New York City #2

Friday morning we woke up and rode the A train (a daily occurrence) to 14th Street and walked a block or so to Murray's Bagels, which came highly recommended by Brian. Thank you, sir! Murray's was insanely good. I am a freak of onion bagels with chive cream cheese, and this crowded but cozy little place was tops. Heather and I sat on a bench out front in the light rain and couldn't believe how delicious our breakfast was. The fresh-squeezed OJ didn't hurt. We walked across the street to Rite Aid for some Advil and found a display of Snuggies for dogs instead. After doubling over with laughter, we walked to the Empire State Building for my first big view of the city. We ended up going on the New York Skyride before heading to the observatory. Lame! Kevin Bacon should be ashamed of himself. But at least we had a good laugh. Up on the 86th floor, we bundled up and went outside into the gusty winds. There were times when we had to crouch down and take cover next to the stone walls. It was like walking in a wind tunnel, but oh so funny. We rode the elevator down and I peeled a Polaroid in the lobby while a lot of people gave me really strange looks, then we walked outside and boarded a double-decker red bus for a tour of the city.

Freezing and windblown since we rode in the upstairs, exposed-to-the-elements part, we got off in Soho and booked it to Eastern Mountain Sports where I bought a much-needed beanie and a bunch of stuff I didn't need (new argyle socks, a t-shirt, and a small Timbuk2 messenger bag) but considered them my NYC souvenirs even though there's nothing NYC about them. We had an amazingly fresh and cheap lunch afterward at Spring Street Natural, recommended to us by an employee at EMS. I've said this about a lot of the food I ate there, but I would seriously fly all the way back to New York just for that lunch. Next, we accidentally broke a fancy, expensive pagoda ornament in Kate's Paperie , then browsed and bought a few things to help make up for it. I found some really cool camera iron-ons and lots of ideas for Christmas cards. By the time we left Kate's it was dark and rainy and cold, so we stopped in Starbucks (despite my dislike of the place) and got really yummy caramel apple spice hot drinks. I may or may not be hooked and may or may not have to go to Starbucks occasionally now. Boo. We hopped back on the double-decker bus and rode through the Financial District, Chinatown, and back to Midtown where we hopped on the subway to Chelsea. We went to Chelsea Market for Fat Witch brownies and Jacques Torres chocolates, then on to the Meatpacking District for yet another amazing meal, this time dinner at Vento, recommended to us by an employee at the Apple store across the street. We made a few Polaroids in the rain after dinner, then took a cab to a 30 Rock-themed birthday party for a friend of Heather's, then a walk to the subway, then home. And now that I’m writing and reliving all of this, I can’t believe we did all of that in one day. Whew!