If I ever entertained any question as to why so many filmmakers choose New York as the backdrop to their stories – this weekend answered them all.
I’m still kind of reeling from all that I managed to pack into the last three days but let’s just say, for a birthday weekend it was in the top 3 of my life. And that puts it up there with 12 (amazing Kelly and Jill RPG bday) and 21 (need I say more?).
Friday evening started with two of my favorite New Yorkers, two beautiful bouquets of fresh wonderful flowers and a bottle of delicious champagne. The three of us set off for Park Slope proper and met up with a few more friends at a superb organic restaurant. For appetizers we tried the red snapper tartar and fried green tomatoes (which I normally don’t even like but these were breaded to perfection and literally melted in your mouth yum!). My main course was a perfectly cooked duck, just a little crispy on the outside and flooded with juicy flavor, it made me rejoice once again in my status as a recovering vegetarian. Dessert was fresh churned vanilla ice cream and some chocolate peanutbuttery goodness which came with a candle. I made a heartfelt wish and we followed up the meal with espresso, mead and port by preference. We then headed out to a bar down the street for some music, cocktails and more fun. I got in around 1am exhausted and happy and had wonderful birthday dreams.
The next day was scheduled for recovery but once I had re-hydrated sufficiently I decided that I needed a good sweat. So I headed out for a 4 mile run and I am convinced it was the absolute best thing I could have done as it set the pace for the rest of the weekend.
Sat night I met a friend downtown and we had a beautiful evening walking down the west side, taking in the Jersey skyline and enjoying some really interesting conversation. I also had my first foray into the meatpacking district, which, though it was visually stimulating as seen here, left a lot to be desired in the crowd it seems to draw. It does have some interesting buildings though, and another Apple store of which I was previously unaware.
The lights in this building oscillated from blue to green to pink to purple, there was this abandoned old school warehouse-y feel to it that I really dig.
Saturday night I learned yet another little fact about train “scheduling”. Once midnight hits in NY on a weekend, all bets are officially off. Sometimes changes are posted, sometimes not, but if you’re in the city and need to get to Brooklyn you can bet that there will be some kind of diversion, change of train or some other similar complication to getting there. I really should have paid better attention to the details, but the long and short of it is that the R does not run after midnight. It is one of the many Cinderella trains that simply poofs into the ether.
I do wish I had known this ahead of time. It also would have been nice to know that the N train, which at all other times run express, switches to local and replaces the R (most of the time) on these late nights. Confused yet? Yeah, me too! Over the course of the next hour I waited for the non existent R train and let two N’s go right on by. Ahh well, another weekend in New York, another lesson learned. Always read the posted signs and always pay attention to how late it is when your catching the train.
I finally got in around 3, to bed after a Zoe walk at 3:30 and then up for a bike ride with my new friend Wendy at 8:30. Well, I was up by 8:30 – we didn’t actually start the ride until 10, but still, believe me when I say I was a little tired. To put it mildly.
Anyway, we had a wonderful ride out to Coney Island and back. We rode along the shore and listened to the sea gulls and drank in the smell of the ocean. It was my first visit ever to Coney Island, which was amazing since they’ll be tearing down the historic Astroland amusement park this winter. I’m so psyched I got a chance to see it first!
After the ride I cleaned up, and last night headed back into the city to meet up with another friend and catch dinner and a movie. The train was friendly to me afterward (probably because it was before 12) and I made it home without any complications of note.
All in all it was an amazing weekend like I said and will be really hard to beat. It does seem this city never stops surprising me with it’s ability to provide entertainment, friends and incredible memories. Good times.
Yay! Glad you had a good bday weekend filled with activity, delicious foodstuffs and good peeps. Weird to miss a bday with you, and I wish I had the money to send you something
And yes, RPG birthdays kick ass!! /ponders
Sleep is a four letter word! But seriously, you didn’t seem that tired. Looking forward to fixing around town with you next week!
Next year Kelster, we’ll both be in a better place! And you know it Wendy, let’s ride into the city next week and explore