NY Day 3

Sunday was kind of a boring morning. I woke up at seven since that family just didn't know how to shut up. God bless them, I love them, but please let me sleep past 7:30 on a Sunday, I don't think it's asking too much. I wanted to be at church to be honest.

So Jimmy came back with a poppyseed bagel for me and we watched some NXT wrestling and did some online puzzles. We didn't leave until 1:30 and I was ready to get out about three hours sooner. Alex and Gina picked Jimmy, Peter, and I up. We drove through the Bronx and down the West side of Manhattan to Calle Ocho, a nice Latin restaurant located inside a hotel. I ordered a chicken dish with scrambled eggs, avocado, beans, pico, and crispy tortillas. It reminded me of Chilequiles in its own way. Just a total variety of random ingredients that somehow came together well and made for a satisfying meal. But then again after barely eating the entire day, aside from one bagel, I would have eaten almost anything at that point besides Indian food. One of the highlights was the plantain chips and guacamole. I think we had about three orders total. There is something so addictive about good guac. And of course, the free sangria is not to be missed!

Eight of us came and I met Jose, Theresa, and Christine. I have to say Christine and I got along very well, until I found out she was a Yankees fan and a dope smoker. Definitely cute... but then again I have a girl who is a lot more than just cute.

We left the restaurant around 5. Alex Jimmy and Peter drove me to the 2 subway line so I could head back to LaGuardia. After the bus ride and going through security, I settled in the Admirals Club. Of course, what is this Admirals  Club serving for free afternoon? You guessed it...  free guacamole! And I was pretty much ready to overdose on guacamole at this point.

My flight was delayed about three hours but I landed around 12:30 a.m. and got home an hour later.

NY Day 2

After having eggs in the house, I headed outside towards Manhattan and into a ton of rain. My destination was the NYC history museum on the upper east side of Manhattan. I had been wanting to visit this museum for a long time, but on a rainy day, this seemed like the right time.

The highlight was definitely the beginning of the tour. The exhibits that explained the history of the city and the videos were informative, well organized, and intriguing. But outside of that, most of the exhibits just didn't appeal to me. Activism, women's rights, street art, and silver? Sorry, just not interested. 

However, they did have a hallway that profiled Martin Luther King's history of work in New York City as well. But one of my favorite things about this museum is that it takes an open and honest look at the problems currently facing the city as well as the problems that are expected to challenge the city in the future. Come to think of it, that's what I expect from New York at it's best, open to the people and addressing the issues honestly and head-on.

The rain was coming down harder and I decided to head back to the Bronx where my friend Gina was supposed to pick me up and take me out for pizza. But still being hungry and having an extra two hours on my hands, I decided to grab a couple of tacos from a small stand across from the 103rd St station at El Aguila. I ordered two tacos with carne asada and a cactus agua fresca. Fantastic. Plenty of juicy steak, fresh toppings, fresh guacamole, and a good spicy salsa. I'd never drank anything with cactus before, but I really enjoyed it. It's a little bit of a dive, but it is worth trying.

I waited for Gina to come back and she never did, so I said screw it and I went on my way. I decided to get an early dinner at the Meatball Shop, a place I've been wanting to try for a few years now. One thing I didn't expect was the dark, rustic atmosphere. They had a well stocked bar, that came across as very classy. I took a seat at the window so I could watch the street traffic. My server did a great job of explaining the menu and offered a couple of recommendations. I started with their special, which was a pork and lamb meatball, topped with their pesto sauce. Such a satisfying experience. I could really taste the garlic and fresh herbs in the pesto, and the olive oil was an excellent quality. The meatball itself was very tender; the pork gave it a traditional taste, while the lamb gave it that gaminess that made it taste so unique. I then got four traditional meatballs for nine bucks, along with spicy meat sauce, shredded Parmesan, and some foccacia. This was the dish that convinced me that this place will be a regular stop when I'm in Manhattan. The balls were fair size, but not overly large. they were tender and they still held together very well. The sauce was bright red, full of flavor; it tasted like my Italian grandmother's in Brooklyn, God rest her soul. The only issue was I didn't detect much heat. The crispy foccacia helped absorb any extra sauce. Also, the side salad was very light, with spring greens, some thinly sliced apples, and a lemon vinaigrette. Just a fantastic meal for a fair price. 

I then headed into midtown at Times Square to the Opry City Stage. I had tickets to see Lee Roy Parnell, and I was surprised the venue was only about a third full. I took a seat by myself and drank a couple of Blue Point toasted lagers. Credit to them for having this beer on draft. I also had smoked wings for an appetizer, and I could really sense the strong smoke flavor. These are some messy wings, with a bold, heavy BBQ sauce. But they are still really good. If you're going to eat here, I'd recommend getting some kind of smoked meat, whether it's wings, ribs, etc. 

The show itself didn't impress me too much. Lee Roy only played about three of his hits, and he could have played a whole lot more. And he spent most of the time flirting with Lisa Stewart, who's now his backup singer. She recently got divorced, so I'm wondering if he's a reason why. If it wasn't, well, they did a good job of hiding it. After the show was over, I went downstairs to Floors 2/3. They had a cover band called Nashville Attitude who would play 3-4 songs live, then they'd take a break and a few country videos from past and present would play on the monitors. I drank the Broadway to Broadway, and these aren't cheap cocktails, everything is $16. Thankfully, because I had purchased a ticket for the upstairs show, I got a 20 percent discount. The merchandise is pretty good, nothing that really knocked me out, but the management is doing a good job at making the OCS feel as authentic as possible.

I thought about a slice of cheesecake at Junior's, but at 12:30 in the morning, I decided to head back to the Bronx.

NY Day 1

I knew this wasn't going to be the easiest trip ever as soon as I saw the weather report for the weekend. Rain... Followed by rain... With a touch of rain... And then... More rain.

And that bad weather affected my trip early on, as my flight to New York was delayed an hour to start. I left work 90 minutes early, but with that much time, I could have grabbed dinner on the way.

Stop number one had to be Katz's, especially since I hadn't been there during my prior two or three trips. My order didn't take long to figure out: pastrami, Swiss cheese, and mustard on rye with a Dr. Brown's black cherry soda to drink. Oh and a hot dog was my appetizer. The pastrami is thicker cut than most places because they hand carve it and don't slice it with a machine. And the meat is so full of flavor and so juicy. It's still the best Jewish deli in New York and probably the entire country.

I then headed uptown and west towards Rockefeller center.  Though it wasn't in my plans, I just happened to leave the subway station right where the NHL store is so I figured I would take a peek.  The store had a 50% off sale on selected merchandise, and sadly the Rangers jacket that I wanted to get was not 50% off. And I really wasn't willing to pay $85.

So then it was off to Times Square for the NFL Experience. I was pretty surprised to only see three other people in the exhibit at the same time that I was.  The first thing I did was sit in an interactive NFL theater which had seats that actually moved and jolted and jumped. Safe to saytm pregnant women should not be in the theater at any time.

There are also interacted football drills such as quarterback tossing, the vertical jump, and blocking drills. But the thing that bothered me the most was that I was not able to post anything on social media.  There was in a interactive exhibit that put me in a Jets uniform where I was doing dances and it was ridiculous that I couldn't put it on Facebook or Twitter.

I did buy a framed Jets photo that highlighted the best players in team history: Namath, Martin, Klecko, Chrebet, Gastineau and others.  I'm still debating if I'm going to keep it or donate it to the Virginia Jets group in a raffle.

Hungry again, I know it's shocking, I went to the lower east side to try Artichoke pizza. Now walking in, I felt I was in a trendy joint, just a counter and a kitchen. Customers stand against the wall to eat or take the pizza to go. In one word, I would have to say this was disappointing. I tried their trademark spinach and artichoke pizza and it tasted like I was eating Alfredo sauce on a pizza crust.  The pepperoni and sausage was pretty good, but it could have been a little hotter. But their tomato sauce was incredibly bright and flavorful.

On that note, it was time to head to Queens. On the R train, well, I got a full dose of NYC. There was a 300 pound black evangelist and after he finished, a mariachi band broke loose. Meanwhile I had to see a subway ad about a perverted project about trannies as if it's somehow good to embrace something that isn't real anyway. I really what makes someone want to "change"their gender, especially a kid. I don't care about being politically correct, it's just wrong.

Ok let's move on. The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria was my next stop, although I got lost and walked down Steinway St for 10 minutes in the wrong direction at first. There were a lot of displays about the history of TV's and recording cameras and standard cameras. But for me, the highlight had to be the tribute to Jim Henson. There were original puppets of Kermit, Big Bird, Prairie Dawn, Rowlf, Janice, and others. Inside a final theater,  I watched a half hour of Muppet Show scenes. I was genuinely surprised how funny some of those scenes still were.

After seeing the lameness that was the history of video game design, I figured I'd had enough. I charged my phone at Starbucks maybe half an hour; and I knew that phone was on its last legs. From there, I hopped on the R train to Roosevelt, and then took the 7 to Citi Field.

Mets vs. Diamondbacks and I was alone. My friend was sick, or at least she said she was. But I took comfort I my vodka lemonade and Mex burger with cheddar and jack cheese, bacon,  guacamole,  jalapenos, and chipotle aioli. Jacob deGrom dominated, striking out 13 as the Mets won 3-1. I really regretted not bringing a hoodie or a warmer jacket along. All day long, I was expecting rain, and turns out what I needed was a jacket.

The Stranger setlist

Seen the Lights Go Out On Broadway
The Stranger
Vienna
Allentown
Moving Out
Pressure
My Life
Angry Young Man
Stiletto
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
New York State of Mind
Rosalinda's Eyes
Don't Ask Me Why
Shout
Uptown Girl
River of Dreams
Keeping the Faith
It's Still Rock n Roll to Me
You May Be Right
Only the Good Die Young
Piano Man
Big Shot
Carry That Weight/The End

Fast year

1) It's already past Cinco de Mayo. It really feels like New Year's Eve just happened.

 

2) I'm glad I work at a company where my boss and the campus president have my back. Even if it isn't the stable job I've ever had, having the support of the people of a higher rank means a lot.

 

3) I realize that I'm no wine expert. I went to a wine festival in Norfolk this past weekend and after about my sixth sample, the only categories I had in mind were red and white. I don't know anything about tannins, tasting notes, finishes or any of that. Of course I probably tried close to 50 wines! At least I had a really good time though.

 

4) I think I'm realizing that when I'm mentally stressed and drained, I become very anti-social. I certainly don't mystery people, but part of me just doesn't want to have to put on a happy face when I really just want to do nothing.

 

5) I was going to go to Cincinnati on Wednesday to see the Mets play the Reds. But after seeing what an abomination the Mets have turned into over the last three weeks, why would I waste my time and energy on them? Instead I'm going to retreat into the mountains for a day do some hiking and I pray that a time of self-reflection will be beneficial for me.

 

6) I never thought I could see myself falling for an attorney, because I despise lawyers. I guess it's hard for me to respect people who make a lot of money based off how convincing the lies that they tell. But I don't know, maybe something will actually happen here.