NYC Part One

What a better time to post about my trip to NYC than while my spray tan dries? With six to eight hours to kill before I can shower, I can catch up on all of my blogging.

So Aimee and I left en route to D.C. to catch the train at about 10:30 p.m. last Friday night. We arrived at Union Station around 1:00 a.m., and we had plenty of time to find our platform and settle in before our train arrived around 3:00 a.m. Luckily, I had taken a three-hour nap earlier that day, and was wide awake for the drive up. Once we got on the train, however, I did try (and was only slightly successful in) sleeping a little bit. Poor Aimee couldn't fall asleep at all. 

But before I knew it, 6:40 a.m. rolled around and we arrived at Penn Station. Aimee and I gathered our stuff and stumbled off the train, slightly bleary eyed, and immediately found the nearest coffee shop. With a vanilla soy latte in hand, I started texting Elizabeth about where we should meet. She and Rachel were sweet enough to wake up super early and take the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan to meet us in the city and get bagels. (I love bagels.) 

Aimee and I had no idea where we were, so what did I do? Asked Siri. 

She was pretty helpful, too. Thanks Siri. 

After deciding to meet Elizabeth and Rachel at the bagel place, Aimee and I emerged from Penn Station to see David Beckham. 

That was a very nice welcome. Thanks David. 

Aimee and I made our way to the subway and took it a few stops to Times Square. It was raining a little bit, but neither one of us cared. Something about standing there, taking in all the sights and smells and people walking by, that made me not care whether it was raining or a little chilly. It was New York City, and I was completely happy. 

Aimee and I met up with Rachel and Elizabeth, and we made our way to the hidden gem of the bagel place. We then took our bagels to a beautiful hotel nearby and sat in one of the lobbies, eating our bagels and catching up. 

That night, we saw the play "Death of a Salesman," which featured Andrew Garfield (on the left, from the new Spiderman movie) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (on the right, who I had just watched in Along Came Polly before I left). 

This was the first play I saw that was on Broadway, and it was excellent. My lack of sleep started to catch up with me, but there were some intense scenes with lots of yelling, which helped keep me awake. After the standing ovations, Rachel spotted Woody Allen leaving the theater. It's pretty cool to be able to say we watched the same Broadway play in the same audience as Woody Allen. 

After that, we went to the stage door and tried to catch the actors leaving to get autographs and pictures. Andrew Garfield gave autographs, but wouldn't pose for any pictures. Philip Seymour Hoffman didn't come out the stage door at all. We were tipped off that the actors were all going to The Glass House, a restaurant right across the street. )We saw Andrew leave in his blacked-out SUV, then a few minutes later, he was walking down the same street and went into the restaurant.) We debated about going in there after them, but then decided against it. Instead, we went to Southern Hospitality, which is Justin Timberlake's restaurant. We all split appetizers and a few $18 pitchers of Blue Moon. It was worth it. I was, however, shocked that there was a $3,000 menu item there. $3,000, really??

Elizabeth and I at Southern Hospitality

Also, on the way to Southern Hospitality, we spotted Nick Jonas leaving the play he was starring in. And yes, every single girl in that crowd was screaming his name. 

When we left the restaurant to head home, I hailed my first ever cab. Well, I actually had to hail three cabs because no one wanted to drive us all the way to Brooklyn. When we did find someone to take us, I was so tired that I immediately fell asleep in the cab. Needless to say, I was exhausted, but it was so worth it. 

For next time: An update on all the amazing food we ate and photos from our trip to the 9/11 memorial.