Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday

The following is a brief, day-to-day recap of my recent New York City adventure. I was in the city November 4-9, 2009.

WEDNESDAY — November 4th
Arriving in the city via the LaGuardia Airport I hopped into a cab for the quick trip to Astoria to drop off my luggage. This would be my home base for the trip, staying with Pete and Beth in their 500sqft studio apartment. Beth had left me some directions to the subway stop but I still managed to lose my way a couple times. I finally made my way to the subway and took the N train into Manhattan and exited at the Time Square stop, this seemed like the perfect place to start my adventure. I pretty much fumbled around Times Square for a couple hours, and when the weather started getting cooler headed down to Macy’s/Herald Square to buy a knit hat and an additional sweater (layers are so very important). Around 5:30, I met up with Beth and Pete outside of Beth’s office, where we then had dinner at the Shake Shack. Plans were then made to go to the Bronx, this was the night of Game 6 of the World Series and there was sure to be some excitement around Yankee Stadium. Outside of the stadium was pretty crazy, we walked around for a little bit and stopped into a bar for a few drinks. We retreated back to Astoria after a couple innings and decided to watch the end of the game back in the apartment.

THURSDAY — November 5th
I began the day with a trip on the N train, exiting on 49th street (I actually missed my stop by two stations). From here I walked past Rockefeller Center, and then north on Fifth Ave entering Central Park from its southernmost point. The only plan I had for that afternoon was to go to the Met, so I had a few hours to walk through the park. I wandered aimlessly for about an hour before I came across a bike rental kiosk. This was the perfect way to see the park but I was not prepared for the amount of hills. Wow, did they kick my ass, my legs were jelly when I returned the bike. Then on to the Met, where I slowly made my way around their amazing collection, my legs aching with each step I took. After the museum I went to the Times Square TKTS booth where I picked up a a ticket for that evenings performance of Shrek the Musical. Before the show I met Beth and Pete in Times Square for a BBQ dinner at Virgil’s which was yummy.

FRIDAY — November 6th
This morning I had the idea of going to watch the Yankee parade, me and about a million other people. It was insane the amount of fans pushing and shoving each other trying to get a spot to view the parade. I lasted about a half hour before getting out of there. While on my way back to midtown I took a little trip through Chinatown, which lasted about 15 minutes (no, i don’t want a purse) and then I made my way to Grand Central Station. I the decided to go to the Empire State Building, walked into the lobby, learned it would be $20 to go to the observation deck, decided against it, and left. So I jumped back on another subway and then went to MoMA. Spent a few hours wandering this museum, where I discovered some of my favorites works of art. Dinner took me to the East Village where I met up with Beth, Pete and Susana. We ate fine Indian cuisine at the Raj Majal and followed that with drinks at a local bar.

SATURDAY — November 7th
I got a late start on the day, meeting with Beth and Pete at the Tastee Corner in Astoria for breakfast around 11:00. I gobbled down some pancakes and orange juice and got about on my day. This days plan was to meet up at the Guggenheim Museum with Bluejay to see the Kandinsky exhibit. So I left Astoria early to help deal with the subway construction and that got me to the Upper East Side about an hour early. I spent my time wandering through Central Park, walking around the reservoir and taking pictures for my fellow tourists. After meeting with Bluejay we began the Kandinsky exhibit at the top of the museum. After getting yelled at for taking pictures (see right), we walked down from the top, which were his later works progressing to his earlier works. After we left the Gugs we stopped by The Met to checkout the rooftop sculpture garden. Here we had a beautiful view of the park and a very interesting steel sculpture. From the Met we then walked south down Madison looking for a place to have a drink. We had no luck for 25 blocks, and we eventually found a place Gino’s (Lex and 59th) where we joined some creepy old men for a drink. I then walked Blue to the subway and hung out in Bloomindale’s until Pete and Beth met up with me for dinner. We found a restaurant, Jackson’s Hole, where we ate some yummy burgers. After dinner, we walked north up 2nd Ave to 86th to a bar and closed out the night with some drinks.

SUNDAY – November 8th
Breakfast was at the Tastee Corner for the second straight morning. Pancakes and sausage  are the best way to start off a day of adventure! Pete, Beth and I had agreed on a walk on The High Line, which was formerly an elevated train line running through the meat packing district. After walking the park we then walked through the various neighborhoods. Beginning in the West Village, through Greenwich Village and down to SoHo. After SoHo, Beth and Pete headed back to Astoria and I headed north up Broadway to Union Square. Here, I met up with Mabel and we went on a tour of some of her favorite local shops. After much deliberation, we agreed on a sushi dinner that we ate in Gramercy at Sushi Choshi. After a good meal, and saying my goodbye to Mabel, I jumped on the subway at Union Square and then returned to Astoria to pack for my return to South Florida.

MONDAY – November 9th
An early morning flight had me calling for a towncar  before the sun had risen. A quick ride to LaGuardia and my trip had come to an end.

……………………………………………………..

I had a great time on my NYC get-away, and thank those that put up with me while I was in the city. Until next time New York…