New York State of Mind

A girl friend and I decided, just like that, to go to New York for a few days. We decided to stay in New Jersey because it was way cheaper than staying in NYC. Neither one of us wanted to drive downtown New York, so the Jersey option was good. We found this hotel, which had a bus stop right in front of it, dropping us off at Port Authority, for a fare of $4.25/trip. We also wanted to see a Broadway show while in the Big Apple, among other things. We planned only a few days, with lots of things to see.

The last time I was in NYC was back in 1999. I hadn’t visited much since we were there for a karate tournament and spent most of our time in a gym at Hunter’s College or the dojo.

On our drive down (it took us six hours) my friend, who can be a little neurotic, started telling me about what she’d been doing in the last few weeks. We had not spoken much prior to our departure: one phone call to agree on the hotel and to book a show once the hotel was reserved. I took care of that. She began by telling me she might be a little more neurotic than usual (that’s promising!) and that she thought of cancelling the whole trip. Her sister visited her husband in South Carolina and came back with bed bugs. My friend had to help her deal with it all, i.e. pack everything, have the house fumigated, etc.

You see, I, rarely watch the news. I don’t read the papers (nor online) either. The little news I get is from the radio when driving from point A to B. Other than that, I… uh… don’t care. I know, I know, it’s bad. I should keep myself informed, etc., but with all the crap going on, I don’t want to know how bad it is out there. Anyway. Long story short, I hadn’t heard anything about bed bugs and how NYC was infested. She had and was quite concerned about it, to say the least.

When we arrived at the hotel, before bringing anything in, we went to our room and basically went "Charlie Sheen" on it: we undid the beds; check all seams, nooks and crannies. We even put our bags in big garbage bags that we tied and stored up high. We avoided putting anything on the floor, or bed. Our room looked clean, but my friend wasn’t letting us take any chances. Let’s just say it added to the joy of travelling. Having to look through a garbage bag to get to my luggage was interesting. The whole time we were there I felt like I was watching my back. I wasn’t putting anything down, and even sitting in the theatre I was wondering if there could be bugs in the seats. Her neurosis was affecting me, that’s for sure.

Despite all this excitement, we had a good time. We got along fine. We saw many things, i.e. walked a LOT. Luckily for us we had nice weather. It was sunny, but cold. I didn’t care at least it wasn’t raining. Naturally we didn’t see all we wanted to see. We played it by ear and that was just what I needed.

Winter Garden Theater, NYC, Nov. 2010

We saw our first Broadway shows. I had made a reservation for “Mamma Mia!” at Winter Garden Theatre. What a show. While walking around Manhattan, I noticed a poster for another musical “The Addams Family”.

The Addams Family, Times Square, NYC, Nov. 2010

My first thought was: “ehh, interesting...”, but then I saw that Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth were in it. I just had to see it. It was a great opportunity to see Nathan Lane perform live, and the idea of Bebe as Morticia was just too much.  I just love Nathan Lane. I totally enjoyed it!  It was really worth it.  The decor was great, Nathan Lane was just... well... Nathan Lane, and Bebe was also a good Morticia.  Man does she look good for a 50+ woman!  Here's a little clip, from an appearance they did on Letterman.  Check it out.

My feet are still sore from all the walking we've done, but I'd go back in a heartbeat!