Blogging New York...Day Six...

Home sweet home...that's where I am now, after a long afternoon and evening and night of travel after another half day in The Big Apple. I had an amazing week and can't wait to go back!

I met an old friend for breakfast this morning at the famous Carnegie Deli. It definitely lived up to the hype, from the old school waitresses to the fact that they only took cash - good thing we had some! But the highlight for me, no doubt, was the "side" of bacon. Seriously. SIDE. 

My friend and I wandered around a bit and had a good time catching up, but then I took my last subway ride back to the hotel and got on the Not-So-Super Shuttle to the airport. 

I knew the traffic would be bad since it was Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend, but I didn't realize I'd barely make it to my flight. When I flew in, it took about an hour to get from JFK to my hotel. Going back it took more than 2 1/2 hours. I was less than pleased and was very thankful the Jet Blue terminal was not busy or I would have been hosed. The driver pulled up to Terminal 5 at approximately 5:01pm - less than an hour before my flight was supposed to take off. For those of you that have traveled with me or know me at all, you know my head was about to explode. I got to the gate about 5 minutes before they started boarding - barely had time to visit the little girl's room and get a snack. The best I could do was a pack of Lunchables.

The flight left right on time and, hallelujah, the seat next to me was empty. That was most yay, as it appeared to be the only empty seat on the plane. I was on the last row, so I got to hear a lot of the flight attendant chatter, which was a real treat. Jeremy is apparently based in New York, but he only moved there because of his boyfriend who he just broke up with so now he's stuck, and he's staying with a friend, but you know, it's not the same, and blah blah blah...female flight attendant whose name I didn't ever see seemed sympathetic but she definitely had a 'tude when she walked the aisles. She definitely thought she was cooler than the rest of the world, and I did not approve. I kinda wanted to trip her, but I refrained. 

My Lunchables were actually quite tasty, and I felt pretty satisfied with them...until I went to put the plastic container back in its box and spilled all the turkey water/juice/fluid on my pants. Yeah. That was awesome. And wet. I was forced to get up and visit the bathroom to see if I could at least dry it a little with some paper towels. It was a special highlight.

Some other notes from the flight:

1. bags of snacks may explode during flight and spread cheese-flavored snacks all over the floor; just ask the woman in the row in front of me
2. someone could sell cheap headphones in the gate area for $1 and make some money since they sell for $2 on the plane and they don't take cash
3. the announcement about getting off the cell phones is clearly useless; multiple people were still talking on them when we were backing away from the gate; they are much firmer about this on Southwest

I was psyched when the plane landed 35 minutes early, thinking I'd get home earlier than originally planned. But the problem with landing early? They have no gate for you. And you know what happens then? You wait. On the plane. And when they finally get you a gate? Yeah. It's about the time you were supposed to arrive in the first place. And also, that gate is the farthest one from the baggage claim. But, I'm now, and clearly more awake than I thought I was. Of course, the Coke and popcorn I just inhaled might be part of the problem.

Anyway, here ends the New York blogging...a great week was had and now I'm looking forward to a long weekend before heading back to the work world...Happy 4th of July everyone! Celebrate safely.

Blogging New York...Day Five...

Today was my last full day in New York, and it was a good one. For the Yankee haters out there, you may want to stop reading now...because really, that's all today was about. I get why you don't like them. I'm okay with it. But I've loved them pretty much my whole life, and it was awesome to finally get to see them play in New York. 

I took my subway-mastery with me and actually transferred from one train to another - both ways!! YES!! I rule. I loved hearing the announcement that we'd arrived at Yankee Stadium. I stepped out into the station, saw the sign and pretty much couldn't stop smiling until I got home.

I really don't have any crazy stories to share from today...it was just all too good and too fun. The Yankees, wearing their trademark pinstripes, won and Mariano Rivera - my all-time favorite Yankee - saved the game. Hearing Enter Sandman by Metallica when they opened the bullpen doors for him to enter the game in the bottom of the 9th was awesome, and I must admit, I was a little bit giddy.

It was a gorgeous day out, and the fans were great. A couple of people were kind enough to take my picture so I could have photos of myself in the stadium. Really, everyone was so nice. I will say that the grilled hot dog didn't even come close to the grilled home run dog at AT&T Park in San Francisco, but it was still tasty. The other bummer was their choice in soda: PEPSI. Yuck. I had water. Other than that, everything was good. 

Entering and wandering around Yankee Stadium is sort of like being at Disneyland. There are people everywhere - literally like every 3 feet - holding signs asking how they can help you. There are also people sweeping up the hallways to keep the Disney, er, Yankee magic in tact. There's a lot that I didn't see just because there simply wasn't time, but it's pretty cool. I still like AT&T better overall because it's the old style ball park, and let's face it, the view is unbeatable, but it was awesome to finally see The Bronx Bombers play in their home land.

By the way, that's Derek Jeter on the left and Nick Swisher on the right. Nick is absolutely one of the funniest men in baseball and Derek is, well, he's Derek Jeter. And that's enough.

It was also very cool to hear New York, New York played at the end of the game, and I sat and listened to several choruses. I left the stadium after a while and found that everyone was taking the subway out of The Bronx, so I stepped into the nearby McDonald's to wait. And to get a Coke, because by that time, I needed one! And really, I think we all know McDonald's has the best Coke.

I managed to waste enough time and had a very empty train to take back to the hotel. My feet were never so happy to get back and stop moving. I've really given them a beating this week and may give them a nice soak later this evening. 

Tomorrow's my last day in the city that never sleeps, and I'm meeting another old friend for breakfast at the very famous Carnegie Deli. Many folks told me I needed to check this place out, but it didn't really interest me because I'm not a big sandwich fan...but breakfast? Well, that's a whole new game. I mean, as long as there's bacon, how could it be bad?

Oh good...just got a case of the hiccups...

Anyway...it's been an amazing week, and I'll wrap it all up when I get home tomorrow night. I will definitely be back New York. You've totally won me over.