Well, we are sitting in the airport...early for our flight! I figured I would take a second to jot down what we did today! We checked out of our wonderful hotel and headed up to Guggenheim Museum. Sarah and I are really NOT museum people! I think we lasted at the "G" for about 30 minutes!! We thought the Frank Lloyd Wright design was the best part. The majority of the museum is a giant spiraling cylinder. It is pretty cool!
After our short trip to the museum, we headed out in the VERY HOT weather to find a place to eat. We stumbled upon a nice restaurant called BurgerHeaven. We both had good patty melts and GREAT conversation. Following lunch we headed into the heat again and went to see a movie at this tiny Regal movie theater on the Upper East side. The movie was called "When Did You Last See Your Father?" It was a nice, quiet movie that we hadn't heard anything about. It starred Jim Broadbent and Collin Firth. We both really enjoyed it.
After our movie...we stumbled (on purpose) upon another Pinkberry! This time I tried the Green Tea frozen yogurt with fruity pebbles. It too was great. I think Sarah officially hates Pink Berry and is glad we are leaving New York so we don't have to have it anymore!! LOL!! Then it was back to the hotel to grab our luggage, a nice long trip to the airport, and then waiting for our plane to board!
OFF TO MINNESOTA!! 7 days in New York City and Sarah still might like me...it is amazing!!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Goodbye
Well...to my loyal readers (Barb, Becky, & Kristi), today is our last day in New York. We are packing up now. Our flight arrives in Minneapolis at 11:00 pm tonight!
Yesterday was a busy day! We slept in, which seemed to make the day fly by! Once we got moving we headed to Bangkok House for lunch. It had amazing Thai food that was so affordable! It is too bad we didn't find it until the second to last day! After lunch we really started getting away from the touristy Times Square locale and headed to Triton Gallery. This place has the Broadway Signs for almost every show in the last 30 or so years! We placed an order for Sarah's aunt Barb and I placed an order for the posters for shows that I have seen on tour over the years before I started buying the posters.
After the Triton Gallery, we went to do some last minute tourist shopping, Jamba Juice, and finally waited in line at the TKTS booth for tickets to Spring Awakening. Then it was off to the hotel room for a little relaxation.
We decided to go out with a bang for dinner and we went to a Brazilian Steakhouse for dinner. It was very similar to Fogo De Chao, for those who have been there. Basically, you get all of the meat that you could possibly eat from these guys who walk around with it. We totally saw a famous basketball player there...although neither Sarah or I have any clue who he was! But it cured our need to see someone famous!!!!!
The theater was a short walk from dinner and we soon settled into our cramped and warm seats in the Eugene O'Neal Theater. The show was a marvel!! I am going to be honest when I say that not EVERYONE would have loved the show. It was definitely edgy and very raw...but Sarah and I found it wonderful. The play that it is based on was written over 100 years ago, but it has not been performed due to its racy content. It was definitely unlike anything I have ever seen in its staging, scenery, and music. We fell in love with it.
We wanted to go out for a drink after the show, but we could not find the place we were looking for so we headed home and just relaxed.
Thanks for reading this blog, I think I will continue to use it to talk about shows and other things that I do.
Yesterday was a busy day! We slept in, which seemed to make the day fly by! Once we got moving we headed to Bangkok House for lunch. It had amazing Thai food that was so affordable! It is too bad we didn't find it until the second to last day! After lunch we really started getting away from the touristy Times Square locale and headed to Triton Gallery. This place has the Broadway Signs for almost every show in the last 30 or so years! We placed an order for Sarah's aunt Barb and I placed an order for the posters for shows that I have seen on tour over the years before I started buying the posters.
After the Triton Gallery, we went to do some last minute tourist shopping, Jamba Juice, and finally waited in line at the TKTS booth for tickets to Spring Awakening. Then it was off to the hotel room for a little relaxation.
We decided to go out with a bang for dinner and we went to a Brazilian Steakhouse for dinner. It was very similar to Fogo De Chao, for those who have been there. Basically, you get all of the meat that you could possibly eat from these guys who walk around with it. We totally saw a famous basketball player there...although neither Sarah or I have any clue who he was! But it cured our need to see someone famous!!!!!
The theater was a short walk from dinner and we soon settled into our cramped and warm seats in the Eugene O'Neal Theater. The show was a marvel!! I am going to be honest when I say that not EVERYONE would have loved the show. It was definitely edgy and very raw...but Sarah and I found it wonderful. The play that it is based on was written over 100 years ago, but it has not been performed due to its racy content. It was definitely unlike anything I have ever seen in its staging, scenery, and music. We fell in love with it.
We wanted to go out for a drink after the show, but we could not find the place we were looking for so we headed home and just relaxed.
Thanks for reading this blog, I think I will continue to use it to talk about shows and other things that I do.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Grrr Hot!
Morning All!!
The Internet is finally working again at the hotel...so I can post pictures again!! I added some to my last post too!!
Yesterday, Sarah and I took our time getting up in the morning before we headed out for the Famous Brunch at Norma's. We met my friend Eileen for breakfast there and they were able to combine out reservations! It is funny because it has been over a year since we have hung out, and we both live in Minnesota...that is vacation for ya! I had an amazing lobster and asparagus omelet. After brunch (feeling sad that we didn't see ANY famous people there) we headed down 6th avenue through the street fair. Sarah bought a dress and I bought a painting to hang in my new bedroom!! It was quite successful!
After returning our purchases to the room we went to a matinee of WICKED!! We had nice seats again and the show was very cool! Sarah and I know the music pretty well and she has seen it on tour in Minnesota...I had never seen it! I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle that it is...but I guess after In The Heights everything else fails in comparison!
After Wicked, Sarah and I headed to dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner! It is a cute diner in Times Square where the waitstaff sing Broadway show tunes throughout the meal! It was super fun! I could have stayed there for hours listening...but Sarah made me leave!! LOL!
Next, we headed on a long subway ride down to the World Trade Center site. The subways in New York are incredibly warm and by the time we got to Ground Zero, I was a puddle!! Then we get there and there is literally nothing to see. They have taken down all of the plaques and pictures so they could begin construction on the new tower. It was really too bad! It is still a solemn moment...but I sort of wanted to see some form of memorial or remembrance!
By the time we were done walking around the area, I had completely sweat through my shirt! Sarah is so good about trying to find cool things for us to do in the heat that she threw out the idea of going to a movie! It was delightful. We saw Hancock at the AMC in Times Square! The theater was huge and the movie was enjoyable. New Yorkers are definitely clappers during movies...they hoot and holla!!
When we were done with the movie, we went back the room and we played doctor for a bit...Sarah's ear lobe is infected and I cleaned it out for her!! Then we just relaxed with some Domino's Pizza wings. It was a perfect night!!
Today we are headed to the Triton Gallery for Broadway posters/frames and we are going to try to get some seats for Spring Awakening tonight!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
What a Wonderful Day!!
Howdy All!!
It is after midnight on this glorious day in New York! Okay...so I am on a little bit of a high after a great day...more on that to come later!
After eating the glorious continental breakfast, Sarah and I headed up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art! We didn't spend a ton of time there, but we did a good once over of the joint...Sarah and I get a little ADD in museums and have a hard time staying in them too long. Sarah got some nice pictures to use in her classroom!
We headed to Shula's Steak Restaurant for lunch (owned by the legendary football coach...Sarah told me to write that...I had no idea who he was!!) I had the incredible Mediterranean Prime Rib Sandwich and Sarah had a good burger! Then it was off to our first show. We have this thing where we always finish our meals earlier than expected and then we have to wait outside the shows before they open. In this fashion...we got to our first show of the day only 45 minutes early!!
Les Liasons Dangereuses was our only non-musical that we are seeing and it didn't disappoint. When Sarah and I were ordering the tickets a while back, we ordered the cheap box seats because we wanted to be close to the stage (mostly to see Laura Linney up close!) Well...let's just say our sight-lines were not the best! We missed anything that happened on the back third of the stage but I would say it was well worth it for how close we were to L.L.!! She was amazing! We heard that Ben Daniels, the male lead, had been out for much of the week but he must be feeling better. We didn't love everything about the show...but it definitely had its moments!
It is after midnight on this glorious day in New York! Okay...so I am on a little bit of a high after a great day...more on that to come later!
After eating the glorious continental breakfast, Sarah and I headed up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art! We didn't spend a ton of time there, but we did a good once over of the joint...Sarah and I get a little ADD in museums and have a hard time staying in them too long. Sarah got some nice pictures to use in her classroom!
We headed to Shula's Steak Restaurant for lunch (owned by the legendary football coach...Sarah told me to write that...I had no idea who he was!!) I had the incredible Mediterranean Prime Rib Sandwich and Sarah had a good burger! Then it was off to our first show. We have this thing where we always finish our meals earlier than expected and then we have to wait outside the shows before they open. In this fashion...we got to our first show of the day only 45 minutes early!!
Les Liasons Dangereuses was our only non-musical that we are seeing and it didn't disappoint. When Sarah and I were ordering the tickets a while back, we ordered the cheap box seats because we wanted to be close to the stage (mostly to see Laura Linney up close!) Well...let's just say our sight-lines were not the best! We missed anything that happened on the back third of the stage but I would say it was well worth it for how close we were to L.L.!! She was amazing! We heard that Ben Daniels, the male lead, had been out for much of the week but he must be feeling better. We didn't love everything about the show...but it definitely had its moments!
After the show we headed to Cooper's Tavern for dinner. We had really good food...I had my favorite seafood...SCALLOPS!! NUMMY!! Luckily, we had a little time after dinner to head back to the hotel, clean up, and relax...it got us in the right frame of mind to see our evening show!!
IN THE HEIGHTS was the best musical I have ever seen! There was something magical about it from start to finish. For those that don't know, it won the Tony Award last month for best musical and it did not disappoint! Part of what made the evening so special was getting to see the full original cast in the production. Lin Manuel Mirranda wrote the musical and also stars in it, and he is brilliant! The music is full of life and the dancing (a mix between hip hop, popping, and breaking) was so fun to watch. The story follows a Washington Heights neighborhood over a three day span. During those three days the community questions what makes home, HOME!! I am going to be honest and say I shed a tear or two! I was incredibly moved by the beauty of the production throughout!
Friday, July 4, 2008
Deep LOVE
Okay...not much to add since my post earlier today, but here goes anyway!!
Sarah and I skipped the fireworks festivities and opted for a much dryer and less patriotic endeavor...the theater! TGI Fridays was the dinner stop tonight mostly because of its convenience. However, I would like to most-notably say that the Jack Daniel's Burger is much better in New York where you can actually get it medium rare!! Hazzaaaah!
After our brief dinner, Sarah and I headed to the Hilton Theater to see The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein! It was true extravagance! The sets were amazingly complicated and technology packed and the stars were in abundance! Megan Mullally (Karen from Will and Grace) was a comedic diva, Roger Bart (George, the pharmacist, from Desperate Housewives) has an amazing voice, and Andrea Martin (the crazy aunt from My Big Fat Greek Wedding) was frickin' hilarious!!! I will be the first to say that it was WAY better than fireworks in the rain!
Across from the theater is the first McDonald's I have ever seen with a Marquee SIGN!! LOL!!
And on our walk home you could just make out the Empire State Building in the rain lit up red, white, and blue for the holiday!!
That is all for tonight! Time to join my fabulous girlfriend for the DIRTY JOBS marathon (if I don't pay attention to her...I may lose her to Mike Rowe!)
Tomorrow is a big day...we have a matinee of Dangerous Liasons and then we see IN THE HEIGHTS...the show that I am most looking forward to!!
Sarah and I skipped the fireworks festivities and opted for a much dryer and less patriotic endeavor...the theater! TGI Fridays was the dinner stop tonight mostly because of its convenience. However, I would like to most-notably say that the Jack Daniel's Burger is much better in New York where you can actually get it medium rare!! Hazzaaaah!
After our brief dinner, Sarah and I headed to the Hilton Theater to see The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein! It was true extravagance! The sets were amazingly complicated and technology packed and the stars were in abundance! Megan Mullally (Karen from Will and Grace) was a comedic diva, Roger Bart (George, the pharmacist, from Desperate Housewives) has an amazing voice, and Andrea Martin (the crazy aunt from My Big Fat Greek Wedding) was frickin' hilarious!!! I will be the first to say that it was WAY better than fireworks in the rain!
Across from the theater is the first McDonald's I have ever seen with a Marquee SIGN!! LOL!!
And on our walk home you could just make out the Empire State Building in the rain lit up red, white, and blue for the holiday!!
That is all for tonight! Time to join my fabulous girlfriend for the DIRTY JOBS marathon (if I don't pay attention to her...I may lose her to Mike Rowe!)
Tomorrow is a big day...we have a matinee of Dangerous Liasons and then we see IN THE HEIGHTS...the show that I am most looking forward to!!
I love BROADWAY!!!
Happy Fourth of July!!
After I last blogged yesterday, Sarah and I began our walk to the restaurant where we were going to eat. On the way, we just happened to stumble across Eddie Murphy...yeah that is right...a 20 foot Eddie Murphy no less. It is traveling around the US to promote his new movie.
While we were waiting for our table, I just want to mention that we had $10.50 Captain Diets!!!!! I guess it costs a lot more for Carmine's to get Captain then it does for Cy's in Chaska!! For dinner, we ate at the very popular Carmine's. Everything is served family style (similar to Buccas) and the food was incredible. We began with a baked artichoke that was everything we hoped and dreamed it would be...a huge artichoke, stuffed with garlic and bread crumbs, and smothered in butter. It was heaven. Then, with a little arm twisting, I was able to convince Sarah to order the Veal Shank. Sarah is sort of against the whole veal thing, but she enjoyed the taste! Then we had the best sundae in all of New York (at least that is what they claim!) It was incredible.
After dinner, it was off to the Lunt Fontainne for my first Broadway Show...The Little Mermaid! It was everything I hoped it would be! The level of talent is so much higher than anything I have ever seen before. It was really cool to see Sherie Renee Scott at Ursala...she was a scene stealer! Sarah and I were pretty impressed with the show...it was definitely great over-the-top-Disney!
After we had a few drinks at the new bar that is actually in our hotel, we headed off to bed!
This morning, we slept in!! YAY! Sarah didn't wake up until after 10:00...which is unheard of for her! I was a little slower to wake up...but eventually we got going and headed to Rosie O'Grady's for lunch. We enjoyed sandwiches with sweet potato fries...our favorite. Then we wandered around Times Square some more. There is just so much to see! We checked out the new M&M store and then bought Sarah's favorite popcorn at Dale and Thomas. Something like White Chocolate - Peanut Butter! All I know is it was to die for! With popcorn in hand, we began a long walk up to Central Park. We headed past the Ed Sullivan theater and then we sat on a bench in central park and ate our popcorn while people watching!
As we were sitting there...we were approached by a very nice young man who wanted to take us on a bicycle taxi ride around the park and we agreed! Needless to say...the nice man took us about a half mile and his chain broke!! So we boarded another one driven by a crazy Russian boy and his friend rode along side us the entire trip trying to bump into us and then showing us how he could get his bike and the cart he was pulling to lean onto only one set of wheels! We had a few near death moments...but it was a very fun way to see Central Park! Below are some sights!
The Entrance!!
The Fountain from the Angels in America mini-series!
The fountain from the FRIENDS opening!
The rock formation from Borat! For those who saw the movie...it was when he was washing his underwear in central park!! Gotta love it!!
And of course the John Lennon Memorial in Strawberry Fields!
And after our lovely bike taxi ride we went to Lincoln Center and enjoyed the air conditioning and some Jamba Juice!! Sarah will hate that I put this picture in here but it pretty much express how I was feeling! Exhausted!
Once again, Sarah entrusted me with the job of navigating the subway and I led us astray again! We took the wrong train which meant MORE WALKING! But the plus side is we stumbled across the Nederlander Theater...home of RENT! It is a cool theater!
Now we are relaxing in the room before heading out again! We decided to opt out of the 4th of July festivities tonight and we went to the TKTS 1/2 price ticket booth and got tickets to Young Frankenstein! I am excited to see Megan Mullaley (Karen from Will and Grace!!)
That is all for now!
After I last blogged yesterday, Sarah and I began our walk to the restaurant where we were going to eat. On the way, we just happened to stumble across Eddie Murphy...yeah that is right...a 20 foot Eddie Murphy no less. It is traveling around the US to promote his new movie.
While we were waiting for our table, I just want to mention that we had $10.50 Captain Diets!!!!! I guess it costs a lot more for Carmine's to get Captain then it does for Cy's in Chaska!! For dinner, we ate at the very popular Carmine's. Everything is served family style (similar to Buccas) and the food was incredible. We began with a baked artichoke that was everything we hoped and dreamed it would be...a huge artichoke, stuffed with garlic and bread crumbs, and smothered in butter. It was heaven. Then, with a little arm twisting, I was able to convince Sarah to order the Veal Shank. Sarah is sort of against the whole veal thing, but she enjoyed the taste! Then we had the best sundae in all of New York (at least that is what they claim!) It was incredible.
After dinner, it was off to the Lunt Fontainne for my first Broadway Show...The Little Mermaid! It was everything I hoped it would be! The level of talent is so much higher than anything I have ever seen before. It was really cool to see Sherie Renee Scott at Ursala...she was a scene stealer! Sarah and I were pretty impressed with the show...it was definitely great over-the-top-Disney!
After we had a few drinks at the new bar that is actually in our hotel, we headed off to bed!
This morning, we slept in!! YAY! Sarah didn't wake up until after 10:00...which is unheard of for her! I was a little slower to wake up...but eventually we got going and headed to Rosie O'Grady's for lunch. We enjoyed sandwiches with sweet potato fries...our favorite. Then we wandered around Times Square some more. There is just so much to see! We checked out the new M&M store and then bought Sarah's favorite popcorn at Dale and Thomas. Something like White Chocolate - Peanut Butter! All I know is it was to die for! With popcorn in hand, we began a long walk up to Central Park. We headed past the Ed Sullivan theater and then we sat on a bench in central park and ate our popcorn while people watching!
As we were sitting there...we were approached by a very nice young man who wanted to take us on a bicycle taxi ride around the park and we agreed! Needless to say...the nice man took us about a half mile and his chain broke!! So we boarded another one driven by a crazy Russian boy and his friend rode along side us the entire trip trying to bump into us and then showing us how he could get his bike and the cart he was pulling to lean onto only one set of wheels! We had a few near death moments...but it was a very fun way to see Central Park! Below are some sights!
The Entrance!!
The Fountain from the Angels in America mini-series!
The fountain from the FRIENDS opening!
The rock formation from Borat! For those who saw the movie...it was when he was washing his underwear in central park!! Gotta love it!!
And of course the John Lennon Memorial in Strawberry Fields!
And after our lovely bike taxi ride we went to Lincoln Center and enjoyed the air conditioning and some Jamba Juice!! Sarah will hate that I put this picture in here but it pretty much express how I was feeling! Exhausted!
Once again, Sarah entrusted me with the job of navigating the subway and I led us astray again! We took the wrong train which meant MORE WALKING! But the plus side is we stumbled across the Nederlander Theater...home of RENT! It is a cool theater!
Now we are relaxing in the room before heading out again! We decided to opt out of the 4th of July festivities tonight and we went to the TKTS 1/2 price ticket booth and got tickets to Young Frankenstein! I am excited to see Megan Mullaley (Karen from Will and Grace!!)
That is all for now!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Oh Hot!!
Well folks...if you haven't heard, it is mad HOT here in New York! It is in the 90s and humid! You know that doesn't bode well for me...but I am still having a good time enjoying the sights!!
The Macy's Department Store on 42nd Street
This morning, Sarah and I hopped on the subway and headed down to the Empire State Building! The lines were long, but thanks to our CityPass we were able to bypass some of them. After an 80 story elevator ride and a 6 story climb (we chose the stairs to bypass another 20 minute line) we were finally on top of the tallest building in New York City. It was very windy up there, which provided some major issues for Sarah and her flow-ey skirt, but the views were cool. It is definitely not something I would do again (mostly because of the lines) but it was something everyone should do once in their life.
After we finally got down from the top of the Empire State Building we headed to lunch at a nummy cafe and walked towards the Flatiron building. This is the famous triangle shaped building that you always see on the New York reality TV shows. The block of street is triangle shaped because of Broadway's diagonal direction and the man who designed it just wanted to make the best use of the land.
Then, we headed over to the Parson School of Design. For all of those Project Runway fans, that is where the designers have their work space. It took a little bit of walking and searching to find it but eventually we did. Sarah and i remarked about how much cooler they make it look on tv.
By this time, I was getting pretty hot and tired (to be honest I was feeling as though I might pass out) so we decided to head back to the room and relax before we see the Little Mermaid tonight. However, on our way to the subway we spotted an oasis in the middle of the desert...PINKBERRY!! For those that haven't heard about PINKBERRY, it is a frozen yogurt shop that was on Oprah's Favorite Things list. They haven't made it out of New York and L.A. yet and it was on our list of things to accomplish while here. We stumbled upon one that we had even walked by once and completely missed. I ordered the PINKBERRY with yogurt chips and chocolate chips!! It was a "Praise Jesus" moment for me! It completely revived me and changed my mood.
Now we are just relaxing before heading out to dinner tonight and our first show!!
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