Birthday Weekend / NYC - Part Dos

Clint and I wake up, both exhausted, but realize that we can't pass up the unique opportunity to experience a Fuddrucker's breakfast.

Much to our chagrin, it was your typical hotel continental breakfast, just situated on the island normally reserved for soda fountains and condiments. I wanted the unlimited fries, dammit! Knowing that the workers were preparing for a much more delicious lunch made things all the more unbearable.

Outraged, not really, we left. To NYC! As anyone who has ever been to the region can attest, the highways and routes -- particularly within New Jersey -- are all masterfully laid out and easy to navigate. Right. Not even five minutes in, we manage to get lost; the next hour is spent looking out for big buildings in the distance so we can say "go that way!". Even the iPhone was confused.

Numerous bridges and exits and tolls and byways later, we get to Journal Square in Jersey City and take the lovely PATH train in to Midtown. We're also joined by old college pal and walking wikipedia (accuracy questionable) Ashish. Under the Hudson we go...

Clint and I's first thought upon exiting onto a Manhattan street? "If this were practically any other city, there'd be no one walking around right now." Not here. Good luck not getting trampled, for one. Luckily the street artists help add some magic to the atmosphere (or is that coming from the sewer?).

We WALK from 34th to Times Square. Nevermind that it feels like 10 degrees outside and there's an underground shuttle between the PATH and TS, Ashish says walking is good for you! And faster! Frankly, verification needed -- I want to question his sources.

Nonetheless, a couple of pit stops are made. Stopped inside the coolest Walgreen's ever, picked up our NYC passes at Planet Hollywood (a superb deal if you want to do the touristy thing; details later), and checked out the TKTS offerings... even though Clint and I already knew what we were seeing later that day :)

The topic of lunch reared its ugly head; I may have mentioned Mexican cuisine, and behold! Ashish knew a great restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. More bitter cold walking, and we arrive at this teeny-tiny little cavern run by... definite authentic Mexicans. Let's just say I felt out of place until I started injecting what little Spanish I remembered into my order. Quite a good burrito though! And then we got the Mexican equivalent of Chiclets. Muy bueno!

*Finally* took the subway to the upper east side to get to the Guggenheim. These all-day subway metrocards won't use themselves, you know! Pass our 58th or so Duane Ready so far today. Finally make it to the museum, which is quite an awe-inspiring work of architecture. So much in fact, that it tends to overshadow the actual art that's inside! In hindsight, while whisking through the museum was fun and all, I think a much more meaningful experience would be had by listening to the audio tour. We saw lots of photographs from a strange lesbian lady, and it would have helped to have known what she was thinking about when capturing her subjects.

Sadly, 6pm waits for no one, and around 5:15 we left so that Clint and I could make our 'show'. We were almost slowed down by Mr. Macho Intoxicado as we headed down to our station; he claims one of us bumped him on the stairs, then proceeded to yell at us and try to start a fight (in front of security, no less). After some dipolmacy, he shakes our hands and offers to buy our fares. Only in NY!

So the Lexington line does run southbound past 59th street though, which made me heavily question Ashish's logic of walking no fewer than EIGHT streets and SEVEN avenues to get to our destination on time. I imagine my frustration was becoming apparent. "NO I don't want to stop at FAO Schwarz! NO I don't want to stop at the Apple Store! Stop tempting me!" We ultimately arrive at the New World theatre will call office only three minutes prior to the published showtime. We leave Ashish to his own devices for an hour and a half, while we enjoy a mesmerizing performance of...

... "Naked Boys Singing!" Yes, it was a show that delivered upon everything it promised. Eight guys (of varying attractiveness, but none who were unattractive), all singing, dancing, and enjoying the company of each others'... full and complete nakedness. There weren't any Austin Powers-like props here to artfully hide the goods either; everyone in the audience saw more male nudity than probably anywhere in the world short of a bathhouse. The play itself was clever enough to distract us all from simply gawking, and the stage-trained performers were quite adept and capable when it came to the acting and singing parts. (Well, except for one, but his perfect, chiseled body more than made up for the handicap.) Sadly, as one might imagine, there was absolutely no picture taking allowed... until afterwards, when a $5 donation to AIDS research netted you a personal pic with four of the hottest guys in the show, shirtless. In hindsight, I do think I was dreaming all of this!

Too early for dinner but too late for many of the touristy places our NYC pass would get us into, we finally settled on heading back towards the Upper East Side/Central Park area in order to check out the Met, which would close at 9. History has gone prime time!

Reunited with Ashish, we make it to the museum with only about a half hour to explore; certainly we would only experience but a small percentage of the building tonight. Checked out some ancient Egyptian artifacts and caught a glimpse of our own American history before the ushers coordinated their "get the hell out!" procedure. Definitely need to go back.

By this point our tummies were rumbling, and snow had befallen the city. Quite pretty actually. After agreeing on Italian though not finding anything suitable near the museum, we trekked back (VIA SUBWAY) to Hells Kitchen. Ashish had eaten a couple times at a small eatery called Mangia y Bevi (Eat and Drink, in Italian, naturally); after a brief wait, we're seated in what could have easily turned out to be a nightmare -- four bachelorette parties going on simultaneously in this compact restaurant. Perhaps it was the good music, or all the Sangria, but I absolutely loved it! Food was top-notch as well. I probably will never return (something about wanting to try some of NY's other 9,000 or so restaurants whenever I visit), but I wholeheartedly recommend it to others. Just make sure they have a couple of parties booked when you go.

The night was still young, so a trip back to Times Square was in order. Who knows whether it was due to the Christmas season or just typical TS craziness, but we went shopping at Toys 'R Us circa midnight, and the place was still mobbed. For some reason, I always make it a point to stop in whenever I'm visiting the city; not a whole lot ever changes inside, but what they do have still leaves me awestruck.

Capping off the evening, we head to the Marriott Marquee eighth-floor lounge overlooking Times Square for some not-quite-inexpensive drinks and people-watching. Snagged a table right by the window and took tons of pictures of the neon city outside. I even find Vegas to be a distant second to the spectacle of TS at night.

A long day culminated in the desire to not hit any clubs or bars for fear of not waking up the next day. Take the PATH back to NJ, say my goodbyes to Ashish, and drive over to Secaucus to check in at the Sheraton.

Then, reality sets back in when we discover that our hotel is directly across the highway from Giants stadium, and Sunday's a home game. Tomorrow, our only challenge will be... to escape.