfast we headed down to the subway for our first adventure on the NYC subway. It took us a few minutes to get the damn Metro card machine to work, but we all bought our cards and headed on our way. Luckily we had a decent map (thank you Hilton Hotels!) and were able to figure out where we needed to get off the subway, though we had to walk several blocks before getting onto the subway. I think Donald took us further out than we needed to go, but he’s better with maps, so we let him lead the way. We eventually made it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art without too much walking, so that was good.

The Met is underwhelming from the outside. It doesn’t help that they’re doing construction on it, so most of the outside is covered up. I was expecting a lovely, grand old building, but didn’t see much of anything. It really is beautiful inside, though, and reminded me a bit of a train station. We checked our coats, made a plan of attack, purchased our tickets, and then went to the Egyptian Art wing. We started out strong and spent a lot of time trying to view everything. Unfortunately the exhibit is huge and it took up a lot of our time. When we finally realized our touring plans weren’t working out very well, we decided to speed up the process. Donald had the headphones for the audio tour, so he went off on his own way while Johnette and I decided to quickly tour the areas we wanted to see the most. We quickly went through the American wing, which was packed with lots of ornate furniture, stained glass and Tiffany jewelry and lamps. Then we headed over to the Greek and Roman Art wing, which is full of statues of naked men and women with no arms. Good stuff. Next was European Paintings, where we were able to see quite a few paintings by Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso (to name a few). I was in awe of the paintings by Monet and Van Gogh, as those are two of my favorite artists. Finally we went through the Drawings, Prints and Photographs. The drawings were really incredible. We all met in the lobby at 2:30, and then went to get lunch. We were pretty hungry at this point, so we settled for vendor cart hot dogs. Again, not what I’m used to at home, but they were acceptable. We hit the trail to the subway and found our way to Battery Park.

The plan was to ride the Staten Island Ferry over to Staten Island and then back. We were told this is a fantastic (and free) way to see the Statue of Liberty. When we got off the subway and got above ground the cold bit into us. We had to walk for a bit before we found the ferry entrance and by then we were all icicles. You could see the water from where we stood and we all contemplated whether it would be worth it to freeze our asses off on the ferry (for an hour ride!). It didn’t take us very long at all to change our minds. We walked down to the water line to see the Statue of Liberty (look, there it is! Okay, let’s go get warm now!), walked over to the World War II Memorial, then headed towards what looked to be a rest stop (Clinton Castle). We had a bathroom break, and then decided to go to the WTC site. After looking at the map briefly, Johnette realized there was a WTC Memorial just up from where we were, so we went to see it. Turns out this particular sculpture was in one of the buildings and it was recovered during the cleanup process. You could see parts of the sculpture all torn up and mangled. There was an eternal flame in front of it, honoring those taken during the attacks. It was very moving. Unfortunately, there were a few tourists who were taking their pictures and laughing and smiling while posing and it really bothered both Johnette and me. It just seemed disrespectful. We paid our respects and then hailed a cab to take us to Ground Zero. We got there too late to take a tour, but the staff told us where to walk and gave us a couple brochures to read. We left donations for the families (all proceeds of the WTC Memorial go to the families of the victims) and walked around the site. It’s really just a big construction zone and there isn’t much to see at all. I think it would’ve been more moving to go on a tour (the family members of the victims lead the tours).

We decided to try to get dinner somewhere in Chinatown, so we cabbed it over there. Canal St. was much busier on a Friday night. People were coming at us from every direction! I think this is the only place where I actually felt like I might get mugged or pick pocketed. There are men who stand on the corner or walk past you saying, “Rolex, Rolex, Rolex, Rolex, Rolex, Rolex, Rolex, Rolex…” over and over again in hopes you’ll stop and buy a fake Rolex from them. Then the little old Chinese ladies are chasing after you asking if you want a bag, “Coachi, Gucci…you want bag? You need bag?” I previously thought I’d check out some of the wares, but once we got there it was just a little too overwhelming and I lost my interest in a knockoff Prada. We wandered around looking for a restaurant, but didn’t see anything on Canal that wasn’t a bit scary looking. We turned down a side street and settled on the first non-scary looking place we saw. We ordered dinner (Donald & Johnette both got the General Tso’s chicken, while I got the house lo mein and steamed pork dumplings), which was less than appetizing. It might go down as the worst Chinese food I’ve had. NY Lesson #4 – don’t pick a random restaurant, especially one in Chinatown. Do a little research before eating out.

We realized we were only a couple blocks from Ferrara in Little Italy, so after dinner we went back for dessert. This broke my rule of not eating at the same place twice, but the dessert was phenomenal, so it was worth it. Donald skipped dessert, Johnette went with the cannoli again, and I tried out a different trio of miniatures. This time I went with Parigina (Boudiors layered with chocolate and nocciola cream enrobed in bittersweet chocolate), Cheminee (Chocolate chimney filled with chocolate & vanilla mousse & a berry) and a Dacquoise (Bittersweet chocolate pouch filled with praline & gianduia cream). Delicious!

Donald wanted to go back to The Met (they close late on Friday), but Johnette and I were exhausted from the long day, so we headed back to the hotel to relax. It was an early evening for us.

Saturday: No bagel cart today, but Donald went to the concierge who told him of a shop nearby (Bagel & Bean). Loaded up and headed out to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. The outside is a bit underwhelming, but it is stunning inside. We walked around a bit taking pictures and just trying to take everything in. I gave a $2 offering and lit a candle and said a prayer. It was all very solemn.

We left the cathedral and took the subway down to Brooklyn Bridge. We originally planned to ride a cab over the bridge, but once we got there we decided to walk it. I’m so glad we did! The walk took maybe 20 minutes (and we walked slow and dawdled a bit) and it wasn’t bad at all. At the top of the bridge we stopped and took pictures, but you can’t get a great shot of the skyline because of the iron parts of the bridge. It’s still quite a view and wasn’t nearly as cold as we expected (being over the water and all). We continued walking and crossed over into Brooklyn. There was a split in the path where you could either go to Brooklyn Heights (which went underground) or continue on to Downtown Brooklyn. Johnette made the comment that we should stay above ground, so we headed to Downtown, thinking there would be a break in the path soon and we could catch a cab back into Manhattan. So we walked. And walked. And walked. And walked. No break, no way to get off the path, so we had to continue walking into downtown. Finally we found a break, but there weren’t very many cabs in the area and we had no clue where the subway station was located (our map was only for Manhattan). We obviously looked lost because a nice man walked by and offered to help us. He told us where to go to try to hail a cab and pointed out where the subway station was located. Then as he was walking away, he saw a cab coming and hailed it for us. He was quite possibly the nicest guy we encountered during the trip. Yay Brooklyn! At this point it was starting to snow and it continued to snow into the late evening. It was fun for all of 5 minutes, but then we were done with it.

We dropped Donald off in Herald Square so he could meet his friend from grad school for lunch, then he was off to the NY Historical Society for the afternoon. Johnette and I went back to the hotel to get cleaned up and then headed off to Rockefeller Plaza to meet up with a group of girlfriends. I just have to say that I love my friends and am so happy that they traveled to NYC to meet up with us. I’m grateful to know such wonderful women. Anyway, we all converged on Rockefeller Plaza and then hopped in a couple cabs to Hill Country for lunch. As much as I love my dear friend Heather (who has a connection with the restaurant and insisted we all eat there), I have to say the food was only okay and was way overpriced (I had sausage, pork ribs and some fancy deviled eggs). I definitely prefer SC BBQ to Texas BBQ. Johnette and I split a red velvet cupcake for dessert and they didn’t even use cream cheese frosting. Blaspheme! The one shining moment of lunch was that I could get Big Red soda, which I love and cannot get in SC. Mmmm…

After lunch we walked over to the Museum of Sex. A large group of rowdy women at a museum dedicated to sex. Yeah, it was entertaining, to say the least. The 1^st floor was dedicated to the sex lives of animals. A few of us spent way too much time wandering around in there, but I must say it was quite educational. Half of the 2^nd floor was dedicated to porn, which sounds like it would be hot, but it was kinda weird watching people get way into what they were viewing. They had an instructional video playing in a small viewing area and it was jam packed with people who were smiling way too widely while watching it (and another couple was making out in the back corner). We did get to see some celebrity sex tapes (Tommy Lee & Pamela Anderson was kinda hot. Colin Farrell? Not so much. And I would like the 5 minutes of my life back that I lost while watching Paris Hilton give someone head.). The next room was filled with toys, sex dolls, anime porn, instructional booklets, and the ever popular 1940s sex education videos. We set up camp in front of that video and did our own version of MST3000, which was highly entertaining (to us at least). When we were done, the group split up and the girls all went out bar hopping while Johnette and I went on a wild goose chase for a gift for Ella and then to meet up with Donald.

We met up with the group at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in the East Village. It was a very eclectic and very loud restaurant. We had to wait briefly, but then we were seated. Because our group was large, we had to be seated at 2 different tables, which kinda sucked. We didn’t all get a chance to chat. Dinner was okay. The place was packed, so apparently it’s popular, but I wasn’t pleased with my meal and I thought they crammed way too much onto the menu. The margaritas, however, were good and packed a real punch. After dinner the group split up again. A couple of girls went to get tattoos, while the rest of us took a cab back to Midtown to search for a bar. After walking for what seemed like forever, we finally found the Pig ‘n Whistle (a fabulous Irish bar) and settled down for some serious drinking. I discovered Smithwick’s beer, which is now my new favorite beer. The owner (who had a fabulous Irish accent) chatted with us for awhile and taught me the correct pronunciation of Smithwick’s (thank goodness he told me because I was totally butchering it). We continued to drink and carry on far too late into the evening and we had to break things up since we were flying out the next day. It was such a great time. Much thanks to my TK girls. I love you all!

Sunday: I think the 3 of us were all a bit hung over. Donald got us breakfast from Bagel & Bean again and we packed up and headed off to the airport. The day was long, our flights were a bit delayed and when we did get up in the air, we seemed to be up there forever. It was my least favorite day of the trip! It was so good to be home, though. I liked NYC a lot, but I could never live there. I’m not cut out for the big city. I’m a Southern suburban girl and I like it that way. All in all, though, it was a fabulous trip to the Big Apple. I love NY!