Trip Reports - Weekend in the Big Apple

Friday March 21, 2003

AS 8
SEA-EWR

I arrived at the airport Friday morning after working a 10 hour graveyard shift toting my rollaboard in one hand, two six packs of Redhook Chinook copper in the other. I was saying small prayers all the way to the airport in hopes of not getting a middle seat on the transcon. It apparently worked. The plane was rather full, but I managed to get a window seat with an open middle next to it. The flight attendant helped me get my bag situated, and I settled into the window seat and was asleep before we left the gate.

The breakfast that I slept through, consisted of an omlette, a fruit bowl, a cranberry/orange muffin, and a small container of orange juice. I woke up in time for the pre-arrival beverage/snack service. The snack was a bag of Flanigan Farms Nuts & Fruit (http://www.flaniganfarms.com/store/index.asp?UserID=3241427#). I have to say it was the best trail mix I've ever enountered.

I got up a few minutes later to stretch my legs and use the restroom. I overheard the flight attendants talking about the trail mix, and I mentioned how much I liked it. The male flight attendant handed me two extra bags and says to me... "You work for us, don't you...I recognized you when you came on the flight, but you went to sleep before I could say hi" I stood looking haplessly puzzled while I tried to figure out how a flight attendant who i'd never seen before could recognize me until he hinted that he recognized me from somewhere other than work. It turns out that ASFlyer was the one working the flight and had recognized me from some Flyertalk Do photos.

We arrived into the EWR area early, but had hit a storm apparently. JFK had closed due to lack of visibility, and everything had backed up. We ended up circling for an hour, then after finally being allowed to land, had to sit on the tarmac for another 25 minutes until they could clear a gate for us. We ended up deplaning about an hour and 15 minutes late.

Took the airtrain over to NJ Penn, then caught the NJTransit to NY Penn. Really quite easy and the fare was just over $10.

Met markbach at NY Penn Station and we navigated the Subway up to Grand Central which was near both our hotels. We walked to E46th then split off, planning to meet later to go grab some dinner. Once at the hotel however, my need for a shower and laying on the couch took over my need for exploring manhattan at night, so I ordered some sushi delivered, which arrived about 5 minutes before markbach did.

mjm showed up about an hour later, and the 3 of us chatted til after midnight when my channel surfing unearthed one of my favorite "chick" movies...Sense And Sensibility. Both boys were suddenly VERY tired and headed for their respective beds, leaving me to enjoy Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman all on my own. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Next Installment..Dan Hammers Brooklyn Reality tour and MJM's Football payoff party.

I don't understand...

Why didn't this trip report start w/ a 2am rendezvous at the Red Robin in South Center??? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Prologue- the DVD Adventure.

mjm had wanted to buy some of the DVD's that AlanW was going to sell during his yard sale. Since Alan was going to be at the Seattle Dinner we were having right before I left, I offered to deliver them to mike to save them having to be shipped to Tokyo. But I ended up running late and left them at the table. Alan passed them on to Chexfan who I was meeting up with the next day anyway. I stopped by chex's on the way to work, but we forgot about the DVD's. I was going straight to the airport from work and wouldnt have time to go back for them in the morning, so I left Chex a message saying to leave them outside in a waterproof bag, and I'd drive up during my lunch hour at 2am and pick them up. He called and offered to meet me so I wouldnt have to drive all the way from the airport area where I worked to North Seattle where he lived. And this my friends, is what led to the 2am rendezvous at Red Robin in Southcenter http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Mjm's DVD's were safely delivered the following evening.

Hey Missy!!!

It was great seeing you and meeting you face to face the other day. Hope you had fun in New York - sounds like you did. Take care!!

Chexy,

Would a cold Chinook Copper or several on me next time cover the gas? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks for the assist with the DVDs. Very kind.

Mike

Saturday March 22

Morning came awfully early. After a quick shower and a run at the complimentary bagels they offered in the hotel lobby, [m]mjm[/b] and I popped over a couple blocks to the Park Avenue Starbucks for his morning caffeine fix. We then headed over to Madison avenue and up to about 61st to pick up some wine he had ordered from Sherry-Lehmann (http://www.sherry-lehmann.com/main.asp). Great wine selection, and the setup was just plain cool. Not wanting to shlep a box of wine back 20 blocks, we grabbed a cab, and arrived back shortly before the rest of the group magic111, jerrie, SeeYa, emperoalto and his girlfriend, DMFriedman, apirchik, KathyWdrf, rbernheim, seanthepilot, and of course Dan arrived for the Dan Hammer Brooklyn tour.

The weather cooperated very nicely, and we had a glorious day of touring, eating, and firetrucks http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif. Dan narrated, giving us a lot of local history while pointing out many of the area landmarks. We stopped at L&B Spumoni Gardens for Pizza. I tried the "square" which was mostly sauce with just a bit of cheese, and had a lemon ice for dessert. YUM! Then we headed over to Leon's Bakery for our "other dessert". After munching down our own purchases, Dan passed around some rugulach to share, and DMFriedman passed around a cheesecake. After a bit more driving, we made another stop at Psychocadets house for mid afternoon snacks. He had put out a great spread of chips, curly fries, baked beans, pretzels, and soda for us in his backyard...but in the process managed to lock himself out of his house!! After a nice visit, we were off again..this time heading to Starbucks for potty breaks and caffeine fixes. After a bit more driving, our fabulous day of touring was over, and we had arrived at Fiorentino's for dinner. We were joined by AASweets, LJP99, markbach, tazi and bdschoebel at that point. I ordered an incredibly rich bacon wrapped, stuffed shrimp concoction, but having sampled from most everyone's plates http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif I have to say that I liked RBernheim's chicken/eggplant dish best. All of the dishes however were quite nice, with good sized portions.

We got the idea that they wanted us to leave when they didnt ask if we wanted to dessert. But considering the huge line of people waiting to get it wasnt surprising.

We arrive back at Party Central a bit before nine, and waited for the stragglers to arrive. It wasnt long before the beer filled both the refrigerator AND freezer and the party was in full effect. As for the rest of the details..well, ya just had to be there http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif


Photos! (http://www.wheresmymom.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=NYC)

[This message has been edited by missydarlin (edited 03-24-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by AS Flyer:
Hey Missy!!!

It was great seeing you and meeting you face to face the other day. Hope you had fun in New York - sounds like you did. Take care!!</font>

It was great to meet you too! Did you ever make it into town for the show? The weather was so crappy I wondered if you even tried.

Hello Missy,
It's absolutly excellent to hear that you had a nice time in my beloved state. I am quite sorry I couldn't make it down to see you all but I was stuck having dinner with my family (all 8 of us). Perhaps next time.

------------------
DC-10's Forever!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by missydarlin:
[m]mjm and I popped over a couple blocks to the Park Avenue Starbucks for his morning caffeine fix.
[/B]</font>

...to continue.

Sometime mid-afternoon on the dhammer53 Brooklyn Reality Tour; MJM says that he could use a coffee break. A Starbucks coffee break. I laughed out loud and said, "Starbucks in Brooklyn?" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif You must be kidding.
Just then dmfriedman whips out his web/cellphone and says there is a Starbucks at 161 7th ave. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif Oh my!

So mjm got to have his Starbucks; and I learned something about Brooklyn. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif

Nice report Missy.

Dan

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by missydarlin:
Saturday March 22
The weather cooperated very nicely, and we had a glorious day of touring, eating, and firetrucks http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif. </font>

&lt;insert catty comment here&gt; http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tongue.gif

-alan in sitges



[This message has been edited by alanw (edited 03-24-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dhammer53:
...I laughed out loud and said, "Starbucks in Brooklyn?" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif You must be kidding.
Just then dmfriedman whips out his web/cellphone and says there is a Starbucks at 161 7th ave. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif Oh my! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif
Dan </font>

Dan, Dan, Dan ... how many BRTs is it going to take to figure out that we CAers get out way - and thru persistance and reason ... maybe its all those lawyers in our state http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Oh wait ... I thought you meant rbernheim ...

I never locked myself out of my house, it the home remodlers who left to lunch and slammed the door shut. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mjm:
Would a cold Chinook Copper or several on me next time cover the gas?</font>The beer covers the gas, but what about my dedication at 2AM??? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Hi Missy! Ms rtpflyer and I missed running into you again. (We met in Las Vegas last February.) As it happens we flew into LGA Friday afternoon and back Sunday afternoon. We weren't staying in the city though - took Metro-North train up to Rye for the weekend.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by chexfan:
The beer covers the gas, but what about my dedication at 2AM??? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
</font>

Well for this part I can toss your name in the hat at the next ballot for living canonization candidates from the Northwest. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Mike

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by chexfan:
[The beer covers the gas, but what about my dedication at 2AM??? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

</font>

For that, you got to see MissyDarlin, always a sight for tired eyes. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Sunday March 23

Another far too early morning started with last minute packing as we needed to be out of the hotel by 8:30 for mjm to go catch his flight. We grabbed a taxi over to the Marriott where I said goodbye, and he continued on to the Russell to pick up seanthepilot for their flight back to Narita.

I checked my bag with the bell desk and called up to DMFriedmans room to see if he was ready for breakfast. He was about to hop into the shower, so I walked over to the Park avenue Starbucks again to pass some time. Back at the Marriott, I plopped down into a lobby chair to wait for DM and LJP99 who was supposed to be meeting us as well. Dave came down and went out for a smoke while we waited for Larry. Suddenly my cell phone rang, and it was Larry who happened to also be standing 10 feet in front of me. Apparently I had made such an impression on him at the party (all of 10 hours earlier) that despite being the only female in the lobby, he still didnt recognize me. SHEESH! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

We walked down a couple blocks to the Viennese deli and stuffed ourselves full of greasy breakfast food. Then we headed over to Grand Central since Dave hadnt seen it in 15 years. The place was teeming with security, NYPD, and Nat'l Guard. We had planned to try and see the Campbell Apartments, but they werent open til later that afternoon. Dave had to head back to the hotel to go catch his flight so we said our goodbyes and Larry and I walked up to Central Park, as that was the one place I had wanted to see on my last trip in NY that I didnt have time for. We walked around the edge of the zoo and got to see the Sealions, then after I took a few pictures, we found a giant rock to climb up to sit and read the NY Times. Once up on current affairs, we walked through the park a bit more, then got on the subway for a trip down to canal street to look at faux designer handbags.

This turned out to be one of the more interesting parts of the day. There were displays of bags on the street and lots of little stores with metal garage door type openings. As I was deciding between the black faux gucci and the red faux Kate Spade, there was a commotion out front and we heard sirens. The sales guy goes running to the front and pulls down the metal garage door, essentially locking us in the store. Neither one of us knew what was going on, but no one else in the place seemed daunted, so I kept looking at purses. This happened twice before I made my selections walked out with a faux gucci and a faux prada. Faux Kate will have to wait for the next trip. At this point, my feet had decided they were done walking. (I forgot to pack walking shoes and had been hoofing all over the city in high heeled boots) and we found a bench in Washington park to plant ourselves and spent the next couple hours enjoying the sunny NY weather before I headed back to not so sunny Seattle. Soon it was time to go, and we hopped back on the subway. I found my way back to the Marriott, grabbed my bag, and headed over to Grand Central to catch the airport bus to EWR. The staff in the ticket office wasnt exactly helpful. The man in front of me was also buying at ticket to EWR and she wouldnt sell it to him, saying that the bus might not come or it might stop in a different place and she couldnt refund his ticket if he missed it. HUH? This was helpful. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif At this point I was already seriously behind schedule, and even if the bus showed up, it was entirely possible I would miss my flight. I crossed my fingers and went to where the bus was supposed to show up, and thankfully it did. I bought my ticket from the driver. Apparently they charge more if you buy the ticket ON the bus than in the ticket office..so I'm sure thats why they sent us to the bus..to get more money out of us. Luckily this was a weekend, traffic was light, and my flight was 10 minutes delayed. The bus pulled up to the A terminal at 5:35 and I was checked in, made it through security, and arrived at my gate at 5:50, just as they were clearing the standby list.

AS 7

This flight was also pretty full, but again I managed to get a window with an open middle seat. Dinner choices were asian chicken or beef stroganoff. I chose the beef. Wasnt bad, but not really memorable. The flight attendants were efficient but not really friendly like one expects from AS crew. Especially disappointing after having such a FABULOUS outbound crew http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif. After dinner I curled up in the window and slept for the next three hours. I woke up in time for snack service, and was looking very much forward to another round of yummy trail mix. Imagine my dismay when there were only peanuts!! I found it a bit odd that they would serve a heartier snack on the way TO EWR when the flight is actually an hour shorter than the return. Paging ASFlyer??? The flight had a few lumps and bumps and we had the seat belt sign turned on several times, but ended up arriving at our gate 15 minutes early. I picked up my car at SeaTac park, then headed up to Hoyts for a late night drink with AlanW to recount all my firetruck sightings and find out how his yardsale went http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Hey Missy -

I find it odd that they don't serve a second snack going west too. The logic (???) is that since the east bound flights leave in the morning and arrive in the late afternoon you are bypassing lunch hour and so the snack is supposed to get you through until dinner. Going west they say that most people don't eat after dinner so the dinner should be sufficient. They obviously haven't been hanging around my house. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I'll have to snag a few bags of that trail mix for you next time I'm able to. Yikes - forget I said that. But if some mysteriously shows up in the co-mail you'll have an idea of where it came from.....

We didn't go to see a show because we ended up getting to the hotel too late... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif Maybe next time.

I have a D.C. layover in a couple of days and BOS next week, looking forward to skulking around town and seeing what kind of trouble there is then.

Nice seeing you - thanks for the great trip report..... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif