New York!

I got to go to New York for the second time a couple weeks ago to visit Andrew & Ann, but this time I had more than 12 hours to explore!

I took a redeye, which is always rough, and opted for a cab so I could take a nap on the hour drive into the city instead of getting caught in rush hour on the subway. When I arrived, I couldn’t check into my AirBnB for a few hours, so I dumped my stuff at Andrew and Ann’s and Ann and I headed out to breakfast! We went to a diner down the street and it was really good. They supplied way more different kinds of beverages than necessary at one meal for me, but it was delicious. After breakfast, we headed back to take their dog, Laina, out for a walk through Central Park!

Laina is a super adorable dog, she’s a bit scared of everything, and she really wasn’t sure about me. We wandered around the park, saw a turtle, climbed some rocks, looked for fall colors (which hadn’t appeared yet), and then headed back to let me nap before heading out again. Ann and I scored tickets to a Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon taping that day, so I needed to rest up clean up a bit.

We fell asleep for a bit and then got ready and then left for NBC Studios. The process to get in is weird. You have to get in line early, but they say if you get there too early, they won’t let you in, which is not true. We got there early and there were already a lot of people in line ahead of us. If you don’t get in line early enough, you won’t get in. Anyway. We got in. We had to go through security and then we were put in the Peacock room to wait until it was time to go into the studio. The studio was freezing. Ann and I were on the outside (where you DON’T get to highfive Jimmy as he runs through the stands). We want to know how they decide who sits where, because there is a system, we just don’t understand it. I never realized how scripted these shows are until I saw the person holding all the cue cards. We got to see Michael Douglas, Kathryn Hahn, and Jenny Lewis.

After the show, we went to drop all my stuff off at my AirBnB, where I was given a tutorial on how to use the door (this tutorial was not good enough, I got stuck outside AND inside the apartment on multiple occasions). My place was nice, cute, clean, and just a tiny room in someone else’s apartment. Then we met up with Andrew for dinner at a bar and called it a night.

Day 2

Ann and I ventured over to Roosevelt Island! It was super deserted, like eerily empty. We were walking down the street and there was no one but there was the sound of a crying baby. We found some gym equipment at the park we played on for a bit and then we just walked around all over. We considered going ice skating at Rockefeller, but it wasn’t a top priority and didn’t end up happening. We made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked from Brooklyn back to Manhattan. It was insane. So many people. From the Brooklyn Bridge, I left Ann and went to meet an old friend, Karly, from jr.high. We met at The Beetle House, which is a Tim Burton themed bar, and it was super cool. We had a really good vegan dinner at a restaurant around the corner, went to another bar, and then parted ways so I could go meet Ann and Andrew for a live show of one of my favorite podcasts, Risk!. It was so good. I got to meet Kevin Allison, who is the show’s host, and he is LOVELY. 

Day 3

I was on my own! Ann and Andrew both had to work and I was so tired I didn’t leave the apartment until noon. When I did leave, I apparently looked comfortable enough that I was asked for directions 3 or 4 times. I went to meet Karly for lunch at Chelsea Market, we walked the High Line, and she gave me a tour of the Whitney, where she works. It was really, really cool to get a tour from someone who knows a lot about art. It’s much better than the headphone things you can get at most museums.

After leaving Karly, I went to The Strand, which is a big bookstore that winds for like 18 miles. It was very overwhelming and crowded, so I quickly left and headed back to the apartment to wait for Andrew and Ann to get off and go to dinner. We went to Princes Street Pizza, took our pizza to go, and walked to a park to eat it. We had ice cream at Big Gay Ice Cream and wandered around that area. I saw Cole Sprouse as I was walking, which was really, really cool, but I didn’t want to be that person and stop him. Just know that he is just as hot in person as he is on TV. We went to Washington Square Park where we walked through the super dark scary corner where people were asking us if we wanted to buy drugs. So that was fun and terrifying. We sat and looked at the big arch with all the college students for a bit and then decided to make our way home. As we were leaving, we were stopped by an animal rights activists group. It was really interesting to talk to them and it made me think more and more about the products I consume. I have already been thinking about cutting down on things, but this changed that even more.

Final day!

I met Andrew & Ann for breakfast and said goodbye to Ann, which was sad. After that, Andrew and I just lounged around and watched a lot of Schitt’s Creek. I gathered all my stuff and we went out to go visit Grand Central Station, eat a cupcake, and then I headed to the airport. It was a long flight home (JetBlue charges for blankets on their freezing cold flights) and it was great to finally make it back. 

Going to NY changed my view on it from the last time I went. I really didn’t like it the first time I was there, and while it’s still not my favorite place to visit, it’s still fun and I’m so glad I went. 

Next up: the UK!