NYC, at long last.
Apr. 21st, 2009 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluesilverkdgI've had these photos for almost two months now, but am just now getting around to posting them. I put some up on Facebook recently, but here are a few more/different ones. I went to NYC again end of February-first of March (although this time my travels were of a more aviary nature, rather than driving) and of course, took bunches of photos. It was great, until the day I came home, which is when the big snowstorm hit half the country. I was stranded in Washington DC (where I wasn't even supposed to be) for about fifteen hours and wound up sleeping at the airport. OK, "sleeping" is a pretty generous term for what transpired there. I sacked out in a really uncomfortable chair with some people I'd bonded with who were also stranded, and we made the best of a really bad situation. Alas.. It's a story. But I made it home safely, and hope to return again very soon. In the meantime, here....have pictures.
Not many people have the balls of I
To take the bull by the horns
And make him mine all mine.
"Hanging" with the Wall Street Bull and his humongous testicles.
You could put an eye out with those things.
The other side of the bull. No, I'd not been drinking. My face is just red from pure NYC cold.
Danke Schoen, Darling, Danke Schoen.
Save those lies, Darling don't explain.
I recall, Central Park in fall.
How you tore your dress, what a mess, I confess.
That's not all...
Central Park statues, Hans Christian Andersen and his Dugly Uckling..
..and Alice In Wonderland.
Insufficient snow cover for sledding. Keep that in mind, yo.
It was a very diverse expedition. We went from St. Patrick's cathedral..
..to the Chelsea Hotel where Sid Vicious' girlfriend Nancy Spungen met her untimely demise.
Remember the piano at FAO Schwarz in the movie Big?
D.E.T.E.R.M.I.N.A.T.I.O.N.
I was trying to reach from E to C playing Chopsticks, but I couldn't quiiiiite get it without splitting my pants, and perhaps overextending some vital organs. Still, it was a valiant effort.
Rhinose. Rhinostril. Nose-ocerus. I could go on all night. Stop me, please.
Down by the hahbah. It was so beautiful on the waterfront. I'd liked to have taken many more pictures, but I was positively freezing my butt off.
Brooklyn Bridge.
Trinity Church. Absolutely gorgeous.
Kids wiping out on the ice at Rockefeller Center.
I'd liked to have caught a Today Show taping there, and rubbed Al Roker's head or something, but no dice. Maybe next time.
One of the highlights of my trip was getting to meet![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wlotus. We went to this amazing Greek restaurant, Uncle Nick's. (I even managed to figure out how the streets in Manhatten work. Streets are not the same as avenues.) We both ordered spanikopita for our entree, but she got the cheese flambe' as an appetizer, which we shared. Much as I'd love to take credit for this photo, she was the one who took it..
I find it really ironic that he's wearing a t-shirt that says Hell's Kitchen while presenting us with a big plate of flaming fire.
(Shameless plug, Wanda is an incredible photographer, and I have long been an admirer of her work. If you're interested in fine art photos, you can actually buy her stuff. Check out her site here, where you can see all her pretties.)
After a really hot lunch, we went to the Museum of Natural History.
And she took a great shot of me in the butterfly conservatory.
But sadly, all good things must come to an end. My good thing was supposed to have come to an end at 3:00 on Sunday. I wound up not getting home until 5pm on Monday. This would be why..
I'm normally not afraid to fly, but after my experience this time, I've gotta say, I'm a bit jittery. The short story, for those who haven't heard of it, is as follows. I was flying into Charlotte from LaGuardia. Flight was supposed to get there at 3pm. Unfortunately, Charlotte was getting pummelled by a snowstorm, and they were cancelling flights right and left. So, after three cancelled direct-to-Charlotte flights, I finally got on one that was going to Charlotte via D.C. We got into D.C. just fine, although the flight out was delayed by about an hour, hour and a half. So, we finally get to the plane and sit. And sit. And sit. After a while, the captain comes on and says the nose of the plane has deflated, and they've called out maintenance. I'm sitting there (right over the wing) watching snow pile up and up and up, getting more nervous by the minute. He comes back after about half an hour and says we'll have to deplane and get on a shuttle, because they need the plane empty to adequately work on it. The girl in the seat across the aisle from me was crossing herself repeatedly, and I felt like doing the same. So, we sit on the shuttle for maybe an hour or so, and are finally told that our original plane is not fit to fly, and we'll be boarding another plane. We get on Plane Number Two, and sit some more. Captain comes on and tells us that THAT plane is not refueling properly. So, we get off THAT one and board another. My nails are ragged by this time, and it's absolutely snowing like crazy. We finally get to Plane Number Three, which is apparently not having any mechanical difficulties and has fuel, when we're told that the navigation equipment in Charlotte is not functioning properly, so we can fly there, we just won't be able to land, and they are now cancelling the flight. This was about 1 am. So, that's how we wound up sacking out in the airport. I could've gotten a hotel, but I was on standby for a 6:55 flight (which wound up being cancelled) and I was afraid if I left the airport, I wouldn't be able to get back.
But, we finally wound up leaving (from our 8:45 flight, which miraculously did NOT get cancelled) at 11:30. I finally made it back to Charlotte, and eventually home, and I tell ya, I've never been so glad to be there. Like I said, it was definitely an adventure, and one I hope not to replicate again anytimein the near future ever.
This is the plane we finally wound up boarding, right before we boarded it.
Like I said, at least I have stories to tell! I'm hoping to go back soon. I still have things to do and I'm getting to meet so many cool people!
Not many people have the balls of I
To take the bull by the horns
And make him mine all mine.
"Hanging" with the Wall Street Bull and his humongous testicles.
You could put an eye out with those things.
The other side of the bull. No, I'd not been drinking. My face is just red from pure NYC cold.
Danke Schoen, Darling, Danke Schoen.
Save those lies, Darling don't explain.
I recall, Central Park in fall.
How you tore your dress, what a mess, I confess.
That's not all...
Central Park statues, Hans Christian Andersen and his Dugly Uckling..
..and Alice In Wonderland.
Insufficient snow cover for sledding. Keep that in mind, yo.
It was a very diverse expedition. We went from St. Patrick's cathedral..
..to the Chelsea Hotel where Sid Vicious' girlfriend Nancy Spungen met her untimely demise.
Remember the piano at FAO Schwarz in the movie Big?
D.E.T.E.R.M.I.N.A.T.I.O.N.
I was trying to reach from E to C playing Chopsticks, but I couldn't quiiiiite get it without splitting my pants, and perhaps overextending some vital organs. Still, it was a valiant effort.
Rhinose. Rhinostril. Nose-ocerus. I could go on all night. Stop me, please.
Down by the hahbah. It was so beautiful on the waterfront. I'd liked to have taken many more pictures, but I was positively freezing my butt off.
Brooklyn Bridge.
Trinity Church. Absolutely gorgeous.
Kids wiping out on the ice at Rockefeller Center.
I'd liked to have caught a Today Show taping there, and rubbed Al Roker's head or something, but no dice. Maybe next time.
One of the highlights of my trip was getting to meet
wlotus. We went to this amazing Greek restaurant, Uncle Nick's. (I even managed to figure out how the streets in Manhatten work. Streets are not the same as avenues.) We both ordered spanikopita for our entree, but she got the cheese flambe' as an appetizer, which we shared. Much as I'd love to take credit for this photo, she was the one who took it..
I find it really ironic that he's wearing a t-shirt that says Hell's Kitchen while presenting us with a big plate of flaming fire.
(Shameless plug, Wanda is an incredible photographer, and I have long been an admirer of her work. If you're interested in fine art photos, you can actually buy her stuff. Check out her site here, where you can see all her pretties.)
After a really hot lunch, we went to the Museum of Natural History.
And she took a great shot of me in the butterfly conservatory.
But sadly, all good things must come to an end. My good thing was supposed to have come to an end at 3:00 on Sunday. I wound up not getting home until 5pm on Monday. This would be why..
I'm normally not afraid to fly, but after my experience this time, I've gotta say, I'm a bit jittery. The short story, for those who haven't heard of it, is as follows. I was flying into Charlotte from LaGuardia. Flight was supposed to get there at 3pm. Unfortunately, Charlotte was getting pummelled by a snowstorm, and they were cancelling flights right and left. So, after three cancelled direct-to-Charlotte flights, I finally got on one that was going to Charlotte via D.C. We got into D.C. just fine, although the flight out was delayed by about an hour, hour and a half. So, we finally get to the plane and sit. And sit. And sit. After a while, the captain comes on and says the nose of the plane has deflated, and they've called out maintenance. I'm sitting there (right over the wing) watching snow pile up and up and up, getting more nervous by the minute. He comes back after about half an hour and says we'll have to deplane and get on a shuttle, because they need the plane empty to adequately work on it. The girl in the seat across the aisle from me was crossing herself repeatedly, and I felt like doing the same. So, we sit on the shuttle for maybe an hour or so, and are finally told that our original plane is not fit to fly, and we'll be boarding another plane. We get on Plane Number Two, and sit some more. Captain comes on and tells us that THAT plane is not refueling properly. So, we get off THAT one and board another. My nails are ragged by this time, and it's absolutely snowing like crazy. We finally get to Plane Number Three, which is apparently not having any mechanical difficulties and has fuel, when we're told that the navigation equipment in Charlotte is not functioning properly, so we can fly there, we just won't be able to land, and they are now cancelling the flight. This was about 1 am. So, that's how we wound up sacking out in the airport. I could've gotten a hotel, but I was on standby for a 6:55 flight (which wound up being cancelled) and I was afraid if I left the airport, I wouldn't be able to get back.
But, we finally wound up leaving (from our 8:45 flight, which miraculously did NOT get cancelled) at 11:30. I finally made it back to Charlotte, and eventually home, and I tell ya, I've never been so glad to be there. Like I said, it was definitely an adventure, and one I hope not to replicate again anytime
This is the plane we finally wound up boarding, right before we boarded it.
Like I said, at least I have stories to tell! I'm hoping to go back soon. I still have things to do and I'm getting to meet so many cool people!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:39 am (UTC)When did you go to the Alice in Wonderland statue? I've never seen it that empty, usually there's kids crawling over every inch of it.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:45 am (UTC)The Alice statue only had one kid on it (she was actually hardly a kid, more like a young teen) who was sitting up there reading. I glared at her for a while and she finally hopped down so we could take some photos. That would've been...hmm, the 27th of February, I think? The weather had been great that day, and I'd actually taken my jacket off until it started getting dark.
But yes, I will definitely let you know next time I'm in and we'll get together, too! I'm meeting more NYC friends every time I go there.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 03:14 am (UTC)coolcold. *smirks*no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 03:35 am (UTC):D
Uncle Nicks is simply THE BEST!! I remember taking her there for lunch a few years ago with my cousin and sister. We nearly set her on fire when they brought the flaming cheese. There's no such thing (for me) as Manhattan without a trip to Uncle Nicks!
no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:12 pm (UTC)Uncle Nick's was awesome, and I'm planning to go back again. The food was splendid, I've got to say. Some of the best Greek food I've had. I'm very glad you started a tradition, because Wanda immediately suggested it when I said I was open to trying pretty much any restaurant when we met!
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Date: 2009-04-22 04:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 06:16 am (UTC)Both my brothers worked on Big -- the Broadway musical. One of the things my brother Brian did was design the computer program that allowed the on-stage keyboard to light up while he "played" it in the pit orchestra.
That sounds like a hellacious flight home. Glad you made it OK!
no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:16 pm (UTC)The piano was pretty cool, but I wanted a little more freedom to jump around. Those darned kids wouldn't get out of the way! Awesome that your brothers worked on the musical!
The flight...Oh. My. God. I don't EVER care to do that again. It was nuts. And I actually sent a letter of complaint to Reagan Airport because of the behavior of their employees. I realize they were probably just as stressed as everyone else, but it seemed that some of them went above and beyond the call of duty to make us as miserable as humanly possible. I'm surprised there wasn't some sort of riot, but hopefully a sharply-worded letter will go farther than threatening physical violence.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 01:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:17 pm (UTC)Chances are good I'll be going semi-frequently, so if you can ever haz dayz off, you're welcome to come along? I think I'm driving next time. I'm a little skerred of the airplanes at the moment.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-22 02:24 pm (UTC)We could go on a holiday weekend when I get a day off naturally?
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Date: 2009-04-22 03:35 pm (UTC)Yeah, I'll see if I can figure something out. I don't know if Memorial Day weekend will work or not, but we'll see.
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Date: 2009-04-22 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-25 01:25 am (UTC)I lived 45 minutes from NYC when I lived in NJ, but went there maybe twelve times in my entire life. I wish I had experienced more.
And your flight story sounds nerve-wracking. I am so uneasy with planes these days.