Wednesday night Jordan and I headed off to Charlotte.
We went to The Cowfish (an AMAZING restaurant in Charlotte, you have to check it out next time you're there!) with Ash and Katie and had a great dinner and great conversation. We made it back to Ashley and Matt's house, watched Modern Family, and headed to bed since we had to be up at 4:30 am the next morning.
THURSDAY:
We woke up at 4:30... and shimmied out the door around 5:00 am. Made it to the check in at the US Air desk around 5:35 am. They told us we were 6 minutes too late to check baggage on the flight (which was supposed to board at 6:15) and that we were gonna have to wait for the 8am flight. BOO!!!!!! we were SO TIRED!! But we trekked over to our gate and painted our nails while we waited on the restaurants to open. We were starving by the time 7:00 am rolled around. We hustled over to the Sbarro where jordan had pizza for breakfast and I got nasty biscuits and gravy...from an airport sbarro (which is ITALIAN) at 7am. Desperate much?? We boarded and were on our way to NYC!
We landed in Laguardia around 10am and made it to a cab. Destination W79th and New York Avenue. (aka: Upper East Side) The blocks around where we were staying is actually the third richest neighborhood in the US. There were Range Rovers EVERYWHERE!!!! Nannys pushing more strollers than we'd seen in our lives and cute moms with yoga mats. it was beautiful weather... but everyone was wearing black?? Jordan and I were stuck out on a street corner waiting on Brantley to get there with the keys... picture this: .. two blonde girls (in a brunette town) with GIANT suitcases...vera bradley bags... a pillow...and i HAD to be wearing a bright yellow rain jacked on that morning and both wearing rainbows. I dont think New Yorkers know what Rainbows are. We stuck out like two sore thumbs! Then Brantley met us and we got to where we were staying.... w B's friend Jonathan... thank goodness he's so hospitable!! We walk into his building and come to find that it's actually being turned into a Synagogue and everyone has been evicted... except Jonathan and the super. We walk up a teeny tiny curving staircase to the 5th floor (EXHAUSTING with all that luggage, thanks brantley for the help) into a tiny tiny apartment. This is where we stayed... i sent this to my mom:
We didn't skip a beat and headed out to the street to catch a cab with Brant. We went straight to NBC Studios at Rockafellar Center to try to get Jimmy Fallon tickets... We ended up with this:
A Standby ticket. They said to come back at 3:30 pm and see if we were going to make it to taping that day. By this time we were staving and Brantley thought it would be nice to take us on a walking tour of NYC on our way to lunch. we walked a very long...long...long way. about 3 miles!!!!! To the Upper West Side where we had lunch at a lovely little sidewalk cafe of a pub. We were SO TIRED... besides getting up at 4:30 am that morning...and walking 3 miles...and only eating a nasty sbarro breakfast that morning....and sweating our butts off...and our feet bleeding with blisters... we were having fun!! Just glad to finally be there. We let Brantley know we weren't avid walkers and we were gonna need to take cabs/trains/buses from now on! here we are at lunch:
Then we parted way with Brantley (he had to get to acting class) and were on our own in the big city. We headed to Times Square and shopped for a hot minute in Forever 21, then it was time to get back to 30 Rock to see if we were gonna get to see Late Night. We walked around for what seemed like an eternity. Finally we were in line and they let us know that numbers 1-60 were getting in!! We were numbers 67 and 68! Are you kidding me?! Dang it!!! I love Jimmy Fallon!! I watch every night. Oh well, let's go take a nap before heading back out tonight! We went out to the street to get a cab and NO ONE would pick us up. It was about 5:00 (rush hour) and everyone was off duty!!! Ughhh.. At this point we were nearly in tears and Jordan was telling me here shins were breaking in half. We got one of those little bike taxis to take us as far as he could... which ended up being Madison Ave... which is the financial district. Jordan and I are sweating and crying (basically) and are sticking out like sore thumbs (AGAIN) in the midst of all the Armani Suit wearing business men on Madison Ave. FINALLY we found a cab to take us back home.... I called Mom, had a mental breakdown, then tried to get some sleep. We woke up... got ready..and met meredith in Times Square:
We walked to a place called Rudy's in Hell's Kitchen which was offering free hot dogs and $6 beer pitchers! Perfect! It was also amazing bc Justin Timberlake's restaurant was RIGHT ACROSS the street and I really wanted to see him.. I mean, IT. Here are Mim and Jordan at Rudy's w hot dogs and beer:
We got a cab home around 1am and went straight to sleep!
FRIDAY:
We slept LATE, as you can imagine. We were zonked. It was raining so we put on bummy clothes and caught the bus to the Mueseum of Natural History where our friends, Brantley and Jonathan were. We found things super cool things like a giant oyster and a replica of a blue whale:
Then we went to a place called Shake Shack in Hell's Kitchen which was like NYC's version of Fuddruckers then we shopped til we dropped. Urban Outfitters, a few weird shoe stores, Trader Joe's, American Apparel, the Apple Store, Zara, etc. Then we went a really cool movie theater in Times Square to see Bridesmaids which was HYSTERICAL. After the movie we headed down to Lower Eastside to meet Mim and her boyfriend, Enri at a quaint little Italian restaurant. We had to walk down St. Mark's street which is like the College Avenue of Clemson, in NY. Its where all the coked out NYU students are and there is just bar after bar after bar.... pencil thin college girls in solid black.. ripped panty hose, sky high heels, painted on skirts, long black hair, everywhere. And here come Jordan and I... in our jeans and old navy t-shirts with tennis shoes. YIKES!!!! We were so embarassed. But it was worth it when we finally made it to Mim. We ordered dinner (at midnight) and I swear the restaurant was as crowded as the Ale House in Greenville at 7pm on a Friday. Had the BEST PASTA i've EVER had!!! At only $9 for a giant bowl of it, it can't be beat!!!! We got Pasta Carbonara, omg. my mouth is watering as i type. We sat in once of the window seats... it was a restaurant like you'd see only in the movies. amazing. if you're ever in the east village you MUST go there!!!
We caught a cab home around 1:30 and went straight to sleep!
SATURDAY:
We woke up and got ready and headed off to the Staten Island Ferry to ride by the Statue of Liberty. It took us a while to find exactly where we were supposed to be going. We also made a pit stop at a nearby drug store and picked up some materials to make a poster for Callie's class in Australia! The Statue of Liberty to them, is like the Sydney Opera House to us. a landmark they know the US by. Here we are in the middle of the port working on the poster:
And here we are holding it in front of the Statue:
After that little venture we took it back to the "house" and got ready for a night out. We headed back out and went to Brantley's friend's improv show where we met up with my friends Hoyt and Meredith from Clemson. After the show we went to a little pub and had drinks with even more friends :) Then we went down the street and ate at Brother Jimmy's a southern type place in NYC ... with the best mac n cheese ever!! I also rekindled my love for Natty Light.. I usually dink a Blue Moon or a Shock Top so I forgot how light Natty tastes :) Heres a clan of my Clemson friends that all live in NYC now:
Also, I literally bumped into Hoyt on a street corner walking to the train one day!! CRAZY! Hoyt was one of my best guy friends in college.. I haven't seen him in 2 years, at least! He ended up hanging out with us the rest of the weekend!! Good times :) Later after Brother Jimmys we all bar hopped around and ended up at a place in the East Village called The Dark Room:
We made our way home around 2 am, got some quesadillas from the deli next to our apt then headed inside and went to bed.
SUNDAY:
We packed everything up and had it waiting at the door then headed down to Union Square to do some last minute shopping and grab brunch with our friends. We were in H&M for about 2 hours, it was awesome! Then we went and got brunch at a little place called the coffee shop bar. it was a perfect little diner style brunch restaurant with sophistication. again, i felt like i was in a movie! check it out here: http://thecoffeeshopnyc.com here are some friends at brunch:
We hustled back to the apt and got our suitcases and taxied off the the airport. no delays this time. we flew back into charlotte and drove our EXHAUSTED selves back home :)
and that, my friends, was mine and jordy's trip to new york citayyyyy! Hopefully, I will be going back with Matt this fall/winter. I've always wanted to see NYC at Christmastime and Matt's never been, I really want to go! We'll see :)
next stop Isle of Palms on Friday with Matt, Grandy & Mimi, Dad & Susie, Sam & Twila, Ashley & Matt, Tyler and his friend Ryan (wish you were here Janey!)
I <3 Summer!!
Well, well... I am SO glad you finally decided to blog again!: ) Sounds like you had a great trip! For some reason, the place you stayed picture, didn't come up on my computer :(
ReplyDeleteAnyways-Hope all is well.
Love the new blog look! :)