I fell asleep before doing my Foot Rubz massage, and boy, were my feet were feeling it in the morning. I was surprised, however, that my legs were just fine. Too bad it was still raining this morning (thanks, Hurricane Matthew). I know that Matt did far worse damage elsewhere than to rain on my NY weekend, but it did put a bit of a damper on things. At least it’s only a drizzle. So, I threw on last night’s clothes (I packed VERY light) and headed out for Sbux.
Got my first hot PSL of the season and a slice of banana bread, and enjoyed that back in my room, while putting up the previous night’s blog post and catching up on FB. But, not before noticing a totally NYC photo op. There’s a sort of courtyard in the center of my hotel. I don’t know if it’s even accessible, but from my hallway, I can see across to the rooms on the other side. I spied a woman reading in bed and wearing the hotel robe, and I ran to my room and grabbed my camera. As I was dialing in my settings, a man walked into the frame. I’m assuming it was her husband or boyfriend, straight from the shower, because he was totally nakkers! What really made the whole thing fun was that I couldn’t see either of their faces, making it a perfectly shareable image. Especially since I’d slowed down my shutter speed to let in more light. That kept Mr. Nakkers from being in focus as he pulled on his boxers. To you, it may seem like just a blob next to the bed, but to me… I know exactly what’s there, if you catch my drift.
By the time I showered and headed back out, the rain got heavier, so back to the hotel lobby I went (I did not have appropriate footwear because I honestly didn’t think it’d rain so much and didn’t want to schlep my rain boots if I didn’t have to). Yep – that was a bit of an error in judgement.
I finally got out for lunch, and, today, I really hit my NYC groove. I can now come up from the Subway and not have to consult a map to figure out which way to go (most of the time). At one point, I was walking and overheard a girl ask her mom, “What street are we on?” I immediately quipped, “51st,” because I’m that cool. Though not so cool that by the time I headed out, all my plans were destined to be foiled. I wanted to go to the Carnegie Deli for lunch because it’s closing at the end of the year. I was delayed due to a parade. Not only was I slowed down to show my awe of the scantily clad girls dancing, waving, and smiling in 58 degree rainy weather, but streets were closed and I had to reroute almost back to the hotel (several blocks) and back again to get to the deli.
The line at the Carnegie Deli was longer than any bar line I’ve ever seen. Yeah, no. Not gonna happen.Instead, I went to Ben Ash deli, right across the street. Ordered a corned beef sandwich for the same price as at Carnegie ($19.99, honestly). It was really good (and I should know, since I’m all about the Rogers Park kosher deli meat – Romanian Kosher Deli – yo!). It was probably quite small compared to what I would have received at Carnegie, but at least it was manageable for an average human. Though, I had planned to donate half of my Carnegie sandwich to a homeless person (because I cannot eat a sandwich the size of my head), I ended up eating all of the corned beef on my plate at Ben Ash. I felt a little guilty for not sharing, but not that much.
I’d debated heading to one of my planned destinations from the morning (9/11 memorial and Washington Square Park), but seeing as how it had taken me much longer to get anywhere than I thought it should, I decided to head back to the hotel and recombobulate before meeting up with my college roommate, Holly. Along the way I stopped and got The Girl a set of I heart NY PJs and a bottle of wine (medicinal – for the debate). $17.99 for a bottle that’s $8.99 at home. Yeesh!
Of course, I clicked my way back.
I dropped off the wine and PJs, made a pit stop (like you do) and headed out to meet Holly at Macy’s. We ate at Stella’s – the Italian restaurant there. It was so nice to see her and talk with her. And she was excited, because she’d never eaten there before. After eating, we did some shoe shopping (she got some, I got none), then she had to head back home. I did too (this girl, who won’t go to Jewel alone at night, was fine taking the subway and walking back to the hotel), and turned on the debate. Oy! What a train wreck!
But, at least I got to see this before tucking in for the night:
And that, my friends, was my day.