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.
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