Escape To New York
Mar. 27th, 2006 05:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plumtreeblossomI'm back from a decadent weekend in New York with JVK, benchmarked by excesses in food and animals.
I should probably explain.
Both of us being huge diner-fare fans with too few diners in our respective home cities, we hit Manhattan's diners like a pair of chubby bullets through the window. We went to a different one every time. I arrived and got set up in the hotel, and a diner dinner was the first thing we did upon his arrival. Actually, it was my 2nd dinner of the evening – I'd gone to the hotel diner at 4:00 PM for a hard-to-find Monte Christo. Awww yeah!
That evening we went on a mini Irish pub crawl in the old Hell's Kitchen. It was a fun way to reconnect, and the first of many Guinness rounds.
If it's illegal to smoke pot in the Ramada New Yorker hotel, they didn't tell us. :-)
The following morning (here come the animals, part 1...) we went to the Zoo in Central Park. I hadn't been there in 15 years and he in 30 years, and so I pushed for this one. Have you ever seen the raccoon-cousin called the Red Panda? I have, and its Crippling Beams of CUTE made me talk baby talk and want to snuggle it. If you're ever there, hit up the sea lions at feeding time. You don't know the definition of "pumped" until you've seen them two minutes before one of the several daily feedings. They can tell time by magic or the sky or something, but they know, and they act like wildly psyched children as the crowd gathers.
Later that night we went to Decibel, a sake bar I love in New York, and kicked around the Village.
One diner breakfast later, we attempted to go to the Cartoon and Comics Museum on a tip from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
stephkarto, but unfortunately it was closed due to there being classes in there on Saturday mornings. Which led us instead on a detour to (animals, part 2) the dog run in Washington Square Park. It's one of my favorite places in New York, and we are both wannabe dog owners. We were there over an hour, watching with delight as the dogs romped and played, with their own dog-only social codes and structures. For someone with not a maternal bone in her body, I am a puppy-crazy, fuzzy-obsessed, dog-mommy-wannabe.
That night we went out and heard an all-girl Irish band. Loved it. We even had a respectable dinner (as opposed to diner dinner), and I actually ordered an entirely vegan meal. Guinness is, as you know, vegan.
We drank our fill, ye heartys. But it's time to finally admit it – I'm no longer able to party like it's 1989. I had visions of us staying out until dawn ripping up the town. That's all it was, though -- visions. By 2:00 AM all three nights I was wilted like a week-old rose, and he wasn't feeling the night owl of his younger years, either. We didn't close any bars, and were asleep before 3:00 AM every night. We talked about the suction factor of being over 40 when the spirit is willing but the flesh is both weak and drunk. Good thing I stayed out of the tequilla, that's for sure.
Sunday morning, following a final diner hit, he headed back to LA, and I to Boston. If circumstances are right for it this summer, we’ll be hitting Las Vegas in our ongoing circumnavigation of the globe.
I should probably explain.
Both of us being huge diner-fare fans with too few diners in our respective home cities, we hit Manhattan's diners like a pair of chubby bullets through the window. We went to a different one every time. I arrived and got set up in the hotel, and a diner dinner was the first thing we did upon his arrival. Actually, it was my 2nd dinner of the evening – I'd gone to the hotel diner at 4:00 PM for a hard-to-find Monte Christo. Awww yeah!
That evening we went on a mini Irish pub crawl in the old Hell's Kitchen. It was a fun way to reconnect, and the first of many Guinness rounds.
If it's illegal to smoke pot in the Ramada New Yorker hotel, they didn't tell us. :-)
The following morning (here come the animals, part 1...) we went to the Zoo in Central Park. I hadn't been there in 15 years and he in 30 years, and so I pushed for this one. Have you ever seen the raccoon-cousin called the Red Panda? I have, and its Crippling Beams of CUTE made me talk baby talk and want to snuggle it. If you're ever there, hit up the sea lions at feeding time. You don't know the definition of "pumped" until you've seen them two minutes before one of the several daily feedings. They can tell time by magic or the sky or something, but they know, and they act like wildly psyched children as the crowd gathers.
Later that night we went to Decibel, a sake bar I love in New York, and kicked around the Village.
One diner breakfast later, we attempted to go to the Cartoon and Comics Museum on a tip from
stephkarto, but unfortunately it was closed due to there being classes in there on Saturday mornings. Which led us instead on a detour to (animals, part 2) the dog run in Washington Square Park. It's one of my favorite places in New York, and we are both wannabe dog owners. We were there over an hour, watching with delight as the dogs romped and played, with their own dog-only social codes and structures. For someone with not a maternal bone in her body, I am a puppy-crazy, fuzzy-obsessed, dog-mommy-wannabe. That night we went out and heard an all-girl Irish band. Loved it. We even had a respectable dinner (as opposed to diner dinner), and I actually ordered an entirely vegan meal. Guinness is, as you know, vegan.
We drank our fill, ye heartys. But it's time to finally admit it – I'm no longer able to party like it's 1989. I had visions of us staying out until dawn ripping up the town. That's all it was, though -- visions. By 2:00 AM all three nights I was wilted like a week-old rose, and he wasn't feeling the night owl of his younger years, either. We didn't close any bars, and were asleep before 3:00 AM every night. We talked about the suction factor of being over 40 when the spirit is willing but the flesh is both weak and drunk. Good thing I stayed out of the tequilla, that's for sure.
Sunday morning, following a final diner hit, he headed back to LA, and I to Boston. If circumstances are right for it this summer, we’ll be hitting Las Vegas in our ongoing circumnavigation of the globe.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-27 10:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-28 12:19 am (UTC)Vegas...
Date: 2006-03-28 12:02 am (UTC)http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193211243X/sr=8-1/qid=1143504004/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-1739441-7055337?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Re: Vegas...
Date: 2006-03-28 12:20 am (UTC)Mmm...NY food
Date: 2006-03-28 01:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-28 02:56 am (UTC)1. I can't *remember* the last time I stayed up til '3, let alone more than one night in a row. I must be old at heart. And you rock!
2. I've spent a lot of time in Vegas (my ol' job took me there twice/year). If you want tips, let me know!