NYC, Friday and Saturday

We got to the city late on Friday night. The flight got to the area early, but naturally we had to circle several times before we landed. We were on Jet Blue, so I was watching the little TV in the seat back in front of me, and the signal dropped at the same point in the circle every time. You only THINK there's a commercial on every five minutes. I can tell you that there's not.

Our lovely hostess Michelle (known to her good friends as Shell) picked us up at the airport and drove us back to Manhattan in a cold rain. You just haven't experienced traffic joy until you've been in NYC in the rain. The potholes, the honking, the other drivers who think the white lines are merely suggestions... all these things conspire to make for a truly memorable experience. Have I mentioned how Austin traffic is really not that bad? Now would be a good time to say that.

We arrived at the apartment (or close to the apartment; you park where you can) and carried our bags up two very narrow flights of stairs to their place. Mike and Shell live in a great building. There's a vet on the first floor, and the second and third floors are each one apartment. The neighbors below them are friends of theirs who moved in after they did, so it's a friendly little building. There was an unfortunate odor from downstairs for parts of our visit, but I'll just let you use your imagination for that and say no more about it.

On Saturday morning, Shell and I weren't feeling particularly motivated to move. Hubby is a morning person and likes to GOGOGOGOGO on vacation, so he and Mike went to Central Park for a stroll (his "stroll" speed is faster than I really care to walk most of the time). Here are some of the pics he took while he was out:

This first picture just looks cold to me. Brrr.


This one was taken down a street near Mike and Shell's place, although their apartment is not shown here.

This is a view to the west of Central Park from inside the park. He also took pictures looking east, but they didn't come out as well.

Saturday night we went to see two bands: a Meat Loaf tribute band (the headliner) and a Billy Joel tribute band (the opener). Groan if you will, but they were all fantastic musicians, and both singers were amazing mimics. A good time was had by all.

Thus ends Chapter One of the Manhattan Saga. If I could keep my eyes open you might get more... maybe tomorrow.