The Big Apple (Day 1-3)

About ten years ago, my friend Lorra and I made a pact that whoever got married first would have to fly the other to NYC. Well about the time we turned 26ish we realized that neither of us was planning on marriage in the near future. We concluded that we most likely would never visit New York - at least not with each other. At that juncture we modified the pact to be that if neither of us were married when we turned 30, we would go dutch.

So this being our 30th year, we bought plane tickets, booked hotels, packed our bags to very near the weight limit and set off.

Warning: Many of you might not be interested in all the details of my trip. This is a long post, so feel free to skim.


Day one started with me arising at 4:47 a.m. Jake drove us to the airport where everything went smoothly until every last passenger was boarded onto the plane. At that point the captain announced that we would all have to deboard while a flat tire was fixed. Harumph. We eventually arrived in NYC safely and caught a shuttle to our hotel. This took about 2 hours, since we were the last ones to be dropped off. We definitely got our money’s worth on the shuttle ride, what with the high speeds through dense areas, honking, and dangerous maneuvers through traffic.

Upon arrival at the Sohotel (yes, it’s in Soho), we changed and headed out to nearby Little Italy for some dinner. After dinner we wandered around and ended up singing karaoke at a nearby establishment. I believe I was delirious from lack of sleep and only one meal for the day. After singing, we immediately left, and wandered around giggling about the whole thing. I then bought Jake a crappy $2 t-shirt from a street vendor that I promptly donated to the Goodwill upon returning home. And this completed day one.

Day 2 began with a 3-hour cruise around Manhattan. The weather was perfect and it was fun to see the city, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island etc. from the boat. I didn’t realize that Manhattan island was so big. It was really interesting to see that whole thing.

That evening we went to an off-Broadway production called Absinthe. I decided that I wanted to wear these shoes. I ended up with a giant blister after tromping around town in them, but beauty before comfort, right? Anyway, the show was fantastic. It was a small venue with maybe 100 people surrounding a small stage. Very intimate. You were very close to the performance and thus felt very involved. Lots of very good looking people performing underworld circus-like acts including roller skates, trapezes, feats of strength and flexibility, lots of humor and beauty. I was completely enthralled from start to finish. However, don’t take the kids to this. Definitely for adults only.

Day 3 started with breakfast at Oro, which was a lovely establishment near our hotel. The food was delicious and everyone there was so friendly and had lots of wonderful suggestions. We then hopped on the subway and headed to Coney Island. Coney is like stepping back in time. It’s filled with lots of cheesy arcades, fried food and old amusement park rides. There is a long beach and boardwalk and the most shocking thing to me was the temperature of the water. It’s warm - very different from the frigid Pacific over on the left coast.

We met two of Lorra’s friends there. One of them told us that people have died on the old wooden coaster – not from a car derailing, but from being shaken to death. I’ve been on my fair share of wooden roller coasters, and they are all pretty shaky, so this warning didn’t bother me. Not until reaching the bottom of the first drop, that is. I was pretty sure my neck had been broken. I couldn’t even enjoy the rest of the ride. I just kept thinking, “Please stop, please stop, please stop.” I did live - albeit with a sore neck. I don’t suggest riding this coaster, but then again, there’s nothing like a little danger to make you feel alive.

Next was the “Bump your Ass Off” bumper cars, which I was peer-pressured into going on (I hate bumper cars). AND upon exiting realized that I had a giant grease smudge on my brand new shoes. This only further deepened my dislike of bumper cars.

And then it was Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs for lunch. This is the place where they have the big hot dog eating contest every year and is frequently shown on the Food Network. Coney Island is crazy about hotdogs. They even had hotdog vending machines. I have photos for any disbelievers out there. At Nathan’s we ordered hotdogs with the bacon cheese fries. The hotdog was okay but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat many of the cheese fries due to a sign in the restaurant that said, “CPR kits are available in this restaurant. Our managers are here to assist you if necessary. Thank you.” I was pretty sure that I shouldn’t be eating food that required signs like that to be posted. I could just see myself having a heart attack and having some 16 year old in a hot dog uniform trying to defibrillate me.

Next up was the Natural History Museum. I wasn’t sure if I was too eager about hitting this one. Most people I talked to liked it, but didn’t seem too excited about it. When I talked to Jake about it, his reply was, “You guys are total nerds, you’ll love it.” And he was right. It is amazing. I could have spent an entire day there. The exhibits are so interesting and informative without being boring. My favorite were the mammal dioramas. We didn’t have time to see the whole thing, but what we did see was great.

After that we wandered through central park and then stopped and had a sushi snack at Tao before heading home and changing for dinner. We ate at Freeman’s thanks to a suggestion from Dorina. This is at the end of a street called Freeman’s Alley. You would never know that fine dining lay at the end of this little lane. This was by far the best meal we had there. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it.