Had to write about an awesome trip up to NYC this past weekend with my bud Sam. The trip started with a ride up on the inaugural trip of the DCtoNY bus (www.dc2ny.com), a new service with daily nonstopish trips up to NYC (we did take a short break on the way up to stretch and such, but not on the way home). It was nice, as comfortable as you can be squished on a bus, but with wireless internet service. . .what a perk! Anyway, we arrived up in NYC before our hotel room was ready, so we dropped off our bags and grabbed some food from Maxi's Delicatessen. Normally I would be PSYCHED for a hot pastrami on rye that had 1 pound of pastrami. . . the sandwich was HUGE! But, when you are trying to eat it one handed. . . mmmm, not so good. Half of the sandwich ended up falling out all over my plate, but meh. . .that's what forks are for! So, we head back to the hotel (http://www.thetimeny.com/) and, not only was our room ready, but because of the wait, they upgraded us to a suite! Hooray! So, we checked in and went our separate ways, me to meet up with an old college friend for Happy Hour and Sam to hang with an old college friend of his.
I walked up to Bamboo 52, a place my friend Molly picked out. Nice little sushi bar/lounge with a kickin outdoor patio. We caught up and talked about how fabulous we looked, all very NY, and were joined by my friend Erin. Oh, about 4 mojito's later, we decided to head over to the Improv festival that was going on at Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (http://www.delclosemarathon.com/). Basically, it was 72 straight hours of Improv starring groups from around the country. It was fun. I was excited to see Ed Helms' (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1159180/) puppet show (he plays Andy on The Office), and just to be around such a diverse group of people. After 4 hours of back to back improv shows, it was time for bed.
Saturday we headed out to breakfast and then up to Central Park to try to see the Natural History Museum (the one from A Night in the Museum) before seeing Grey Gardens. Alas, between the long line to get in and the short amount of time we had, we opted to simply walk around Central Park, checking out the Belvedere Castle (http://www.centralparknyc.org/virtualpark/thegreatlawn/belvederecastle) and just the beauty that is Central Park, then off to Grey Gardens! All and all it was an awesome show. Brilliant performances and haunting music (ok, some hilarious songs as well, I still can't get "Revolutionary Costume for Today" out of my head!) From there it was back to the hotel to relax before heading back out for more improv. I decided to take a bath, since Sam had plans with a friend, and as I relaxed in the tub, letting the jets release some of the tension from all the walking we did, I heard some movement outside the door. I figured Sam had come back to show off the suite, and just relaxed. I got out of the tub, threw on a towel and walked out to see that the maids had been in to turn down the sheets and turn on some mood music/lighting. Weird. I have never stayed in a 4-star hotel, so some of the little amenities were a bit foreign to me. Anyway, headed back down to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater for more improv. My friend's group, Bastian (www.myspace.com/bastianimprov). They were hilarious, and I was so psyched for my friend Molly. Then, off to the gay bars! We started out at Barrage, had a fun time, but not very crowded, so we headed off to the next bar, Posh, where we met up with a few of Sam's friends from college. Posh was not too crowded either so, we continued on our journey to Therapy. Not a bad place, nice layout. . .but again, pretty dead. Where were all the gay boys!? So, again we left and headed to a Russian themed bar (the name escapes me) where we finished off our evening and headed back to the hotel.
Sunday morning we met one of Sam's old roommates for brunch then walked around Times Square, anxiously awaiting the house opening for Xanadu. We hit Toys-R-Us and walked around for an hour or so, taking in all of the toys, video games and Barbies (yeah, I said barbies. . .jealous?) After seeing all we could, we headed back out to discover that the rain had begun, and our umbrella's were back at the hotel. . .oh well . . .so we walked from awning to awning, checking out people, one of whom, an older woman with short grey hair and a smart business suit was umm, seated? under an awning in a position that, well here is a picture:
We walked by her 2 or three times, trying to determine is she was wearing underwear or not. Next up. . .XANADU! The show was hilarious! We had on stage seating ,which meant that we were right up there with the actors. I HIGHLY recommend on stage seating if you go to see this show. The acting was awesome, and the dancing/music incredible. I can't say enough about this show. . .I absolutely loved it and HAVE to go see it again. Afterwards, we hopped on the bus to head home.
I walked up to Bamboo 52, a place my friend Molly picked out. Nice little sushi bar/lounge with a kickin outdoor patio. We caught up and talked about how fabulous we looked, all very NY, and were joined by my friend Erin. Oh, about 4 mojito's later, we decided to head over to the Improv festival that was going on at Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (http://www.delclosemarathon.com/). Basically, it was 72 straight hours of Improv starring groups from around the country. It was fun. I was excited to see Ed Helms' (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1159180/) puppet show (he plays Andy on The Office), and just to be around such a diverse group of people. After 4 hours of back to back improv shows, it was time for bed.
Saturday we headed out to breakfast and then up to Central Park to try to see the Natural History Museum (the one from A Night in the Museum) before seeing Grey Gardens. Alas, between the long line to get in and the short amount of time we had, we opted to simply walk around Central Park, checking out the Belvedere Castle (http://www.centralparknyc.org/virtualpark/thegreatlawn/belvederecastle) and just the beauty that is Central Park, then off to Grey Gardens! All and all it was an awesome show. Brilliant performances and haunting music (ok, some hilarious songs as well, I still can't get "Revolutionary Costume for Today" out of my head!) From there it was back to the hotel to relax before heading back out for more improv. I decided to take a bath, since Sam had plans with a friend, and as I relaxed in the tub, letting the jets release some of the tension from all the walking we did, I heard some movement outside the door. I figured Sam had come back to show off the suite, and just relaxed. I got out of the tub, threw on a towel and walked out to see that the maids had been in to turn down the sheets and turn on some mood music/lighting. Weird. I have never stayed in a 4-star hotel, so some of the little amenities were a bit foreign to me. Anyway, headed back down to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater for more improv. My friend's group, Bastian (www.myspace.com/bastianimprov). They were hilarious, and I was so psyched for my friend Molly. Then, off to the gay bars! We started out at Barrage, had a fun time, but not very crowded, so we headed off to the next bar, Posh, where we met up with a few of Sam's friends from college. Posh was not too crowded either so, we continued on our journey to Therapy. Not a bad place, nice layout. . .but again, pretty dead. Where were all the gay boys!? So, again we left and headed to a Russian themed bar (the name escapes me) where we finished off our evening and headed back to the hotel.
Sunday morning we met one of Sam's old roommates for brunch then walked around Times Square, anxiously awaiting the house opening for Xanadu. We hit Toys-R-Us and walked around for an hour or so, taking in all of the toys, video games and Barbies (yeah, I said barbies. . .jealous?) After seeing all we could, we headed back out to discover that the rain had begun, and our umbrella's were back at the hotel. . .oh well . . .so we walked from awning to awning, checking out people, one of whom, an older woman with short grey hair and a smart business suit was umm, seated? under an awning in a position that, well here is a picture:
We walked by her 2 or three times, trying to determine is she was wearing underwear or not. Next up. . .XANADU! The show was hilarious! We had on stage seating ,which meant that we were right up there with the actors. I HIGHLY recommend on stage seating if you go to see this show. The acting was awesome, and the dancing/music incredible. I can't say enough about this show. . .I absolutely loved it and HAVE to go see it again. Afterwards, we hopped on the bus to head home.
posted by Mark at 8:04 AM
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