Sunday, July 13, 2008
On a Bus Somewhere in New Jersey
After a couple months of waiting, with some delays thank to the Dragon Boat race delay in May, Stan and I finally made it to New York for a weekend. He’d been here before, though not on a weekend, and hadn’t been here since January or so, so it was about time for both of us.
We took the bus up Friday night and I’m really thinking I’d be willing to pay more for the train. The train’s not perfect, of course, and does sometimes run late, but at least it’s a bit more reliable, and faster, plus you have more legroom and can get up and move around. Plus, the bathroom’s nicer.
Anyway, we had a hotel in the theater district and after getting there and freshening up and catching a bit of a Seinfeld episode (since we were in New York, that made it ironic, or something) we headed out to The Web (of course) to go dancing. Friday nights are usually very fun there and it was cool to see Stan's reaction to all the cuties, including one blond go-go dance he thought was fun to look at as well as the Latino go-go boy dancing while hanging upside down in a cage. Yeah, good times.
Saturday was a day for a little shopping, but we started with lunch at the Stardust Diner which, unbeknownst to us, had singing waiters. Also unbeknownst to us was the fact that our waitress was going to pull me up and into the act while she sang "I Can Hear the Bells" from Hairspray in the middle of the packed, 2-story restaurant. I went with it, and really got into it (dancing, reacting to her, dropping to one knee to "propose," kissing her on cue), and the crowd seemed to like it. Hey, Stan said I looked good, and I got some comments from others while leaving, so YAY, a new Broadway star is born.
We spent the afternoon doing a bit of shopping (at Uniqlo, of course, but also some other places) and we both picked up some cute pieces. Then we headed over to Christopher Street, which Stan had not seen before, and wandered past the sex shops until we reached the river (Stan also -- voluntarily -- went into a Starbucks). Then we headed back uptown to the hotel.
The evening started off with dinner at Sardi's, a Broadway classic. During the time earlier this year when Stan was between jobs he felt bad if I picked up the tab for things so I agreed that once he was working again he could take me somewhere nice and call it even. Well, Sardi's was that place, and we're definitely even. I had some wonderful crabcakes and he had curry chicken and for dessert we split a great mix of strawberries and meringue that was HUGE and which neither one could have finished alone.
Then we walked over to see Avenue Q. This was my third time -- the first in a couple years -- and the first time Stan had seen it. The show was fun as always and Stan really got into it. One thing that made it unique was that we sat on the center aisle in the second row...you could really see the details on the puppets, though it did take me longer to start ignoring the human puppeteers on stage. The show was a lot of fun and I'm really glad we went. Afterwards we went out, but not for very long, still being tired from Friday night...we were back to the hotel about 1:30. We started out at G Lounge, where we met up with a friend Stan hadn't seen since graduating from college, then we wandered back to Therapy, which was around the corner from the hotel. Of the two I think I preferred Therapy...more room, easier to talk, and a little less attitude. Just watch out for falling glassware!
Sunday we headed to Food Bar for brunch, only to discover its closed for renovation. At my suggestion we just got something at the place next door which was not so good...what we should have done was walk over to 7th Avenue, where there are tons of good restaurants and tons of cute people. But since I only ever go to Food Bar for Sunday brunch I didn't realize that. My bad.
Then we rolled up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the superhero exhibition ("Fantasy and Fashion"). It was a really interesting look at the meaning underlying different superheroes and their costumes (and all this time you thought they just looked good without realizing they MEAN something). I never thought of the Incredible Hulk as a demonstration of male potency or Batman's utility belt as a defense again insecurity and fragility, but I can see that now.
We headed back to Chelsea to get dessert at Cafeteria, which Stan remembers as a setting for a Sex and the City episode. I had a Waffle Banana Split, which was actually a banana split arrayed on a warm waffle. I guess the title was a good description. It was yummy, but there was no way I could finish that. How do people order something like that after a meal???
And now we're on the bus headed home. I expect to get back to the condo by 11:30 tonight, which means Monday will be a tired day at work. But I am very glad I went...Stan is a wonderful travel companion, we had so much fun exploring and were making notes for future visits. And I needed a bit of New York again. I do indeed like that city.
We took the bus up Friday night and I’m really thinking I’d be willing to pay more for the train. The train’s not perfect, of course, and does sometimes run late, but at least it’s a bit more reliable, and faster, plus you have more legroom and can get up and move around. Plus, the bathroom’s nicer.
Anyway, we had a hotel in the theater district and after getting there and freshening up and catching a bit of a Seinfeld episode (since we were in New York, that made it ironic, or something) we headed out to The Web (of course) to go dancing. Friday nights are usually very fun there and it was cool to see Stan's reaction to all the cuties, including one blond go-go dance he thought was fun to look at as well as the Latino go-go boy dancing while hanging upside down in a cage. Yeah, good times.
Saturday was a day for a little shopping, but we started with lunch at the Stardust Diner which, unbeknownst to us, had singing waiters. Also unbeknownst to us was the fact that our waitress was going to pull me up and into the act while she sang "I Can Hear the Bells" from Hairspray in the middle of the packed, 2-story restaurant. I went with it, and really got into it (dancing, reacting to her, dropping to one knee to "propose," kissing her on cue), and the crowd seemed to like it. Hey, Stan said I looked good, and I got some comments from others while leaving, so YAY, a new Broadway star is born.
We spent the afternoon doing a bit of shopping (at Uniqlo, of course, but also some other places) and we both picked up some cute pieces. Then we headed over to Christopher Street, which Stan had not seen before, and wandered past the sex shops until we reached the river (Stan also -- voluntarily -- went into a Starbucks). Then we headed back uptown to the hotel.
The evening started off with dinner at Sardi's, a Broadway classic. During the time earlier this year when Stan was between jobs he felt bad if I picked up the tab for things so I agreed that once he was working again he could take me somewhere nice and call it even. Well, Sardi's was that place, and we're definitely even. I had some wonderful crabcakes and he had curry chicken and for dessert we split a great mix of strawberries and meringue that was HUGE and which neither one could have finished alone.
Then we walked over to see Avenue Q. This was my third time -- the first in a couple years -- and the first time Stan had seen it. The show was fun as always and Stan really got into it. One thing that made it unique was that we sat on the center aisle in the second row...you could really see the details on the puppets, though it did take me longer to start ignoring the human puppeteers on stage. The show was a lot of fun and I'm really glad we went. Afterwards we went out, but not for very long, still being tired from Friday night...we were back to the hotel about 1:30. We started out at G Lounge, where we met up with a friend Stan hadn't seen since graduating from college, then we wandered back to Therapy, which was around the corner from the hotel. Of the two I think I preferred Therapy...more room, easier to talk, and a little less attitude. Just watch out for falling glassware!
Sunday we headed to Food Bar for brunch, only to discover its closed for renovation. At my suggestion we just got something at the place next door which was not so good...what we should have done was walk over to 7th Avenue, where there are tons of good restaurants and tons of cute people. But since I only ever go to Food Bar for Sunday brunch I didn't realize that. My bad.
Then we rolled up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the superhero exhibition ("Fantasy and Fashion"). It was a really interesting look at the meaning underlying different superheroes and their costumes (and all this time you thought they just looked good without realizing they MEAN something). I never thought of the Incredible Hulk as a demonstration of male potency or Batman's utility belt as a defense again insecurity and fragility, but I can see that now.
We headed back to Chelsea to get dessert at Cafeteria, which Stan remembers as a setting for a Sex and the City episode. I had a Waffle Banana Split, which was actually a banana split arrayed on a warm waffle. I guess the title was a good description. It was yummy, but there was no way I could finish that. How do people order something like that after a meal???
And now we're on the bus headed home. I expect to get back to the condo by 11:30 tonight, which means Monday will be a tired day at work. But I am very glad I went...Stan is a wonderful travel companion, we had so much fun exploring and were making notes for future visits. And I needed a bit of New York again. I do indeed like that city.
