Happy 28th me.
Already this trip was more fabulous than I could have predicted. While I suppose we could have tried to cram more in -- at the expense of sleep/sanity -- as far as bdays go this was already far exceeding most from years past. I just was unaware of how absolutely memorable the rest of the day would be.
My first clue should have been the unsettling feeling in my stomach when I woke up. I'll spare the details, but my initial reaction was that last night's dinner simply didn't agree with me. We get ready and down to the lobby with time to spare, unwilling to repeat yesterday's transportation debacle.
Two things on today's agenda -- the NBC Studios tour, followed by a 3-hour (free!) Circle-Line boat tour circling all of Manhattan. We take the subway back over to 30 Rock, though I was still unfamiliar with all of that particular station's 14 entrances/exits, and sure enough we missed the direct entrance into the center. As luck would have it though, we happened to walk right past the area outside the NBC News Studio where dozens of lunatics line up to hopefully glimpse a second of themselves on national TV. Hey, we can be those lunatics! Sure enough, there we were... a couple of bundled-up Mid-westerners gawking behind Kathie Lee Gifford's face. It's my 1.5 seconds of fame!
Next up is the Studios Tour. I had done it once, but I know they like to switch up the studios from time to time, so I was eager to see some variety. Previously I had seen the Dateline set and the Nightly News studio; this time it was the MSNBC news set, a different Nightly News studio, and the space where they shoot Late Night with Conan O'Brien (yes!). Oh, and we got to see Studio 8H again, but weren't allowed inside (boo!).
So things were going great... until we entered a tiny room to watch some short footage about makeup artists. And that's when it all started to hit... my body temperature rose sharply, nausea began to quickly set in, I think my stomach did a 360, and I did everything in my power to prevent myself from throwing up right there in that room. (Glad this didn't happen in Conan's studio... I may have ended up being the butt of a monologue joke.)
Immediately following the tour I spent some quality time in the Rock Center bathroom, no doubt cutting into the small window of time we had to cut across town and get to our boat. After a few minutes I felt better again, and off we went.
We darted across 49th, narrowly missing one subway train and forcing us to wait for another local (while three express went by). We get to 42nd and 7th, leaving us with no choice but to RUN across five avenues to get to 12th near the harbor. Completely out of breath and sweating profusely, we get our tickets literally a minute or two before the boat began its departure.
I had been on this boat once before, with Kristin, as we took a 2-hour sunset cruise down the Hudson and around lower Manhattan. Today would offer much better picture-taking (it's hard to keep the boat still at night) as well as views of parts of the city I had never seen before.
But I would not get to see the complete journey in its entirety. The first two hours were uneventful, in the sense that nothing unusual happened (the boat leaning sideways as everyone moved to one side to see the statue of liberty doesn't count). Then, all of a sudden, my stomach starts churning again. Body temperature rises. More nausea, and more intense. I politely excuse myself from Clint, and run down two flights of stairs to the lower deck where the bathroom is.
I guess I made it just in the nick of time, because it felt like I threw up half of the previous night's dinner.
About 10-15 minutes had passed before I could muster going back up. Clint was noticeably concerned, though I tried to assure him it once again had passed.
Until near the end of the boat ride, when I had to run downstairs yet again. Seriously... this is serious.
We made it back to the dock, regretfully rejected offers to take a limousine back to Penn Station, and hurried back to take one last train out of the city. I managed to make it all the way back to our hotel before repeating much of what I had done earlier. This would continue several times (practically every hour, almost) en route back home, as I had to stop and throw even more up. I've thrown up on birthdays before, but never this much! Major thanks to Clint -- bless his heart -- for taking on the driving responsibilities back home / putting up with the mess that I was.
After several excruciatingly long hours, we got back home safe and sound. I bid Clint goodnight, checked up on the bunny, and promptly retired to bed... with bucket close by.
Again, despite everything that happened today, I stayed in high spirits, knowing I couldn't have asked for a more better weekend. I spent time in my favorite city (and for longer than a couple hours, my usual duration!), hung out with awesome people, and got a hell of a lot of Happy Birthday texts and facebook messages. Here's to 28!
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