Sunday, Sunday was a day of rest, as it should have been. I seemed to have acquired a nasty blister on my right foot from all the walking I did over the previous few days. I wish I had the energy to out, as with NY passing it’s gay marriage amendment and it being Pride weekend, I probably missed one hell of a parade, oh well, I was hungover, my foot hurt and it was hot as balls. Also, when I woke up, my phone didnt work. It had been damaged due to a drunken birthday shenanigans and finally died altogether, no phone for the rest of the trip. So, with that in mind, I wandered out, ordered some Thai food, stopped by the farmers market to grab some juice and ice cream, and hurried back to my place. I managed to find an old computer inside, hooked it up, found a copy of The Kids are Alright, and plopped on the couch with my food to sweat the day away. What a shitty movie, seriously, that movie was so bad, the only good thing was Julianne Moore naked, that never gets old. But fuck, that movie was so so so bad, so cliche, so terrible, I hated it so much, it made me sick to watch. Anyways, with the computer, an old Gateway that had a battery life of 20 minutes and only got internet in 1 room, I managed to make plans with Drew to visit his crib in Bedsty, which apparently is the ghetto, real close to the Marcy Projects and much different from where I was staying. After an hour train ride and only getting slightly lost (remember no phone, no gps) I made my way into his lovely abode which he shares with his lovely, energetic lady. Some d’bag was there too, a friend of hers who for whatever reason just bugged the shit out of me, total prick who didnt seem to realize he was a prick. Anyways, they made a fabulous meal of juicy chicken breasts, cheesy mashed potatoes, green beans and onions and a nice salad, I was really impressed, never invisioned Drew as much of a cook. It was hot in there but not unmanageable. After dinner we took to the roof for an after dinner bowl while cupcakes baked in the oven (double bake sesh) Really nice views from the rooftop, perfect weather, it was really nice and super chill, a nice change of pace from the nights prior. The cupcakes were served with vanilla ice cream and fuck my fuck if it wasn’t the best tasting desert i ever had. Truly a great meal, nothing like a home cooked meal. I took the subway back, got lost for a bit, but eventually made it home in once piece. Decided to try another pizza place close to my place when I got home, really wasn’t that good. I guess you need to know the right places for pizza in NYC and not just guess at random.
Monday was supposed to be my day of tourist things, but my foot was really hurting, the blister had gotten bigger and each step hurt gravely. Regardless, I marched out to catch my subway to ground zero, grabbed some coffee and a delicious egg sandiwich and got off where I thought ground zero was, not totally sure how to get there though. I first walked halfway across the brooklyn bridge before turning around, knowing it was the wrong direction. Full of tourists but provided a beautiful view of the city. I went back the way I came and kind of wandered around until I found a crowd of people who I knew were heading to the same place. Isn’t much to see there anymore, two buildings being built behind a fence, isn’t much of a place to stop and stare or think about what happened there and the impact it has had on our lives. One thing though, looking up at the other buildings around it, and imagining an airplane smashing into it, then the entire building crashing down, is pretty insane. Regardless, I am glad to say I was there, it truly is the epicenter of the modern state of civilization. Afterwards I kept on walking until i hit the waters edge from which I could see the statue of liberty so I could cross that off my list. This trip took longer than I had hoped, but I made it back in time for perhaps the greatest sandwich I’ve ever had, better than my previous turkey sandwich on this trip. The place was Allidoro’s, some small Italian shop that makes sandwiches until they run out of the bread they buy fresh for the day. I got a salami (fresh sliced) with mozzarella, arugula, hot peppers and balsamic vinagrette, and holy shit, it just tasted so fresh. The meat was cut so lean, the mozzarella burst with flavor, the balsamic deliciously dripped all over my fingers, if only MPLS had a shop like this, I would eat there every single mother fucking day. Monday night we ventured to midtown so I could experience the bullshit that is times square, but first another delicious meal for dinner. Inside some posh hotel, in a small hallway feet away from the concierge desk, is a tacky, neon sign that says Burger Joint on it. Follow it and you enter what looks like the old Gold Nugget if it was the size of a living room. Old tables, small grill, tiny menu, burgers and fries all in this expensive ass hotel. I, like the rest of my party got burgers and fries, the latter of which tasted a lot like mcdonalds fries. A delicious burger with everything on it cooked to a perfect medium, truly a must see in order to believe that such a place exists, a true hole-in-the-wall diner. Afterwards we walked through Times Square, which is just bright lights and tourists, advertisements and Sbarro’s Pizza. The lights were cool sure, but the masses of idiot tourists taking pictures made me anxious and I was happy to leave there as soon as possible. My companion needed to make a phone call so we decided to walk the 50+ blocks back, my foot aching with each step, still though it just feels good to get excercise like that and immediately makes any regret of a burger and fries evaporate. After a nice conversion back at the range life office, I gladly headed for a good nights rest before my last full day in NYC.
