Matt and I drove up to Miami the night before our trip to New York, stayed at a marginal Holiday Inn Express near the airport, and then took their shuttle to MIA on Thursday morning. The fact that the hotel didn’t charge us to leave our car there for 5 nights, even though they advertised $10/day, made me a lot more willing to overlook their need for a huge upgrade.

I’d upgraded us to first class as part of Matt’s Christmas present. He unfortunately found out a couple days earlier when he opened the Delta app, but that was OK. It was THE BEST. We had a very pleasant flight into JFK.

We took the AirTrain to the Jamaica station, then took LIRR into Penn Station. The thing we’d neglected to remember about New York (having always taken a cab from the airport) is that you end up having to haul your suitcases up and down stairs a million times. Some of the stations have elevators, and some even have elevators that homeless people haven’t pissed in, but there aren’t many of them. It’s a pain, but I guess for the price difference you can’t complain too much.

We had an AirBnB on the Upper West Side, a half-block from Central Park. It was probably 300 square feet, but if it has a bed and a coffee pot, we’re happy. The owner was fantastic, too. He said we could just keep the $200 cash we’d brought for the security deposit, since we obviously weren’t going to wreck the place.

We bought 7-day transit passes; even though we were only there for five days, it was the same cost as 10 rides on the subway. We were likely to hit that number in the first two days, so that’s a pretty good bargain.

Having become very out-of-practice at winter, we were glad that temperatures in New York were going to be above freezing. I had my winter jacket, wool socks, mittens, and giant knit cowl, so I was prepared. I was also wearing non-flip-flop shoes for the first time in several months. Did you know if you don’t wear sneakers for months and then walk around a bunch, the tops of your toes get really sore? It’s true.

We hopped on the subway and rode to Bryant Square for the Christmas festival there. Besides Hamilton, the holiday-related stuff was what I was most excited to see in New York. Christmas in Key West, while fantastic, is very different.

This is the first thing we saw there. I was so excited.

For some reason, Facebook had a building there where you could try VR stuff. I don’t know.

We were hungry, so our first top was at a pretzel and hot dog stand. I got a cheddar and truffle pretzel, which was my new favorite thing ever. We walked around all the little booths set up there – the one big difference from the traditional German Christmas market is that most of them were just selling crafty/souvenir stuff, not holiday-related stuff. Which was fine, just not what I expected.

On the far size of the plaza were all the food booths. We got empanadas from one booth, and I got a tofu bao from another. (File under: things you can’t do that easily in Key West. It’s why we go to Miami a lot.) After that, we crossed the street to revisit one of our Copenhagen favorites: Joe and the Juice. We got ginger lattes, obviously. I’m sure their other stuff is good, but I don’t care. Ginger lattes.

We walked up 6th Avenue, looking at Christmas lights. Radio City’s tree was pretty spectacular. Holy crap, the crowds of tourists, though – it was hard to even cross the street, there were so many damn people standing around gawking.

Then we went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. Again, totally mobbed.

We noticed St Patrick’s Cathedral was open, so we stopped in to see that (it’s massive). Then we walked past all the giant window displays on 5th Avenue, unsure of where we wanted to go next. I was getting cold at that point, so we needed to find something soon. We decided to see if the Campbell Apartment was open at Grand Central, because we’d enjoyed it a lot last time. We walked over there, and had to figure out where it was – I knew what side of the building it was on, but had forgotten you could only get there from the outside. Thankfully, Matt remembered that part. And… it was closed. Sigh.

We sat in the lobby searching Google to see what was nearby. We wanted to get dinner at some point, and have a beer. We decided on the Ginger Man on E 36th.

We had second thoughts the second we walked in, because it was absolutely packed and really loud. However, we happened upon a small table where people were just leaving, so we grabbed that. Service was shockingly fast, too. We had a few beers and ordered dinner, which was also really good. I’m sure it’s not *that* hard to find a good bar/dinner place in Midtown, but if you don’t know the area well it feels like a challenge.

We walked back to the subway and headed home for the night. That was the first point where we realized that the usual line running past our rental didn’t run very late (I think it stopped at 11), so we were going to have to be creative and pay attention to time if we wanted to use transit to get home.

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Friday morning, while Matt was showering, I was doing some research on last minute show tickets. He’d looked on a few sites and had suggestions on options, so I decided to look into them further. We were really interested in The Great Comet (a.k.a. Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812) because we’d been listening to it a lot lately, but since it had only recently moved to Broadway and was starring Josh Groban, we figured there was no chance. I was shocked to see that there were a few tickets available on StubHub, *and* that they were selling below the face value of $75. I grabbed them up quickly.

We walked to a cute coffee shop nearby – named Joe and the Art of Coffee, not to be confused with Joe and the Juice – where we had scones and cortados. We then headed out for a pilgrimage to Hamilton Grange National Memorial in Harlem. (“It’s quiet uptown.”) We got there about 20 minutes before the tour began, so we put our names on the list and went to look around the museum. We watched a video about Hamilton’s history (which had obviously been recently re-edited to include music that sounded very familiar), and then it was time to go upstairs for the self-guided tour. The house actually reminded me of a few we’ve seen here, like Hemingway’s and the Audobon house.

From there, we headed to the East Village for lunch at Miss Lily’s 7A. We’d been to another of their outposts in NYC last time, plus the owners run our favorite dinner spot in Negril. I had a delicious vegetable roti and some of Melvin’s juice for lunch. So good.

From there, we rode over to the Union Square market to do some more Christmas shopping. They had many of the same booths as the other one, but also more Christmas-themed items. We picked up a few souvenirs there, then stopped into Flying Tiger (another Copenhagen favorite) and Eataly. We were carrying enough shopping bags at that point to warrant a trip back to the condo to drop it off, but stopped into the Belgian Beer Cafe nearby to warm up and have a drink first. As far as we could tell, the entirely of New York was out shopping and drinking at that point. Everything was mobbed.

On the way back, we stopped at Bryant Park to do some shopping at Muji and pick up our tickets at the StubHub office nearby. It was in the basement of a hotel, and seemed pretty shady, but apparently it’s totally legit.

From there, we headed back to the condo to change clothes. Then we went back out, this time to the Port Authority Bus Terminal stop, nearest the Imperial Theater. Since we didn’t have a ton of spare time, we decided to try to get into Beer Authority for dinner. It seemed kind of chain-ey (as expected, being so near Times Square), but the food was good and so was the beer selection. Plus they were quick!

From there, we walked over to the theater and joined the crowds pouring in. Our seats were a few rows up in the mezzanine, with a great view and little tables separating all the seats. There was a narrow stage behind our row, which the usher told everyone to not touch under any circumstances. The stage was set up in such a way that I thought there was a mirror on the back reflecting the orchestra section, because there were people seated there, coming in from the hallway. But no – we finally realized they did actually have seating all over the stage, some of it on couches and at tables. It was kind of amazing.

Then the show started, and from the first instant it was incredible. The actors were all over the theatre, dancing in the aisles and even on the stage behind us. It was a huge crew, and loud and energetic. I loved it. During the entire show, the actors would go in and out of the audience sitting on stage, joining them at their tables or couches. It was the some of the most interesting staging I’ve ever seen.

They passed out these shaker eggs to the audience for participation. We grabbed some that people left behind on the way out.

We rode the train back up to our neighborhood and headed down to Amsterdam Avenue, where the owner said there were a bunch of good bars. We decided on the least-crowded of the ones we saw (which was *still* pretty crowded), George Keeley. We had to stand for a while, but then a small table opened and we could hang out. We stayed there for a few rounds and then walked back to the condo.

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Saturday morning, we got up and put on our cold-weather gear to go have brunch in Brooklyn. I was glad I kept my Smartwool socks after the move.

It took a while to get there on the train, but we finally made it to Mile End Delicatessen. We had to wait about 10 minutes, and share a table with some people who didn’t seem to want to talk to each other. But the food was great.

From there, we walked to the New York Transit Museum. It’s in an actual subway station! They had a ton of old subway cars from over the years sitting on the rails. All of them had original ads, which was really entertaining.

Not that much has actually changed in subway design over the years. The main difference is whether the seats are along the outer walls with a lot more standing room, or perpendicular.

Their exhibits about disaster mitigation and response were the most fascinating and terrifying. There was a big section on 9-11, and another one on Hurricane Sandy. Oh, and their store was pretty great too.

We had planned on stopped at Brooklyn Brewery, but Google thought it would take at least half an hour on transit, not to mention another 45 minutes or so back to the condo. Since we had tickets to Hamilton that night, we didn’t want to risk it. We decided to return to Manhattan and go back to Chelsea Market instead. Unfortunately, everyone in NYC had the same exact idea.

The important thing, though, is that there was vegan currywurst. It was legitimately spicy, too! I loved it. Just like Berlin.

I didn’t have much patience for too much shopping in such gigantic crowds, but we did wander through a few places. I got a couple Christmas gifts, plus this awesome ring for myself.

Then it was time to head back to the condo to drop our stuff off and changed. We got to Central Park right before (the very, very early – like 4:30pm early) sunset.

Then we headed back out, and rode down to the Port Authority station again. We walked to Gotham West Market, because we obviously needed Ivan Ramen for dinner. This was their miso-butter mazeman ramen. So good.

After dinner, we had more time to kill, so we stopped in at another spot we’d visited on our last visit to a Broadway show: the Pony Bar. It was a much less crowded and more pleasant experience than last time, too. (Even though it always means I get Pony stuck in my head for a week.)

And then, it was TIME. I’d purchased tickets to Hamilton almost a year prior in an American Express presale, so we’d been waiting for this forever.

We were directed up to our seats, which just happened to be the third row from the top, up three flights of very steep stairs. Of course the second we got up there we realized that there were no restrooms on that level, so I asked and was informed that they were in the basement of the theater.

Sigh.

We climbed all the way back down the stairs, and then had to climb four steep sets of stairs back up to our seats. But we were finally going to see Hamilton.

Matt and I had placed bets on how many times I would cry during the show. I’d listed off the songs and decided it would be four times. Matt took the over, and he was right. I’m pretty sure I cried eight times, including the entirety of Wait For It, and the last two songs plus the standing ovation. It was incredible.

We’d seen performances of the first two songs on TV before, and I’m really glad we hadn’t had the opportunity to watch the whole show that way. Those pieces were good, but didn’t have anywhere near the impact of seeing the rest of the staging for the first time. I loved it so much.

I made the mistake of not using the bathroom again at intermission or after the show, so by the time we reached 7th Avenue I realized I wasn’t going to make it back to the condo without stopping. We looking into a few bars along the way, all of which seemed clubby, packed, and awful. We finally found one called Smith’s Bar (I only learned this now, when Google informed me) that wasn’t as full, and had hilarious 2000s hiphop playing. Of course the bathroom was closed for cleaning when I got there, but it was available within 10 minutes. I had to buy Matt a beer to settle our bet about the crying, too.

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Sunday morning, it was cold and we needed some indoor time. We decided to go to MOMA, after a stop at a bakery near our condo.

It’s always exciting to see a Picasso in person.

Not art, but people sitting in the lobby looking at their phones.

They had a Russian constructivist art exhibit, too, which is my absolute favorite. I’d written a bunch of papers on this style in college.

It’s so calming and authoritarian.

Also, constructivist dishes! So ugly!

We saw a lot of really great stuff at MOMA (and I feel like we managed to cover the majority of the exhibits, even though we were only there for a few hours). We also had a delicious lunch in the cafe. However, this is the best thing I saw there: this guy’s jacket.

We left there about 4pm and headed back to the condo to change clothes again for our 6pm dinner reservation. It was by far the coldest it had been (about 30 degress), and they were predicting snow. Since I’d be in a dress and open shoes, we agreed that a cab was in order.

We changed and walked over to Central Park. It took approximately 10 seconds to get a cab from there. It was 5:15, and we figured we’d have plenty of time to arrive for our 6pm dinner reservation. After it took 25 minutes just to cross Central Park, though, we were starting to worry.

However, the rest of the ride was faster, even though the snow had begun. We arrived at Gramercy Tavern at 5:50, and our table was ready promptly at 6.

We both had the seasonal tasting menu; mine was vegetarian and Matt’s wasn’t. He got the wine pairing, too. I had to screenshot the menu so we’d remember it forever!

(That’s the squid-ink pasta.) Here’s Matt being super-classy; I mostly took this so we’d have a shot of the lady in the portrait who looks like her hair is a couch.

Post-dinner (over two hours later!), we walked around the corner for cocktails at Dear Irving. It was a cozy little bar with a nice menu, and more importantly, it was the second place we’d been that evening that had not been so packed-full that it was standing room only. (Matt says I complained about this enough that it means I’ve already gotten used to living in a small town. I complain when Duval Street is a packed-full disaster too!)

Since we had to get up early the next morning, we headed back to the subway afterwards and were at the condo by 11pm to finish packing.

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The next morning was a nightmare of hauling luggage up and down subway stairways and trying to pull bags onto subway cars so packed that nobody could breathe. It was pretty awful til about halfway to Jamaica station, and then we could sit down and ride to the AirTrain and JFK in comfort. We had easy check-in and security, got some breakfast and coffee, and boarded in the first class cabin for our flight back to Miami.

I watched the documentary The Last Man on the Moon and cried a bunch while knitting. We had a really good lunch, and were arriving in Miami before we knew it. It helped that our plane was the size of South Florida, I guess.

We grabbed our bags and got the shuttle to the hotel in Miami, and were quickly on our way back to the Keys to pick up our favorite parrot and be home in time for dinner.

We got up bright and early Thursday morning, met Wendy and Amelia standing on the curb outside our house, and headed over to Matt’s building to park. His office had moved just that week, and they’re just a mile or so from Terminal 2 now. They allow staff to leave their cars in the ramp, so that’s super-convenient for us. We rolled our bags a block over to the train station on 34th Avenue, hopped on the train, and got off at Terminal 2.

Unlike our last visit to the lesser terminal, they now had Pre-Check. We were through instantly, and had to wait not for the expected delay (Amelia being pregnant, and therefore needing the patdown instead of the scanner), but Wendy being searched for some stupid TSA-paranoid reason. Of course.

This was to be our first flight on Southwest Airlines. For some reason, it costs approximately one billion dollars to fly to New York in the summer, and Southwest ended up being only a little less than a million. Plus it’s really nice that they have free checked bags, even though we were carrying-on on the way there.

The one thing I was wary of was the bus-style boarding, where you’re assigned a line position and then just pick whatever seat you want. That’s great if you’re at the front, of course, but your line spot depends on when you check in. Since I’d recently acquired the SWA credit card, we decided to use the Early Bird credit ($50) to buy early boarding access. That guaranteed we’d be in the “A” boarding group.

Matt and I got A34-35, and our friends were at the front of the B group. (There are 60 spots in each group.) We ended up in the only 2-seat row on the plane, in the exit row section. I decided just based on that that the pre-boarding fee was probably worth it.

Another downside to SWA is you have to have a layover, and in most cases for us that’ll be in Chicago. BUT! It’s Midway instead of O’Hare, so you don’t feel obligated to blow up the airport in rage. We had a nearly 2-hour layover, so we headed to Harry Caray’s for lunch. The food was pretty good, and our server was really funny and also REALLY slow. Once we got our checks paid, it was time to board.

Matt and I had to settle for a regular row this time, which was fine. We were still near the front. I discovered that the in-flight magazine has dollar-bill origami lessons, too! Here’s my pretty sad attempt at a $20 alligator. It was really close until the end.

We had spectacular views of the city coming into LaGuardia. We had to make a huge circle to approach from the north, but it meant we got a great tour from above.

We landed a little before five, and immediately upon exiting the plane I understood why people avoid LGA. (I’ve only flown into JFK and Newark.) It’s tiny, cramped, and looks a lot like a prison. The baggage area is gated off like a cattle pen, and smells bad. I was happy when our friends got their bag so we could leave.

We headed to the taxi line, and the lady there called for a bus (!!) because there were five of us. Someone radioed back to say they were out of buses, so we had to split up. Wendy and Amelia took the first one, and Matt and Jumi and I got the second. Sadly, we missed a prime opportunity to yell, “Follow that cab!!” SIGH.

We sat in traffic most of the way through Queens, the tunnel, and into Manhattan. Our driver asked if it’d be alright if he dropped us off down the block from our hotel (on 44th and 6th), because otherwise he’d have to go around several blocks on one-ways and around Times Square to be able to drop us off in front of the hotel, and estimated that’d take another 25 minutes. We were very happy to be let out down the block and cut some time off the journey.

We rolled over to the Millennium Broadway, noting that it was on the very same block as the Belasco Theater, which was the reason we were in New York in the first place: while I was researching tickets for the Book of Mormon in Minneapolis, I saw an ad for Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Neil Patrick Harris. I mentioned reaaaaally wanting to see that on Facebook, and the New York trip was born!

At the front desk, the three of us were told that our reservations were actually at their sister property, the Premier Hotel next door. The lobbies are connected by a walkway through a theatre lobby, which appeared to never be in use. I was a little disappointed to not stay at what I assumed would be the super-fancy hotel, but the lobby of the Premier was promising: it was way more modern, and the lady working there was really nice.

We were extremely happy with our rooms, too. They were big, with a really comfortable bed and giant bathroom with a tub and shower stall. It was definitely the more business-oriented hotel, which was fine since that almost meant recently-renovated. Even Bally had a spotlight to hang out in.

I texted Wendy to let her know our room number, which was conveniently next to Jumi’s. I heard back from her after a while, and they were still in their taxi. Apparently their driver wasn’t quite as efficiency-minded as ours, and went all the way around Times Square. We headed down to the mezzanine for another awesome hotel amentity: their daily happy hour. They had appetizers and free beer and wine daily from 5-7pm, and free breakfast in the morning. Their espresso machine was available all day, too! (The free beer options weren’t great, but they were free.)

Wendy finally texted that they were settled in, so we went to find them. Unlike us, they actually did have rooms in the Millennium. Their room looked out onto 44th street, and they had an amazing view of the Chrysler building on one end, and parts of Times Square on the other. But the room was nowhere as nice as those at the Premier, so it balanced out. (We saw an office building from our windows.)

It was after 7:30 by the time we left the hotel, so we were getting hungry. We’d decided to walk over to Gotham West Market, because there were several restaurants to choose from, and it was a little less than a mile away.  To get there, we had to walk through Times Square. It was the first of many, many times we’d have to pass through that mess. (It’s always fun to see it the first time!)

Gotham West Market reminded me of the Ferry Building in San Francisco, but I liked it better. Possibly I was just really hungry. It was pretty crowded when we arrived, so I wasn’t quite sure where we were going to find a seat. Down at the end of the building, we found Ivan Ramen. They had vegetarian ramen, and I was so excited about that that I figured I could just stand and eat it if necessary.

By the time our food came out, we’d found a table for the five of us to cram into. Matt, Jumi and I had ramen, and Wendy and Amelia got burgers from the shop next door. Matt got us Negronis from the tapas place nearby, too. Because, you know, Negronis and ramen. Why not.

There was a roasted tomato in my ramen… just one lone tomato… but it was seriously one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Amazing.

After everyone had finished eating, we started looking at the tapas menu on the table. Ramen, burgers, Negronis, tapas, and really expensive beer for dinner? WHY NOT.

It was all delicious. The patatas bravas were even better than the ones we’d had in Barcelona. Matt also had an order of crispy whitefish, which Wendy was loudly announcing as Crispy Whities while we ate.

After that, we decided we weren’t up for riding the subway around to find a bar to hang out in, and instead wanted to find something between there and our hotel. Conveniently, there happened to be a tiki-themed bar right on our way! We headed over there, and went downstairs to find the Reunion Surf Bar (named after the island) in a Hell’s Kitchen basement.

The place looked like a more casual version of Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago, and we didn’t have to wait in line to get in. They set us up at a long, narrow table on bar stools, and we ordered drinks. Amelia, aka the pregnant one, ordered an ice cream sandwich that came between two giant cookies. Awesome.

Their drinks were good, and the music was entertaining. Wendy and Amelia left after a round, and we hung out for another one. Then we decided to head back to the hotel, where Jumi said good night and Matt and I decided to see what was going on across the street. We ended up at the Long Room around 12:30am. The place was started to wind down, which surprised me a little since I knew it was open til at least 2am (possibly even 4), it’s a half-block from Times Square, and it was Thursday night. Our bartender got us drinks, then sat down at the bar himself to drink. He didn’t show up again, but another guy got us refills and then disappeared. We finally gave up on trying to get a check, and left $40 on the bar so we could go to bed.

Friday morning, we got up and walked down a block to a coffee shop called Gregory’s that had really strong cortados. Add that to the list of reasons why New York is awesome.

Here’s the Belasco! We’d be seeing it later.

Gregory’s was across the street from the Algonquin, so we made a note to go back there later.

We walked back over to Times Square, headed to the Subway. Bally stopped to see things there.

At the subway station, we all bought $30 passes that were good for unlimited rides for a week. (The lesser option was only good for 12 rides, and we knew we’d use them much more than that.) I was impressed that New York’s subway passes were cheaper than Chicago’s.

We rode over to Brooklyn, and got off the train to find this amazing building. It has text painted all over it. I love it.

Also, this was everyone’s first visit to Brooklyn! I’d only ever visited Manhattan before.

We walked a half-mile or so to a deli Matt had read about. Everyone wanted to do the pastrami-sammich thing in New York, and the Mile End Deli came highly recommended. It was a tiny place, so we had to wait a short while for a table. Matt and I walked over to a really cute garden store next door, where I wanted to buy everything. (Unfortunately, it was all oversized for a carry-on, and/or breakable.)

We got a table, and ordered brunch/lunch and beer. They all got smoked meat poutine as an appetizer, and I had a pickled slaw. Matt got a pastrami sandwich, and I had a falafel that was big enough to be two meals. Before we left, I went to the bathroom and found it lined in Montreal Canadiens photos. I’m not entire sure what the Quebec connection is, but it was funny (and meant they had great smoked meat, I hear.)

We walked back to the train and continued on to the end of the line at Coney Island.

I’ve obviously never been to Coney Island before, but I was really excited to see it. Having been in Atlantic City, I was expecting something on that order, pretty trashy and amusing. Coney Island seemed way more awesome, though, and legitimately entertaining. Plus it was a really nice day, and not at all crowded there.

I kind of wanted to go on the Wonder Wheel. Next time!

The boardwalk is in surprisingly good shape compared to AC. I kind of like how it’s at beach level, and the sand blows up onto it.

Why haven’t they reopened the Parachute Jumper? I’d go on it.

BEACH!

We went down to the water, because Amelia had never been in the ocean before. It’s too bad the water was so cold, but it’s a really nice beach regardless. Bally agrees.

These guys were hungry. They think they’re in charge.

We sat on the beach for a while, then decided to head back up the boardwalk. I still can’t believe it was so quiet there!

We tried to find a table at the one boardwalk restaurant so we could have a margarita, but it was full. Some of the group got America: The Ice Cream instead.

From there, we went up a block to the original Nathan’s. It has a countdown to the next hot dog eating contest, and a wall of fame. (I gag every time I have to see the hot dog eating contest.) Matt and I checked out some awesome shops along the way, and then the group had to pick up a few hot dogs to try out, even though none of us was really that hungry. Wendy and Matt discovered that Nathan’s orange drink is basically a vat of Tang.

Amelia, Jumi, and Wendy wanted to go to the Coney Island freak show, and I wasn’t super-interested in it since we’d seen the one at Venice Beach. Conveniently, the museum building that houses the freak show has a bar with a great beer selection. Matt and I sat down there to wait while they went into the show.

The freak show went on a lot longer than we expected, especially since the Venice one is maybe 20 minutes long. We had three beers while we waited, and I began to wonder if our friends had been murdered. Especially when the performers who were in the freak show started coming up to hang out at the bar.

(Coney Island USA is awesome, we learned. They have performances almost every night, things like movies on the beach and burlesque shows. Really great.)

Finally, they appeared from somewhere inside the depths of the building. Apparently the show runs on a loop, so they saw the last half and then waited through intermission to catch the first part. They grabbed a drink, too, and we heard all about the show. We also paid a dollar to see a chupacabra skeleton in a dark room, because why not?

Then it was time for food. We debated riding back into Manhattan, and then decided we were too hungry. I looked up what was good nearby, and found a listing for Totonno’s Pizza, which was rated one of the top ten pizzas in New York. It was only about a half-mile away, so that was our decision.

We walked in and were greeted by the Most Awesomely Italian Lady of all time, who was apparently one of the owners. We got a booth, and ordered drinks from the cooler. Then we ordered pizzas (we weren’t THAT hungry, so we got two mediums), and then the owner came rushing up to us holding a bottle of Prosecco. They were celebrating their 90th anniversary, and she pointed out the photo of grandpa Totonno on the wall, announcing that he was the one who introduced pizza to America.

Matt popped open the bottle, and we all had a toast with her. Our pizzas arrived shortly afterward, and they were enormous. Suddenly we were a lot hungrier, and dove into the pizzas. They were spectacular.

On the way out, the owner thanked us for coming, and walked us out. Then she yelled, “I forgot the cookies!” and ran back inside to make us a plate of cookies to go. We all wanted to hug her. We got a huge group photo with her and her husband outside the restaurant, and then headed back in the direction of the train.

We hopped off near the Battery, and walked over to see the 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center. A lot of the area is still under construction, but we found our way there eventually.

We agreed that the memorial was appropriately somber. It’s hard to get a sense of the scale.

We said goodbye to Wendy and Amelia, who were heading back toward our hotel for the night, or possibly meeting us for dinner should the opportunity present itself. Matt and Jumi and I headed down toward the Battery to find an awesome cocktail bar. On the way, we had a good laugh over the Bitcoin center, and the man running to get in as they were locking the doors. BITCOIN EMERGENCY!

We found Dead Rabbit on a historic block very near the Staten Island Ferry building. It was close to 9pm and there was a crowd near the door. I asked about the cocktail bar upstairs, and the doorman said it’d be about a 45 minute wait. Since they had a pub downstairs (which also had a good cocktail menu), we decided to hang out and wait.

Somehow we managed to find the only open spots in the bar, at a table right against the front window. Matt’s doppelganger’s picture was hanging on the wall above us.

We ordered a round and hung out talking, taking turns fighting out way through the crowds to get to the restroom. Our buzzer went off after only about half an hour, so we closed the tab and headed upstairs.

The place was worth waiting even longer for. It was a small room with couches around the outside and little tables. They had as many people in there as possible, but it didn’t really feel crowded. The cocktail menu was an entire book, and our server instructed us to review the story, choose the phase of the main character’s life that we felt best fit our mood that night, and choose from that section of the menu. There was a lot to choose from.

As expected, the drinks were amazing. We ordered some snacks, including a cheese plate that had a cheese so strong even I couldn’t handle it (that has never happened to me before!). We decided it tasted like dead bodies. (Don’t worry, everything else was excellent.) Also, there was an old guy at a piano playing ragtime. I’m pretty sure Matt wanted to live there.

We decided to head out about 11:30, before we had to take out a loan to pay our tab. We walked down to the subway station by the Staten Island Ferry building. I love this neon!

It was a good thing we’d left when we did, because one of the trains we tried to catch had just stopped running for the night. Conveniently, there was another option waiting to leave, so we jumped on that instead. None of us had really bothered researching how late the trains ran, so I guess we were lucky.

We rode back, slogged our way through Times Square, and decided to stop into The Long Room to get something else to eat. Our experience was much better this time, with an attentive server and surprisingly good food. After a couple drinks there, it was 1am and time for bed.

Saturday morning, we had BIG PLANS involving brunch on a boat. We took the train down to Chelsea, and walked the mile or so to the piers. (Why doesn’t the subway go any nearer? It’s kind of strange.)

We checked in for our boat cruise with Classic Harbor Lines, where we were sailing on the Yacht Manhattan. Apparently you can only take small boats on a circumnavigation of Manhattan, because some of the bridges are so low.

We grabbed some brunch and our complimentary champagne and headed out onto the deck. We were leaving Chelsea Piers, and heading south on the Hudson River.

We sailed past the Battery, and on toward Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

That line around the Statue of Liberty doesn’t look that fun! Having been to Liberty Island before, I was very happy just passing on our boat.

We turned around past the Statue of Liberty and headed up the other side of Manhattan on the East River. The sun came out in time to light up the Brooklyn Bridge.

This photo is called “The Gang Goes to New York.” I love it. (That’s Wendy, Matt – my husband, of course, Amelia – Wendy’s wife, and Jumi.)

We passed under the series of famous bridges on the East River, enjoying further brunch and some Brooklyn Brewery beers along the way. The weather was perfect.

Near the north end of Manhattan, the river starts to narrow quite a bit. We took the west channel on the East River, and then followed the Harlem River further north. It started to look like there was actual wilderness on the island of Manhattan, which was surprising.

I really liked this little boathouse, and apparently that’s the Cloister in the distance.

Bally is a worthy seaman.

Those Columbia kids are showoffs.

 

We reached the confluence (or the division?) of the Harlem and Hudson Rivers under the Spuyton-Duyvil Bridge. (Best name ever?) There was a tiny rotating train bridge just past it. The Hudson River is huge at this point… it almost looks like a lake.

Any day Matt’s on a boat is his favorite day. We try to do that as often as possible.

The boat headed back down the Hudson and docked back at Chelsea Piers. The tour was about 3 hours in total, and I would surely recommend it. We considered just stowing away so we could go again.

Instead we had to disembark, so we walked over toward the north end of the High Line. Did I mention that the weather was perfect?

I think my favorite part of the High Line was that it was enclosed in so much greenery. You had hardly any sense of being in a huge city. Or above it.

I was a little surprised that there weren’t many businesses with entrances right off the High Line. Living in Minneapolis, I’m used to all the stores and restaurants that open onto the skyway. From what I could tell, you had to go back down to street level to get into businesses

There were viewing platforms in a few spots. The idea of sitting and watching traffic seems pretty entertaining. (How much does that street look like Chicago?)

The end of the High Line (for now – it’s being extended) is at Chelsea Market. We’d passed it on the way to the boat, and I knew I had to go back there. A few of us stopped to get popsicles on the High Line, and then we headed down to street level.

Chelsea Market was amazing. We stopped into an Italian market, an Asian market, got excellent coffee at a coffeeshop, bought bitters and a bunch of treats at another shop, and gawked at produce you cannot get in the Midwest (fresh dates?!?). I wanted to shop there much longer, but everyone else seemed to have moved on. I met them outside, and we headed to the subway.

We rode to Soho, and emerged into ridiculous midday traffic. We stopped into a Japanese market, and I ended up buying art from a guy selling caricatures of art dealers made with fabric and paint on the street. Then we headed to Purl Soho, the super-famous yarn store that Jumi had reminded me was there. I spent too much money there, but at least I didn’t have to have things shipped back home like she did!

While waiting for her to finish up, Matt and I went across the street to the Kate Spade store. Shockingly, I did not emerge with a purse.

It was then time for a snack and a beverage, so Matt led us to Miss Lily’s, a Jamaican restaurant/record store/radio station/juice bar on Houston. We walked in, and it was like being in Jamaica, only indoors. (One of the owners also runs the Rockhouse in Negril, which is incredible.)

We grabbed seats at the bar, and ordered rum punch. They didn’t have a full liquor license, so it was made with sake, but it tasted exactly like rum punch. A couple of us got meals, and I got an order of festival. (Fun fact: festival is named festival because the guy who invented it thought it was really nice, and wanted to name it after something else nice. Like a festival! No, I’m serious.) Matt and I were beyond thrilled with the whole place.

The rest of our crew decided to head back to the hotel for a siesta, so we made plans to meet up there before the show. Matt and I stayed at Miss Lily’s for another drink, and then crossed the street over to Pegu Club, timing it so we arrived just as it opened. We had a schedule to keep, after all.

We were the first ones there, in the bar that’s up a flight of stairs and so calming that it was very easy to forget the bustle outside. We grabbed seats at the bar and ordered cocktails from the very formal bartender. He became friendlier after another round, and we got some advice from him on the places where bartenders like to hang out in Manhattan. If only we had time to visit all of them!

Then it was time to head out for the show. We hurried to the subway and rode back to Times Square. We walked to the hotel and changed our grungy clothes for fancy ones, then headed down to the mezzanine to meet with the rest of the group, since they were enjoying mezzanine happy hour. From there we only had to walk two doors down to the Belasco Theatre. It was time for Hedwig and the Angry Inch!!

There was a huge crowd pushing into the lobby. We went upstairs, and got in the bar line to get drinks. Two cocktails (in plastic sippy cups) and a bottle of water? $30!

We got to our seats in the second row of the center balcony (thanks, American Express presale!), and the lights went down shortly thereafter. And then Neil Patrick Harris was onstage as Hedwig, and it was AMAZING. Even better than I’d hoped for. I knew all the words, and I wanted it to go on forever. (There was another show that night. I could’ve stayed.)

I think I left the show glowing. Oh, and I picked up the best souvenir ever: the Hedwig makeup towel!

We stopped back at the hotel quickly, and decided to meet back up again across the street at a place that had intrigued us since the first moment we saw it (i.e. the moment we left the hotel the first night): Jimmy’s Corner. First, because it looked super-shady and potentially divey, and second, because it was in the middle of the block and not on the corner at all.

Jimmy’s Corner did not disappoint. It’s a very narrow room, with a long bar and a small elevated room in the back. The bar was full, so I led Matt and Jumi toward the back. I got to the stairs and looked up to find a whole pack of bros sitting back there, so I elected to grab a spot along the wall instead. Nobody needs to be dealing with Times Square bros sober, after all.

We made friends with the people sitting at the bar in front of us, who were doing Fireball shots. One of the guys explained that the owner was Jimmy Glen, a storied boxing trainer. There were pictures of him with basically every famous boxer all over the bar, and also one of Michael Jackson making fists like he could possibly punch someone. That explained the ‘Corner’ part of the name, too.

(That’s one of our pals being really excited to photobomb.)

Here’s blurry Michael Jackson:

The drinks were Wisconsin-strong, and the place was raucous and entertaining. Wendy and Amelia arrived, and when a man came up to chat up Jumi and I (he mis-heard her name as Julie and she didn’t correct him) way too enthusiastically, we decided it was time to move on.

We headed west through Times Square (ugh) and down a few more blocks to Marseille for dinner. Since it was 10:15, a table for five wasn’t a problem. Their food was pretty good, though not spectacular. We ate, had a couple cocktails, and then it was time to move on. Wendy and Amelia headed home for the night, and Jumi and Matt and I walked further west to a recommended beer bar nearby called the Pony. (Which meant Ginuwine was stuck in my head for hours.)

The beer selection was indeed really good, but the crowd was bro-ey. That’s pretty unsurprising for beer bars, though. We had to stand for a while, and then got seats at the bar when some people headed out. We had a couple rounds there, and then it was 1am and time to head back and sleep.

Matt and I got up Sunday morning and took the subway down to Madison Square Park, where we found the Flatiron Building waiting for us.

We arrived just as Eataly opened, and it was strange to see the store nearly empty. We wandered aimlessly for a while, since Wendy and Amelia were coming down to join us at some point. We decided to wait to shop since it sounded like they’d be a while, and headed back to the subway instead. We figured we could ride down and see the West 4th Street Courts, and then come back and meet them.

We went down the stairs, scanned our passes in the gates, and then realized the trains there were headed the wrong direction. We went back upstairs, crossed the street, and went down the stairs on the other side. That’s when we learned that if you scan your pass more often than every 18 minutes, it won’t let you use it. Which is REALLY DUMB.

Rather than wait around for 18 minutes, we went back over to Eataly. The Marimekko store next door had just opened, so we went in there and I bought my required purse, plus a few other things. Then we went to Eataly and picked out our picnic food, wandered aimessly, gawked at the produce, and searched in vain for a bottle opener for the beer we were buying.

Wendy and Amelia still hadn’t arrived, so we walked over to a Walgreens and 7-11 in search of a bottle opener. Neither of them had them, which was really strange. We decided to go sit at the park across the street and wait.

We sat there watching a running class in progress, people sprinting around the park and being encouraged by way-too-enthusiastic trainers. We also watched people getting sandwiches at Shake Shack, and I was a little sad we weren’t in need of a meal. We finally heard from Wendy and Amelia, having arrived to do their shopping. We met them outside the store and walked to the subway, where we were permitted to use our passes again. Oh, and we found a liquor store along the way, so we were finally able to obtain the bottle opener we needed.

We rode up to Central Park, and walked in a ways to find a spot for a picnic. The weather was perfect, and we picked a spot on a hillside overlooking the amusement park. Our picnic consisted of fig bread, cheese, fruit, and beer. Delicious.

We said bye to Wendy and Amelia and walked up the west side of Central Park to the subway station at the Dakota. We hopped on the train and rode back to the hotel, where we dropped off my gigantic Marimekko bag (which I’d gotten pretty tired of carrying around). Since we had a long walk ahead of us that evening, we decided to change and wander over to the Algonquin to have a drink in their super-famous lobby bar.

The place was quiet and comfortable, and the servers all seemed to be old guys. There’s a cat named Matilda who lives in the lobby, and the front desk staff was hauling her out from behind the counter and putting her on the desk for people to see. Matilda did not seem thrilled about it.

Post-drinks, we walked to the train and rode over to Chelsea. It was another long walk from there to the McKittrick Hotel, where we had tickets for Sleep No More at 6pm. It was a little after 5pm, so we rode up to the rooftop bar, called Gallow Green. We got cocktails, and found a table under an arbor. The rooftop was really pretty and the weather was still glorious, so we wished we had longer to hang out there.

Jumi came up to join us after a bit (she’d been wandering doing nerdy things all day), and then it was time to head into the show. We rode back downstairs and waited in line to get into the hotel. (The ‘hotel’ is actually a set of three warehouses they converted for the show.) We headed inside, and were instructed to leave everything at the coat check – purses, phones, and everything. Matt brought cash for the bar, and that was about it.

From the moment we walked in, everything was dimly-lit. The check-in desk handed each of us a playing card for the show. Matt and I had 7s, and Jumi got a 6. A lady punched a hole in our cards, put her finger to her mouth and whispered, “Shhhhh!”, and pointed us up the stairs. We headed up into complete darkness, through a series of winding hallways. I couldn’t see anything, and clung to Matt’s shirt lest we get separated.

We finally emerged into a parlor area that was entirely red velvet. There were small tables around a stage, bartenders pouring champagne drinks, and a very unusual lady doing spoken-word bits on stage. We got drinks and a table, and figured out what was going on; they were staging people for entrance by number, according to the cards you were holding. We hung out for a while, and then they called our group.

We were all handed Venetian-carnival-style masks to put on. They were hard white plastic with huge pointy birdlike noses. It was hella creepy seeing crowds of people wearing them. We piled into an elevator with about 15 other people, and the guy running the elevator explained how it worked: you were free to wander wherever you wanted, and they encouraged you to pick an actor or group of actors and follow them around to watch the story unfold. We were also supposed to investigate everything that we found along the way, but we were not supposed to talk to each other; they encouraged us to separate so we could all experience it individually. The elevator stopped on a top floor, and the door opened and one person walked out. The guy running the elevator quickly slammed the door behind them, and we rode to another level. Suddenly I did become kind of nervous about losing Matt and Jumi, because I had no intention of wandering around there by myself.

We got out on the third floor, and decided to go up a level rather than following the crowd into the building. We found that floor mostly empty, and the first room we entered looked like a creepy hospital room, lined with cots. The room was super-dark, so we had to use the tiny lamps to read all the crazy handwritten medical charts we found on all the walls and tables. There was an outline of a person on one of the cots that appeared at first to be made of stones, but it was actually potatoes. I DON’T KNOW.

One of the next rooms was even darker, and it was a graveyard. There were tombstones and piles of dirt everywhere. Then there was a room of bathtubs, and a forest maze that I was pretty sure we’d end up trapped in. In one corner there was a hut made of twigs, and a pair of actors came rushing past and ran inside. We tried to open the door to follow them in, but one of the guides gestured to discourage us. Instead we went around the side of the hut and peered through cracks in the walls to watch them. There’s something about the show that turns you into a really creepy voyeur.

After being thoroughly freaked out by that whole thing, we went down to the third floor. There was a series of bedrooms and parlors there, and they all smelled strongly of mothballs. We rifled through drawers and looked at photos. The drawers contained things like bird feathers, stones, notes, and jewelry. Then we wandered into what appeared to be a battlefield, with falling-down walls, broken statues and crumbling foundations laid out like a maze. That room led into a bedroom with a bathtub right in the middle of it, and that’s where we found Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. He was naked in the tub, washing off blood. They didn’t really speak so much as shout meaningless words, gesticulate, and rush around in a dancelike, incredibly gymnastic way. They were fighting, lifting each other up, walking on the walls, and doing flips and jumps all over the room.

There was a large crowd standing around watching them, and we’d all have to shift around as they rushed around the room. Seeing this crowd of blank-masked people standing in a tight circle and staring was really incredibly creepy. There were windows into the room from the battlefield area with cloudy, broken glass, and you could see masks peering in from there, too. The crowd was entirely silent, occasionally gesturing at each other when they were ready to move on.

Macbeth eventually went tearing out of the room, and a large group went running after him. We decided to hang back a little and went downstairs. There we found a village full of shops and offices, and several actors wandering in and out. There was a tailor, a doctor, a taxidermist, a candy shop, a detective office, and a few other things. We watched some of the actors fighting in the hallway (I think one of them was MacDuff, but it was hard to keep track of who was who), and one of them walked across the ceiling supported by the other actor. It was kind of amazing.

As we squeezed down a dark hallway, a couple other actors came tearing past and went into the little room we were about to enter. A bunch of people followed them in, and Matt walked through the door. I was about to go in when one of the actors pushed me back (he was soaking wet, by the way) and slammed the door. Jumi and I just stared at each other, shocked. I was pretty sure my husband was going to be murdered by Macbeth.

We lingered around outside the door for a while, and finally it opened and he escaped. They’d apparently been having some kind of interrogation in there, and he was part of a small crowd that got to witness it.

At one point we were in the taxidermists’ office poking around at stuff on a desk, when suddenly an actor came running in followed by a crowd who crammed into the room. I ended up stuck directly next to his desk, where I had to watch him flop a raven on his table and start stabbing it with pins. I know it was fake, but holy crap. I was so happy to escape after that.

After wandering around that level for a while, we headed downstairs. It had been a couple hours, and people seemed to be moving toward the ballroom on the lower level. A bunch of actors were dancing in there, so we watched that and then went to look around the fake hotel lobby and restaurant (which had a ton of silverware glued into crosses lining the walls… it was pretty awesome). We circled around there for a while, and started to realize that we’d basically seen everything. (We learned later that that wasn’t even close to true – we’d missed an entire level with naked witches dancing, and a bar – but it still felt that way.) We kept going down stairways and passages and ending up in the same place, so I was wondering how the hell we were even supposed to get out of there when we were done. Suddenly there was a lot of movement from the actors, so we picked one and joined the crowd that was tailing him around the building. He ran down the stairs into the ballroom, and as we emerged there we realized that the vast majority of the spectators in the building were there too.

People kept entering the room, and the actors got up on the stage for the final scene. I couldn’t get over how remarkable it was that they’d managed to round up a 5-story building full of people and get them all into the same place at the same time with no actual prompting. It just worked out that way.

(For a far better writeup than I can provide, please read the NYT piece on Sleep No More. We want to go back and see the things we missed!)

After the show, we all piled out into the lobby to collect our things. We got to keep the scary-ass masks, which was awesome. We made the mistake of walking out without going to the bathroom or having a drink of water or anything (much less dinner), so it only took a few blocks to realize that was going to be a problem. I had to stop at a convenience store for water, Jumi has to rush into a restaurant and use their bathroom, and Matt had to stop at Dunkin Donuts to use their restroom, too. It was a long walk back to the train, and we were all store from our million miles of walking. (Who thought it was a good idea to wear high-heel sandals to walk all over NYC, by the way? Oh right, that was me.)

It was well past dinnertime at that point, so we decided to go get some fancy drinks instead. (It made sense at the time.) We took the train to Grand Central Station, and went up a level from the main lobby to the Campbell Apartment. Having spent plenty of time at Prohibition at the W Hotel/Foshay Tower in Minneapolis, which also happens to be a former tycoon’s office, we felt right at home there. It was indeed fancy.

We ordered drinks, and noticed they had a cheese plate on their snacks menu, so we got that too. Our server was super-nice and incredibly scatterbrained, but I’m guessing part of that had to do with the fact that it was after 10:30, they were supposedly closing at 11, and a huge wedding party had just walked in the door.

We got our check around 11 and took the train to Times Square, after much debate about whether the Times Square shuttle was actually a bus or a train (it’s a train, sort of like a monorail running between the two stops). Times Square was as shitshowy as usual, plus the baby was there. God, could anyone be creepier? Blech.

At that point we realized that we’d actually not really eaten any dinner, so we decided to stop at the Long Room again, across the street from our hotel. As we arrived, we saw a big crowd in the street outside the Belasco, where NPH’s run as Hedwig had just ended. We walked up to see what was up, and he was leaving the theater right at that moment. We didn’t see him, but we did get to watch a guy running down the street shrieking, “NEIL PATRICK HARRIS SIGNED MY FOREHEAD!!!” Awesome.

This time the staff was far more attentive at the Long Room, and we got gin and tonics and more food. We hung out there til a bit before 1am, and then went to the hotel to sleep.

Since we had a 3:30 flight out of LaGuardia, we had a bit of time to see more of New York on Monday morning. We checked out, left our bags at the hotel, and met Wendy and Amelia at the Millennium. Wendy talked to the concierge to arrange a shared ride to the airport in an SUV, rather than having to deal with the two-taxi thing again.

Down the street at the Belasco, the Neil Patrick Harris signs had all been replaced already.

We walked down to Bryant Park for the Subway. For the first time, I realized you could see the Empire State Building from there. You know, we’d only walked around there about 8 times already.

We rode up to the stop just south of Central Park and walked the couple blocks over to one of the outposts of the Momofuku Milk Bar. Momofuku has played a big part in our lives, since we ordered a Crack Pie and had it shipped to our wedding. Plus David Chang is awesome.

The staff there acted like it was their first day, forgetting to do things like give us the coffee we ordered, but at least they were really nice about it. We finally left with everything we’d purchased, and walked a couple more blocks to a fountain next to Central Park. We sat down and ate our delicious breakfast. (Blueberry bagel bomb, you’re the best.)

Jumi headed off to do more nerdy things (sorry, Jumi, but it’s true!) and the rest of us walked back over to the subway to take Bally on an important adventure. Conveniently, the West 4th Street Courts (aka The Cage) were located directly above the subway platform in Greenwich Village. We didn’t have to go far to find them!

There were a bunch of teenage girls playing, and they were way better than any of us could ever hope to be.

We headed back downstairs to the train, and rode to Grand Central station. Because Shake Shack was there, and we were hungry again. I have a deep love for train stations, and I liked Grand Central even more knowing that their Shake Shack’s lines weren’t very long, and they had very nice bathrooms in the basement.

Plus Shake Shack sold beer. That’s just plain civilized. (My mushroom burger was great, too.)

We still had a bit of time to kill after lunch, but wanted to be near the hotel, so we went back to the Algonquin for a cocktail. I was really hoping Matilda would be awake so that Amelia could see her! She seemed to be missing, however.

We heard from Jumi that she was on her way back, so we walked back over to our respective hotels and got our bags from the front desk. Our SUV was waiting for us out front, and we quickly realized that was the way to go as far as LaGuardia. If it had been JFK or Newark we’d have taken the train, but this was pretty easy too.

I was briefly annoyed that LGA didn’t seem to have a PreCheck line, but then the agent checking boarding passes handed me and Matt crumpled sheets of paper. They stated that we didn’t have to take our shoes off, so I guess that’s their version of PreCheck (unsurprisingly). There was nobody at security anyway, so we were through quickly. Matt and I went to hang out at a bar while the others went to the gate, and got to witness a lady so drunk or stoned she couldn’t get on the plane. We showed up for the lineup process, and the plane boarded very quickly. I think I’m a fan of Southwest Airlines!

We stopped long enough for dinner at Midway again, then flew back to Minneapolis and were landed by 9pm. We hopped the train, walked the long block to Matt’s car, and then it was a quick drive home from there.

We arrived in Syracuse via Cleveland (where our plane was so tiny we got to walk on the tarmac!) around 12:30, got our car (a Kia Soul called ‘Scar’, according to the keytag), and drove to Armory Square for lunch at Empire Brewing. I had empanadas, poutine, and we split the beer sampler. Win.

We saw a bit of downtown, then drove to see the university and stop at the bookstore for souvenirs. Bally got himself a new orange friend named Otto! (Yes, I did decide to like Syracuse basketball a few years ago primarily because of the color.)

We headed east on US 20 toward Hamilton, home of Colgate University. Matt was going there for work; they have a yearly conference in the area, and he teaches a seminar about technology. We got our room at the Wendt University Inn (one of two hotels in town), met a couple of his coworkers from Boston, then drove the mile into Hamilton to find food. We ended up at a little tapas place that had weak margaritas, but awesome food.

We didn’t have cell signals the entire time we were in Hamilton. That was kind of mindblowing, considering we don’t even have that problem anymore in Matt’s hometown! It was really disconcerting to feel so disconnected.

Around 6:30, we went over to Reid Athletic Center at the university to see Colgate vs Brown!

We’d looked into tickets a few months ago and figured we could risk buying at the door, but didn’t realize how far off our expectations were. First of all, we were able to park in a lot right next to the rink, for free. Tickets cost $6 (or $12 if you wanted a reserved seat with a back). There were maybe 500 fans there. We sat in the front row. I couldn’t believe that these were teams on the same level (in the NCAA, at least) as the ones we’re used to seeing here. It was fantastic, and made me appreciate the Mariucci experience a lot. I’ll try not to complain too much when we have 8,000 fans in the building instead of a capacity crowd.

We got to see a penalty shot, too!

After the game, we went to a couple of bars in town. At that point, it was very hard to differentiate upstate from Wisconsin (in all the good ways).

We got up bright and painfully early the next day (6:30 on a Saturday? Ow.), checked out, and I dropped Matt off at Colgate. Due to the lack of signal, we had to revert to the olden days form of communication: “I’ll meet you here at 3pm. If I’m not here… well, maybe assume I’m dead, because there’s no way to get a hold of me.”

I got back on highway 20 and headed toward my 48th state, Vermont! There were 90 miles of small towns before I got to Albany, and I was nervous the entire time due to my lack of signal and very few cars around me. I decided that even though it’d be slightly farther, I was taking the interstate back.

The area east of Albany is gorgeous, and I reached Vermont around 10am. My first stop was at the tallest structure in the state, Bennington Monument:

I drove around town a little, then stopped at the general store for my obligatory Vermont souvenirs. The place was exactly as hippie-esque as I was hoping. Also, the lady behind the counter demanded that I stop in at the Crazy Russian Girls Bakery across the street before I left, so I picked up an awesome scone for myself, and a cookie to bring back to Matt. Then I was back on my way to New York!

I got into Utica before 2pm, so I had some time to kill before going back to Hamilton. I decided to find a liquor store and pick up some local beer for the evening. The first one Google sent me to was closed (what??) , so I found another one nearby. Upon walking in, though, I realized that they didn’t sell beer, just wine and liquor. I asked the guys at the counter what was up, and they said they weren’t allowed to sell beer. Most groceries had it, but the cheapest could be found at Rite Aid. I headed there instead.

Rite Aid had the cheapest, for sure: Bud Light, Coors, and Milwaukee’s Best. Not exactly what I was hoping for. I thought the booze laws in Minnesota were strange!

I drove back to Hamilton, took some pictures around town and on campus, then parked and waiting for Matt. He arrived right on time, and I went in to help him pack up. What I learned while there is that his coworkers adore him. And why wouldn’t they? They’re obviously smart people.

We packed up and headed to Oneida in search of food, but there was little to be found there. We decided to go check in and find something at our hotel instead. On the way, we stopped at a grocery store to examine the beer situation, and were delighted to find a sampler pack of Saranac there.

We were staying at Vernon Downs, a casino and harness racing track near Utica. I knew it would be entertaining, but it was even better than we’d hoped. We had a quick dinner at the buffet, then went to play video poker (they don’t have tables there). I tripled my money very quickly, which has never happened to me on those machines before. We then hopped the shuttle to the racetrack, where they were giving out free tshirts since it was the last racing of the season. Over the course of a couple hours, I won $90 on horses, too. I loved it.

We went back to the hotel, laid on our bed drinking beers and watching the racing (we overlooked the track), then returned to the casino to watch the cover band, which was being cheered on by a large group of Canadians and the Elvis impersonator who’s performing Thanksgiving weekend. Amazing.

Sunday morning, we got up at 8 and drove to Cooperstown, about 70 miles away. I’d been there as a kid, and had since forgotten how cute the town is. We had a quick breakfast at the Cooperstown diner (where the locals were all arguing about the merits of small town vs city), then went over to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

My favorite thing at the hall of fame? Joe Mauer’s sideburns!

We had to tour the museum pretty quickly because we only had a couple of hours there, but we made the most of it. The Twins displays were the best, of course. We’ll have to go back when they induct Bert Blyleven and add Target Field to the stadiums exhibit!

We did some souvenir shopping in Cooperstown, then got back on the road to Syracuse. (In case you’re considering following Google’s directions and avoiding the tollway, don’t: it’s way faster.) We arrived in town around 3pm, and headed back to Armory Square for lunch. The place we’d chosen was closed, so we ended up at Empire Brewing again. It was hard to be too sad about that.

After lunch, we drove to the airport and dropped the car off. We had flights on a couple tiny Continental Express jets again, which were fantastic. I really hope they can maintain that awesomeness after the United merger.

Since this conference happens yearly, it’s entirely likely we’ll be going back next year. I didn’t think I’d be very excited to return to upstate, but now I’m looking forward to it!

(The entire photoset is here on Flickr.)