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| The girls at "The Perfect Pint" |
Nothing says NYC like a shot for the bachelorette party at a New York pub. It was the first of many places we would visit on our amazing trip to New York and New Jersey.
Jim went on his bachelor party a couple of weeks ago to Key West, with several college buddies and a good friend of ours. Boys, being boys, did not take any pictures- not sure we would want to post them anyway. However, I made up for their lack of documentation and took HUNDREDS of pictures from our trip. Our friend Jen was amazing and convinced her Dad to let us stay with him and his wife, at the Rectory. Yep. Jen's Dad is an Episcopalian priest, along with his wife. The incredibly amazing rectory was our home away from home for a few days.
Julie and I flew up a day early and then met up with everyone on Thursday. Our trip began with a cruise around the city- tons of photo opportunities. After the cruise we headed back to Mountain Lakes (New Jersey) where we visited the "club" that Jen's Dad is a member of. When we walked in I think we found the only Gator in Jersey, ironically named Al! Al treated us to round a drinks, only after "forcing" us to sing We are the Boys two times.
The next morning we packed our overnight bags and headed towards the city. Jen once again saved the day and her friend Ingrid allowed us to stay in her studio apartment - only blocks away from Central Park. We dropped off our bags and met up with Ingrid for lunch at Dean's. The Rat Pack theme of the restaurant thrilled Beth and we had a great lunch (with the small exception of the bloody mary on my blackberry). After lunch we braved the drizzle and headed to Grand Central Station. It was exactly like you see in the movies (so was Tiffany's on 5th Avenue).
Our next stop was on the Gray Line, the double decker bus tour. This was a great way for us to see numerous sites in the city and have a semi-intelligent tour guide tell us all about the city. With the rain still plaguing us, we huddled under cheap ponchos and headed to Chinatown. This was an experience for me! I am now the proud owner of a "faux" Burberry creation and two "cashmere" scarves (perfect for Alaska I believe!). After being led down a suspicious alley- we fled Chinatown and took refuge in Little Italy, and yet another cocktail. I learned very quickly that the only two places to use the little girl's room in NYC is Starbucks (literally one on every corner) and drinking establishments. As the heat index was well into the 100's- hot coffee just wasn't a viable option for us this trip.
That evening (after skillfully navigating the NYC subway system), we headed to our Broadway Show- Wicked! This was an AMAZING show!! After cooling off with a “Flying Monkey” and an “Ozmapoltian”, complete with its own sippy cup we thoroughly enjoyed the show. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the City.
Once we learned all that happened before Dorothy dropped in, we headed to the Empire State Building. After flying up 86 flights, in an elevator- not our brooms, we literally were blown away (quite windy that high above the ground) by the views. The City at night is indescribable. While during the day the oppressive amount of people and things are overwhelming- but at night it almost looks serene. The lights, so compactly clustered, fade out to mere twinkling stars as the city slips into the darkness. There is no noise that high up, only wind and as Julie noticed, bugs. It was extremely hard to take pictures- but I did attempt.
As we left the building we were “fortunate” enough to find a lonely limo that needed 5 crazy girls to take home. For the incredibly low price of $25 plus tip we were chauffeured in style back to our studio apartment in the city. Following a few more local pit stops for authentic New York pizza and of course, more bathroom breaks we retired to our cramped, but wonderful home for the night.
Saturday was intended to be our “hit everything else on the list” day. At this point, the list included: Central Park Carousel, Ground Zero, at least one museum, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street (the bull), and don’t forget The Cake Boss (in Hoboken, NJ). Oh- and any and all souvenirs and other shopping we wished to do. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. However, we did get to go to Ground Zero, which was completely blocked and we were unable to see. But we did go to St. Paul’s- the church right by the Towers that escaped with no damage from the attack. The church served as a staging place immediately following the attack and the days and weeks followed was a place for all the workers and volunteers to rest. Now most of the church is filled with shrines and memorials to the victims and heroes from that day.
Our next mission was to walk to the ferry to head over to see Lady Liberty and Ellis Island. After a long, agonizing and miserably hot walk we discovered a line that was at least 2 hours long to just buy the tickets for the ferry. Executive decision sometimes must be made, and I sacrificed this outing for other agenda items.
Sometimes, when you get five opinionated and stubborn women together, it is hard to get things accomplished. But then sometimes, when at least three of these women are tired and hot, it is easy to lead the way. At this point, we had arrived to that time. Julie, who had traveled to NYC with her husband several times, decided it was time to go see the Bull off Wall Street and then eat at a great place, the Bull & Finch. We hailed two cabs (big grrr to NYC/NJ who passed legislation that “prohibits” more than four people to ride in a cab at a time) with the determination of hot, tired and THIRSTY women. Beth, Melissa and I got in one cab and Julie and Jen in the next. At this point my Southern charm and patience has pretty much left me and I very firmly tell the cabbie (side note- NY cabbies are not nearly as appreciative of Southern accents as Florida Legislators) we were heading to the Bull & Finch on Wall Street. “Where?” he says rudely. “ THE BULL & FINCH ON WALL STREET- its a restaurant, its famous!!”, was my less than polite reply. This went on for several seconds- only proceeding to frustrate the driver and myself greatly. He finally decides to follow the other cab- muttering the whole time. As we literally circle the block Julie and Jen’s cab pulls over and an equally irritated cabbie and Julie appear to be fighting. $6 later and it is determined that 1) We were right by the bull on Wall Street and 2) The Bull & Finch is a bar in Boston (AKA Cheers)- not Manhattan.
To Be Continued…
