The big city of New York never seemed to draw me in when I lived in PA. But now with some worldly views and experiences under my belt and mainly because I had a good excuse (Derek) – Alexis and I made the jump to go to the Big Apple.We took off from Charlotte, and immediately experienced New York traffic congestion. ATC in NYC said there was too much traffic around the city thus we were delayed.
Hours pass and we finally arrive. Derek with impeccable timing swung by curbside as we stepped out the doors. Sick of New York already, we left Connecticut (Derek’s home). As we crossed the border into CT, Derek told me to reach in the back and grab a legal CT road beer. Awesomeness. We reminisced a bit and tucked-in for the night in Derek’s dungeon-spidery basement. It had very nice “being held hostage” appeal.
In the morning we got the whirlwind tour of the Connecticut area. Cold beaches, green tea smoothies and impressive u-turns in Derek’s X-Terra. Brunch at Valencia’s was delicious then Derek kicked us out on to the train station. He had to fulfill some volunteer engagements and community service. The train was packed so we only had mostly standing room only on the ride into the heart of the city.
With a lack of any orientation, we popped up in Grand Central Station. It was just as busy as you would think it would be. There were people running, rushing, taking pictures and using many many selfie sticks.
We left the station and got to our hotel at the Algonquin. The hotel is chaired by an evil mistress of a cat called Matilda. Views from the room where ‘breathtaking’. We then quickly walked to time square to get that “crowded New York City” feeling. Summary = people everywhere.
I had my first experience with a real subway (Pittsburgh didn’t count). Figuring out the metro pass system, then the turn styles took some brainpower. It took me a while to figure out how to hold the card just right while trying not to cause a traffic jam for all the locals. Winding corridors, steel beams, tile, and fluorescent lighting gave the subway a trans-industrial-omniscient-brooding feeling (you’ll get that feeling to from looking at the pictures).
We popped up out of ground at the Flatiron building and got some good food at Eataly. There also was little tents section along the street with beer and food. We walked down the street to the next subway stop while taking in the city. It still amazed me how many buildings there were. My neck became sore from looking up.
Next stop was the south end of the island, a swing by City Hall, WTC, and Wall Street. We didn’t stop too long at each place, but took enough time to appreciate them. The WTC was impressive and very crowded.
In a time crunch we made it to the southend on the East River next to an old defunct bar below the Brooklyn Bridge. Here we met this guy:
Skip this if you ever plan on doing the “Accomplice” while in NYC.
• This guy asked us and two random British girls to help him out with this task to get his associates some plane tickets and that we would be compensated along the way.
• With a set of photos he told us to find this location to meet his next associate.
• At the next location (a bar) which was awesome dive with bras pinned all to the ceiling, we got the information to find and info the other of their plane tickets.
• We were trying to find this next person’s mobile along the street, while walking some lady with a baby carriage screen threw a paper on the ground in front of us and ran away. This paper lead us to the next person.
• This person was sitting at a city fountain, dressed in spandex messed up lipstick, 2 different high heels and blinders. She referred to us all as Larry and Larry Jr.
• This conversation lead us to a crazy man outside of City Hall where he thought Bill Gates was spying on him for diamonds. Eventually he led us to Chinatown where we had to decipher a fortune cookie.
• We stereotyped several people and incorrectly asked them for help readings Mandarin. I tried haggling a price for mechanical frog, bought a small turtle statue and ultimately purchased a large bull frog.
• We then gave this bull frog to a construction worker.
• He then lead us to a Italian mobster restaurant, here we chugged as much wine as possible in 15 mins.
• This ultimately lead us to last bar called Madam X.
• Here we saw a drunk mistress get busted by the Feds. We got our reward, and opened a mysterious briefcase. Thus ending the accomplice.
Derek met us afterwards and we went to the oldest bar in NYC , McSorleys. Here you only can choose from light or dark beer and have to get two at time. Blurry walking led to some NY pizza and we ended up singing at a Asian karaoke bar. We wandered back via subways to the hotel and crash for the night. Derek wedged himself in the closet for some shut-eye. He wouldn’t come out of closet.
In the morning, got some nice pretentious coffee across the street. It was very good though despite it cliché exterior. Also we met our new best friend Hannah. Hannah immediately got my humor and we are now BFFs. We went and walked around Rockefeller , Saks 5th Ave, and St. Peter’s cathedral.
Walking to Central Park, we got distracted by FAO Schwartz’s toy store. We snuggled with all the huge stuffed animals, marveled at massive Lego sculptures, and played with all the hot new toys. But it wouldn’t have been a complete visit without some foot tapping on the giant ‘big’ piano. Side trip over we continued around Central Park stopping by famous fountains the castle and picturesque views.
Next visit was to Chelsea Piers Market for food and Highline strolling. While wandering around we tried to find some where to sit for a while and get a drink and in the distance we spied a roof top bar. We navigated to it and ascended 7 floors and found great posh bar scene. We stopped for one nice mixed drink but soon we received a free bottle of champagne with our combined yelp knowledge. It was good to feel and act like high society for a bit. After leaving it didn’t take long for us to all start acting our ole’ shifty selves.
With some time to spare before getting ready for our “Book of Mormon” show, we went to the Top of the Rock. The views were spectacular and saw a great abundance of selfie sticks waving around through the air. The Book of Mormon was very funny and have a very nice appeal. It wasn’t overly mean or critical. It just told a funny story. Hannah then part ways, and we subway’d it to Brooklyn for the next hotel night.
Morning we hiked to the Brooklyn Bridge and got awesome bagel down in the Dumbo area. We hung out in north Brooklyn and walk around the East River Park. Derek then had to leave for a test back in Connecticut. Alexis and I killed some time at Brooklyn Boulders climbing gym for a while. Hungry and wanting to cross one more bucket list item off before our flight, we made a more stop at an official NYC deli. ‘Katz’. It was best Pastrami Reuben I have ever had.
The rest is a combination of different forms of public transportation and we were back in Charlotte.
In total:
Walked: ~70,000 steps
Bought 1 frog: $3
Travels by train, subway and bus: $40
Best bagel: Dumbo
Best deli: Katz
Coolest bar: McSorleys/ Roof top
Best views: East River Park/ Top of Rock
Most expensive drink: $17
