BeerHer2010 & ReNYC2010

My weekend, in pictures:

Saturday – BeerHer2010

While walking to my hotel I encountered this wedding procession.

Poppy & Dawg sitting outside The Ginger Man

Poppy, Rachel, B.E. Earl and Robin at the Ginger Man

Ginger Man chalkboard art

More BeerHer2010 pictures from The Ginger Man, as well as from ayza wine and chocolate bar, are available as a photo album.

Sunday – ReNYC2010

My nod to TequilaCon

The Grand Central Station clock

Strolling through Central Park in a light rain

One of my favorite flower pics ever. Click through twice for full size.

One of many butterfly shots I took (see album for more)

Watching the watcher

Another notch in my Hard Rock belt

Feed the Dawg!

More ReNYC2010 pictures from Grand Central Station, Central Park, the American Museum of Natural History and the Hard Rock Cafe at Yankee Stadium are available as a photo album.

I had so much fun and can’t wait for my next trips — back to NYC as well as anywhere else!

Advertisement

In A New York Minute

The Lady and Her City

It was a whirlwind weekend. We picked up the girls right after school and headed to the airport for our flight to New York – La Guardia (via DFW). It was the first visit for my daughters and we had a lot planned. Not surprisingly, we didn’t manage to do everything. Despite this, we still had a great time.

Brittney & McKenzie Under the Statue of Liberty

First up for Saturday morning was a trip to The Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately, tickets for entering the statue herself had long since been sold out for this weekend, so we just toured the island. Marci and I had only viewed her via the Staten Island Ferry, so this was a new experience for us as well. As you can see, it was quite a cloudy day and, in fact, we got rained on while walking around Liberty Island.

Originally, we were going to meet up with some of Marci’s family at our hotel, but plans changed and we decided to meet them on Liberty Island. However, before they could arrive, it was time for me to head off on my own. My plans for the day were different from my families. While they toured Ground Zero, the Empire State Building, and went to a Broadway Show, I was having lunch with my second cousin, Dee, and then headed to the Houndstooth Pub for RenYC.

It was wonderful to catch up with Dee for a bit as we haven’t seen each other in a few years. At the same time, I follow her blog so I certainly didn’t feel out of touch. It’s funny, though not really surprising, that it took her moving from Kansas to New York for me to visit. After lunch, I had a few hours before the scheduled start of RenYC. I spent them walking around midtown for a while, headed back to the hotel. I took a short (though not as short as it was supposed to be) nap and then high-tailed it back to the Houndstooth Pub to join RenYC already in progress.

B.E. Earl at RenYC

Poppy & Rachel at RenYC

YKnot at RenYC

Robin & Poppy at RenYC

RenYC was a blast. In attendance were Poppy, Dawg, Robin, Rachel, B.E. Earl, Bill (aka YKnot), Bearette and her baby. We hung out eating and drinking for a number of hours. As always is the case at these types of events, time passed by much too quickly. For instance, I never managed to talk to Bearette before she had to leave.

Dawg, Poppy & Robin at Serendipity 3

From there, most of us (just barely — five of nine by my count) headed over to Serendipity 3 for dessert (or, in Poppy’s case, breakfast — which I think had something to do with her level of intoxication). I knew this place was semi-famous (or perhaps full-on famous, I’m not sure), but I hadn’t expected the hour-long wait that we encountered. No matter, the weather was reasonably nice and we were still able to socialize while we waited outside.

I had hoped that Marci and the girls would be able to meet us for dessert, but their show (Mary Poppins) ran longer than I expected and then they went back to the hotel before deciding to come get dessert after all. The result of this delay was that RenYC officially ended about fifteen minutes before my family arrived. No collision of worlds on this trip! 🙂

For other RenYC summaries, see Poppy’s and Rachel’s. And their Flickr streams.

Sunday was supposed to start fairly early with an NBC studio tour. Instead, we slept through most of Sunday morning. We did eventually head over to Rockefeller Center, but the tickets for the tour were sold out. Oops, we meant to get those on Saturday, but obviously didn’t. We went to the American Girl store, but I think my daughters are just a bit too old for that store, though they did buy a number of books.

Hard Rock Times Square

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square. What can I say, Dave2 has inspired me. Only belatedly did I realize that I need to do a much better job of exploring the place while I’m there. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised at how much more impressive this location was than the Toronto location we visited last month.

Our final plans before our flight home included visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and FAO Schwartz, but there simply wan’t time for both. In truth, there wasn’t really enough time for the Met at all, but Brittney said that she just wanted a quick visit through the Egyptian exhibit for some pictures for school. Also, she wasn’t interested in FAO Schwartz. Naturally, we split up. While Marci and McKenzie played on the piano mat at FAO Schwartz, Brittney and I went to the Met. After a longer than expected subway ride and walk across Central Park, we were left with only fifteen minutes at the museum. Luckily, it was enough. We got the pictures she wanted. Plus, the walk through the park was a pleasure in and of itself.

Brittney & Ren Riding a Bike Taxi

Our final adventure, excluding the plane trip home, was the bike taxi that Brittney and I decided to take to get back to the hotel. As you can see in the picture, Sunday turned out to be a very nice day and the ride was quite enjoyable. I think it was Brittney’s favorite part of the entire trip — or, at least it was while it was happening.

It’s normal to feel like a leisure trip has ended too soon, but trying to squeeze a New York City trip into 43 hours is just crazy.

And yet, I’ll do it again.

Many times.

Flashback Friday: Weekend in Manhattan

In memory of 9-11 and in honor of my upcoming visit to NYC, and because today is a Friday, I’ve decided to do another Flashback Friday using this post from last December. By the way, our trip to Toronto was last weekend. I’ll get a post done about that eventually, but I still have lots of pictures to process and I’ve been pretty busy with other things this week.

---

As I mentioned last week, we spent last weekend in New York City. We flew in Friday night and by the time our delayed flight landed we decided to head straight for the party. It was my first opportunity to put faces to the names of Marci’s co-workers. We had a good time.

After sleeping in Saturday morning, we headed downtown to see what discount Broadway tickets were available. Next, we made our way up to the South Street Seaport where they were having some sort of Santa convention or something. There were people walking all around the area wearing Santa suits. We spent some time looking for some gloves for me as I’d left mine in my lighter jacket at home. I ended up picking up a pair from a street vendor near the World Trade Center Site — just before my hands were about to fall off. 🙂

World Trade Center Site

We were too late for the guided walking tour of the World Trade Center Site, so we just walked around on our own. Surprisingly, one of the best views was from the second story of the Burger King on the corner (above). There were only a few other spots around the site from which you could see the construction. I suppose the weird vibe I had was to be expected, but looking at the plans for the memorial and new buildings I couldn’t help but feel that the vibe will be even stronger after construction is complete.

Rockefeller Center

Without realizing it, our choice for a show for the night ended up being right next to Rockefeller Center, as well as being very close to our hotel. This was particularly convenient since we had previously decided to go see the Christmas tree before the show. Continuing the trend through most of the day — except for the walk from the South Ferry to the South Street Seaport — the place was packed with people. I know it’s cliched, but even at 28°F the energy level in Manhattan is constantly as high as (or higher than) most other places during special events.

We didn’t stay long, just long enough to take a few pictures before queueing up for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes. I was a little concerned that they wouldn’t let me in with my camera (it doesn’t fit in my pocket), but my long coat concealed it so there wasn’t an issue. As it turns out, they only forbid flash photography, so it probably wouldn’t have been a problem anyway. The lack of coat checks does make me wonder what the point of bag checks was, though.

Rockettes Dolls

The show was festive and enjoyable and included a nice short rendition of The Nutcracker, which is about the only way I can take it anymore. I hadn’t originally planned on taking any pictures, but since I had my camera and they had only prohibited flashes, I went ahead and took a few — and I certainly wasn’t the only one. Still, I made an attempt to avoid being too annoying to those around me. I doubt I was successful, but at least I made the attempt.

RenYC 2009

I put the word out yesterday on Twitter that I’ll be in New York City on October 10th and would love to get together with some fellow bloggers and tweeters. The wonderful Poppy was quick to volunteer for the task of organizing a dinner meet-up dubbed RenYC. Thank you, Poppy!

If you are interested in attending (please, please, please!), please leave a comment either here or at Poppy’s blog entry linked above. Better yet, leave a comment both places. 🙂

By my reckoning, this will be my fourth trip to the Big Apple, having previously visited in 2000, 2001 and 2008. The first trip was in the summer and pretty hot, though coming from Texas it wasn’t too bad. The other two trips (March and December) were a bit cold for my taste. I wonder how October will be?

To be clear, I’ve enjoyed each one of my trips regardless of the weather. I love visiting New York City. To be honest, I enjoy visiting most places, but New York City has a special draw for me. It’s the energy level I almost always encounter there that appeals to me. The only energy level I’ve experienced that consistently surpases it is Mardi Gras in New Orleans — another city I love to visit.

Anyway, back to RenYC. The venue is not yet determined but it will be somewhere in Manhattan at around 6pm, October 10, 2009. Hope to see you there!

Weekend in Manhattan

As I mentioned last week, we spent last weekend in New York City. We flew in Friday night and by the time our delayed flight landed we decided to head straight for the party. It was my first opportunity to put faces to the names of Marci’s co-workers. We had a good time.

After sleeping in Saturday morning, we headed downtown to see what discount Broadway tickets were available. Next, we made our way up to the South Street Seaport where they were having some sort of Santa convention or something. There were people walking all around the area wearing Santa suits. We spent some time looking for some gloves for me as I’d left mine in my lighter jacket at home. I ended up picking up a pair from a street vendor near the World Trade Center Site — just before my hands were about to fall off. 🙂

World Trade Center Site

We were too late for the guided walking tour of the World Trade Center Site, so we just walked around on our own. Surprisingly, one of the best views was from the second story of the Burger King on the corner (above). There were only a few other spots around the site from which you could see the construction. I suppose the weird vibe I had was to be expected, but looking at the plans for the memorial and new buildings I couldn’t help but feel that the vibe will be even stronger after construction is complete.

 

Rockefeller Center

Without realizing it, our choice for a show for the night ended up being right next to Rockefeller Center, as well as being very close to our hotel. This was particularly convenient since we had previously decided to go see the Christmas tree before the show. Continuing the trend through most of the day — except for the walk from the South Ferry to the South Street Seaport — the place was packed with people. I know it’s cliched, but even at 28°F the energy level in Manhattan is constantly as high as (or higher than) most other places during special events.

We didn’t stay long, just long enough to take a few pictures before queueing up for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes. I was a little concerned that they wouldn’t let me in with my camera (it doesn’t fit in my pocket), but my long coat concealed it so there wasn’t an issue. As it turns out, they only forbid flash photography, so it probably wouldn’t have been a problem anyway. The lack of coat checks does make me wonder what the point of bag checks was, though.

 

Rockettes Dolls

The show was festive and enjoyable and included a nice short rendition of The Nutcracker, which is about the only way I can take it anymore. I hadn’t originally planned on taking any pictures, but since I had my camera and they had only prohibited flashes, I went ahead and took a few — and I certainly wasn’t the only one. Still, I made an attempt to avoid being too annoying to those around me. I doubt I was successful, but at least I made the attempt.

NY, NY

My wife and I are off to New York City today for a company Christmas party. It will be my first time back to New York since March, 2001.

June, 2000

We have no plans all day Saturday, and given the low forecast we may end up spending most of the day just lounging at the hotel. We will visit the World Trade Center site, but I’m not sure we’ll do much else.

 

I was thinking I wouldn’t bring my camera, but now I realize that I should.