Thursday, January 24, 2008

Liz in the City

I spent four wonderful days visiting my brother, Chris, in New York this past weekend. With the MLK holiday, I was able to make it an extra-long weekend, which was great. I flew out Saturday morning from Houston and had two stops in Jackson, Mississippi and Baltimore, Maryland. When we landed in Jackson it was actually snowing!! Crazy!



We made it to Long Island (Islip) about 2:00 pm, and then I took the train into Penn Station, where I met up with my brother. I hadn't seen him since Grandpa's funeral in September, so it was great to see him. This was the first year ever he hasn't been home for Christmas.
After we met up, we hopped on the bus and rode to his place in West New York, New Jersey. We hung out for a bit and then went back into the city to meet up with his girlfriend, Katie (who I adore!). We went to The Parker Meridian hotel where there is a little hidden burger joint. It was so speak-easy-esque, andI loved it. You basically have to stare people down to get them to vacate a table once they are done eating, as there are literally 10 tables total. We finally grabbed a booth and got our grub on. Good times. After dinner, we went to Rudy's Bar & Grill (a total dive, but we had a great time). Then back to NJ to crash.

Sunday, Chris and I began to explore the inner rock star in ourselves playing Rock Band on his X-Box 360. Too much fun. I could so totally get addicted. Then my friend Beth came and picked us up and we went out to lunch. It was FREEZING!! It was 21 degrees outside, but the windchill was at 7 degrees. My Texas brain cannot comprehend single digit temperatures. Lunch was fun and I really enjoyed catching up with Beth.











After lunch, we decided to forgo going into the city, and stayed at Chris' apartment playing Rock Band until it was time to meet Katie for dinner. We walked down by the Hudson River (freezing) and I was totally awed by the night-time view of the city. We ended up eating dinner at the Fudrucker's inside the Ferry Terminal, and having drinks while watching football in the bar. These New Yorkers went NUTS when the NY Giants won the game (Superbowl bound). After dinner we raced out into the frigid night and climbed a million stairs to make it back to the apartment.






Monday, Chris and I decided to venture out to Coney Island to go to the New York Aquarium. He hadn't been there, so it was fun to do something new together. It was 17 degrees out - windchill 3 degrees. Yikes. We took the hour subway ride out to CI and explored the Aquarium. It was a really neat place, but set up more like a zoo with different buildings and exhibits. We saw stingrays, thousands of fish, the Walrus family, a very playful Otter, and a myriad of other aquatic life. Oh, and I can't forget the shark exhibit. It was pretty impressive. Here are a few pictures from the trip. The Daddy Walrus was such a ham!! He would swim right up to have his picture taken and was making kissing noises through the glass. He is a pro.




















After the Aquarium, we went back into Manhattan for our lunch date at Craftbar for Restaurant Week (where the "little people" get to eat in the fancy restaurants without mortgaging their houses). We had a delicious lunch. Chris had the Warm Pecorino Fondue with Acacia Honey (possibly the best thing I have ever eaten in my life!!!) and a Pork Sandwich (cuban style). I had the Pecorino Stuffed Risotto Balls (SO GOOD) and the Veal Ricotta Meatballs. OMG I was loving every bite. We both has chocolate cake with malted milk ice cream for dessert. To die for. After lunch we walked over to FAO Schwarz (my favorite store in NYC) and then to visit Katie at Tiffany & Co (where she works). Then we went back to Jersey and chilled out for the rest of the night with Chris' roommates.




Tuesday was my last day, and we spent most of it trying to get me ready to fly back out. We went into NYC after I packed in search of a Kinko's so I could print out my flight documents. After that, we walked back over to Penn Station/Madison Square Gardens and went to lunch at Chipotle. After lunch, Chris put me on the train back to Islip, where I caught my flight to Chicago. After a truly scary landing (snow/ice on the runway - sliding & fishtailing), I had a 90 minute layover until I could fly home to Houston.
I had a great time and can't wait to go back again. Preferrably not in winter. Certainly not on Southwest.

2 comments:

Melanie said...

Looks like you had a great time! What fun! Sorry to hear about the bad flight. Great pictures!

Elizabeth said...

Thanks! I had a blast. I finally scrapbooked last year's trip, so hopefully I can get this one done a little quicker (doubtful, though).