Saturday, May 3, 2008

New York City: A (Belated) Recap

Posted by Laura / no comments » / , architecture, musicals, new york city, people, trip

We’re back from New York! We didn’t get stuck there, which, of course, is good. This will be long, as anyone would expect. We have a few pictures, though not many. I’ll put them at the very end.

Work on Friday was seriously, seriously frustrating. It was our last day of training and boy, did I want to get the heck out of there. 5PM finally did come, though, Johnathan picked me up from work, and off we went. The drive out was absolutely pleasant. We were smart enough this time to think of actually combining our music, rather than having a CD or two of each of our music. He has a 20GB iPod, and we both picked out a selection of our favorite music and put it onto his iPod. From the start, we kept it on random with a few instances of specifically picked songs. The song of the trip ended up becoming (inexplicably) Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton. We both enjoy the song and think it’s hilarious, which is about all of the logic that went into the repetitive playing of that song. We stopped for dinner at Subway after about an hour or so of driving, and otherwise just hung out in the car. There were stops for drinks and pit stops, of course, but mostly we kept on the trip.

Getting into New Jersey was the most difficult part of the trip. We got ever-so-slightly lost trying to get to the hotel proper. Our GPS is lovely, but when we miss a turn, it doesn’t recalculate fast enough which can often lead to missing several turns in a row. It’s a bad thing to happen since it can just snowball from there. We did eventually get there by about 1AM. The man at the front desk was very nice and very helpful and I think all by himself he redeemed Econolodge from our previous poor experience. The room was nothing to shout about, but it had a king bed and there was hot water in the shower. The hot water was an improvement over our last Econolodge experience. We quickly went to sleep because, since we’re both on a very strict 8-5 type schedule, our bedtime is usually between 9:30 and 10:30, and 1PM is definitely outside of that window. We were exhausted. I slept pretty well, though there were only two fairly flat pillows. I sleep with two fat (though squishy) ones at home so it was something to get used to.

First thing in the morning we were up, showered and ready to go. The shower was annoying because the water pressure was poor and it had a water saving head, so it took about twice as long as normal to watch the shampoo and conditioner out of my hair. No matter, though, we were quickly packed and out the door to breakfast at Perkins and then to the airport to get a bus to a train into the city.

The PATH train that we were on took us to the World Trade Center station. It wasn’t necessarily on my list of things to actually do, to see the World Trade Center area, but I wasn’t going to say “No! I don’t want to see that!” The station was actually pretty cool, and what was interesting is that it’s a temporary station right now. The temporary station was awesome enough, so I’m not sure how they’re going to make the proper one look better. It’s a little rough, I admit, but it’s nicer than a lot of places that I’ve seen. We didn’t stop for long because it was really just a construction site at this point, and as callous as it might sound, I don’t want to relive the feelings from then. I know I wasn’t as directly affected as those who lost someone in the event, but still. At any rate, we had a plan originally, and then it seemed like the second that we got off the train, we decided to change it. Since I miraculously realized that it was Saturday and that it might make things a little bit more complicated if we tried to get tickets to a show for the evening, we decided to head over to TKTS in the morning and get tickets for a matinée. We got tickets in the mezzanine for the Curtains matinée, and I was very glad about that. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting some food and wandering around the block nearby to the Al Hirschfeld Theater, where Curtains is currently.

At 2PM, the matinée started. Most of the original cast is still in the show, and we only had one understudy – not for a person who I was hoping to see, either – so I was very excited. The inside of that theater, idly, is very beautiful. It has a certain character to it that a lot of the more ornate ones lack. Aside from the lack of leg room (our knees were pressed against the seats in front of us), the pre-show waiting was actually quite pleasant. The show itself, oh. It was so good. Johnathan kept repeating what a good show it was afterward, too, and since he didn’t know that it would be something that he’d necessarily like. I knew I liked it; I’ve listened to the whole cast album as well as an audio boot of it. Anyway, I am so glad that we got to see it before the show actually closes in June. If I could, I’d go out and see it again. That would be silly, though. I hope they go on tour; I’ll definitely see it when they do… if they do.

After the show, we finally were in a close enough vicinity to meet up with Astra and Aurelia from HogwartsMOO. I’ve talked to these people for years, so it was really great to meet them in person, to be able to put a face to a name and all of that. We went to a Thai restaurant a little way outside of Times Square which had excellent food. It was exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to be able to have for dinner, since it isn’t something we can necessarily get in Cleveland on a regular basis, and if we could, it would be unreasonably expensive. We hung out at dinner for a bit, and then Aurelia and Astra had to get back home, and we wanted to get out to Coney Island, so we parted ways en route to the subway stations.

The trip out to Coney Island takes about an hour, so we were well set to wait around. Johnathan was disappointed because the train we caught on the way out was not a new one. Unfortunately, by that time we really needed to find a bathroom, so that was our first goal. It took longer than planned to find one, and in the meantime, we discovered that the bathroom area on the boardwalk was closed, and that Astroland was closing at 7:30PM, so the second we walked in, they closed. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to ride anything there, though we did snap some pictures of the signs there. We headed back to Manhattan, originally intent on going up the Empire State Building. We got a new N train on the way back, which was seriously cool. It was quieter than any of the other trains we’ve ridden in NYC, and it was cooler in terms of how much information it gave than any MAX train that I’ve been in. Aside from feeling tired and dirty, the trip back was nice. Once we started on the way back, we decided that it would just be worth it to head back to the hotel because we were tired and my feet were blistering.

We caught a PATH train from downtown and headed on the way back. It was at that point that we discovered that I walk strangely. Apparently I put the balls of my feet down first instead of my heels. It meant that my heels were fine and un-blistered, but right next to my toes was pretty much an entire blister. Ouch. They’re a bit better now, but on Saturday night, my feet were very, very unhappy. At any rate, we made it back to the hotel at about ten minutes to 11, and since we were hungry (since we’d eaten dinner at about 5PM), we went over to Perkins. It was practically attached to the hotel, so it was very convenient. Unfortunately, the convenience wasn’t worth the cost at that point. Once our server (who never told us her name) finally came over to us, we ordered everything at once. We got two glasses of pop, two glasses of water, a piece of pie and an appetizer sampler platter. It wasn’t a complicated order, but we had a problem even with that. We had to ask for silverware, for more water once we’d drained our cups (which I did very quickly), and then she gave us our check without A) asking us if that was all or B) ever getting us our appetizer platter. We did mention this to her and she didn’t get moody with us, but it was frustrating. It took so long to get almost anything that it was frustrating. Almost an hour later – and it isn’t as if we were ordering full dinners with lots of complicated variations. Appetizers generally come quickly, and she got us our pie right away since she was the one to cut it. It was unacceptable service and not a great way to end the evening. However, we were able to get back to our hotel quickly and a king size bed, even when the pillows are flat, is a good, good thing (particularly when your current bed is sagging like crazy).

The next morning we got a reasonable start at about 10:30AM. We did not go back to Perkins since we were still sore over the service from the previous evening. We drove for a little while and ended up at a Panera for breakfast. I got a Chai latte and then we were on our way. On Sunday, I was almost immediately plagued by car sickness, where on Friday night I hadn’t felt it at all. It didn’t seem to get better for the rest of the day, but it wasn’t bad enough to really complain about. Around 2PM, we stopped at Knoebels, which is an amusement park in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. Johnathan’s friend Matt had said he would be there all weekend, so we met up with him and hung out at the park. The first thing we rode was one of the roller coasters which left me feeling somewhat woozy as a result of my still-persisting car sickness. We were going to go ride on the Flyers after that, but Matt broke them, so Johnathan and I went to get some lunch. We had lunch at the Alamo restaurant in the park which had reasonably good food for very reasonable prices. The Flyers were fixed afterward, so we got onto those. After my first time, I felt ill, so I sat for a little while before being convinced to ride again with everyone. The second time went better; I felt less ill afterward and less woozy, but I was ready for something calm. After that, Johnathan and I walked over to the haunted house ride. It wasn’t really very scary; it had a couple of shocks and other than that, Johnathan accidentally scared me more than anything on the ride did. It was fun enough, though, and had me giggling when we got off. Matt gave Johnathan a ticket for the Sky Ride, so we went up on that. It is basically a ski lift set up so that folks can ride up the hill, see a really pretty view, then ride back down and see the view of most of the park (where the trees aren’t obscuring it, of course). The only thing we did after that was ride the carousel, which was enjoyable. By that point, I was getting very tired, so we begged out and got back on the road.

Things only seemed to go downhill in terms of how I was feeling. I started feeling very sick by about 8PM, which was at least three hours before we could manage to get home. By about 10PM, my head was throbbing, so I slept most of the rest of the way home. We’re not sure what was wrong with me, because I have never been that car sick before, not even when I used to read books in the car, against all better judgment. It could be food poisoning of some kind, but it would have to be something that I ate that Johnathan didn’t eat, because he was more or less fine. I don’t know. It was nice to be home, even though I enjoyed the trip. The cats, who we thought might misbehave while we were gone, didn’t even seem like they’d noticed we were gone, though they were more affectionate and attentive than usual.

So, now we’re home, and aside from having to miss Monday due to still being very nauseated and feeling like my head was going to explode, things are pretty good.

I will say I’m rather glad to be home, though not overly thrilled to be working now. It was a good trip.

This is the view outside of the World Trade Center station.

More of the same buildings. I have to take about six pictures of anything just to make sure I get a good one, it seems like.

Same buildings, again.

Curtains! I love the marquee for the Hirschfeld theater.

Better lighting of the same.

David Hyde Pierce? Yes, please!

I love the architecture in New York City. So much of it breathes personality.

Trying to get some good angles of the buildings on the street that the Hirschfeld is on.

Same buildings. I don’t know what it is, but I find them so lovely.

And again.

These ones are a block down, on a busier street.

Same buildings, more traffic.

Buildings and traffic.

I ignored the guy, but Johnathan took these tickets from a guy standing on the corner past the theater. Free Starbucks for going to church! And yet, we still didn’t go.

And there’s Johnathan.

The street was mostly clear, it was beautiful, and I just plained liked the view. That’s why.

This one has a better angle than the previous one.

This is the underside of the awning over the Hirschfeld theater. It has mirrors!

After we took our pictures, people started making faces at it while others with them took pictures. It was funny.

This one is way better than the previous two; Johnathan took this one, while I took the other two. I’m saying that the reasoning is that he is taller than me. That’s my excuse.

Here we have the Atlantic ocean just before sundown.

More of the ocean. I think the colors turned out better this time than last year.

More ocean.

More ocean. I really like this one, and I couldn’t say why.

The boardwalk at Coney Island.

We made it to Astroland, at least, even if we didn’t get to ride anything.

Astroland again.

Final view of Astroland as we headed back to the subway to go back to Manhattan.

Seriously cool screen on the N train.

It gave a lot of information!

The cute coloring book menu at The Alamo at Knoebels. I almost asked for crayons.

I wanted to get some cool action shots of the flyers.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to capture the awesome things that they can do without taking video.

If I’d managed to snap this about a second earlier, it would have been really cool.

We really didn’t end up having a lot of pictures because on the one hand, we forgot, and on the other, most of the things we might have taken pictures of, we took pictures of them last year. I’m not much fussed. I really like the one of Johnathan, though.

And that’s that! You now know the ins and outs of our trip to New York City this year.