We arrived in NYC 1pm Friday afternoon, and managed to hit the ground running. And didn’t stop ‘til the bus pulled out from the theater very early Tuesday morning. We all for the most part went separate ways, but hooked up occasionally throughout. The weekend was full of fun, friends, and not a whole lot of rest. Here are the highlights:
Friday:
Seeing friend Ike Reilly perform solo @ Joe’s Pub. Ike lives in Chicago and is friends with some good friends in Sonoma. I had met him before, but never saw him play. It was great fun to go see somebody we know perform in Manhattan. He put on a great acoustic show. Check him out.
Sat:
Bike Ride 1: Yup, I suited up in full bike regalia in the hotel room, wheeled the bike out and down the elevator, and mounted right in midtown and pedaled to central park. Three hours and 6 + laps of the park later, I had a feel for it. Amazing to see the place from the back of the bike. Fully wooded and clean with seemingly hundreds of individual useful spaces, all full of people doing a myriad of activities, from kite flying to sunbathing to softball, soccer, rollerblading and more. It was extremely hot and the ride worked me. The route is much less flat than you’d think, with one legitimately little leg burning hill, and there are tons of other riders all around to pace with. Great ride.
Chilling with Liz: First, post ride feast on great Greek fare from a restaurant in midtown called Estiatorio Milos. Squid Salad, hummus, bread and some great tomatoes and feta.
Then, to Soho where we had a blast going from store to store looking at all sorts of stuff. Especially fun was drinking espresso in a storefront window watching all the people.
Dinner that night was at Raoul's in Soho, with much of our crowd. Raoul’s is a Soho institution, 35 years into its existence as a neighborhood staple. They carry GB and we were happy to relieve them of a few bottles. The meal was excellent, as was the company. Even a week into full togetherness, we were having fun. Highlight was when Jim and Nancy arrived directly from the airport.
Sunday
Another epic Central Park ride, highlights today were dodging hundreds of Puerto Rican parade goers, and riding by a guy just as he was pulling a good size fish right out of one of many lakes in the park.
Nap. Ahhhhhhhhh.
Dinner in Brooklyn with my friend Jimmy. He cooked us one hell of a meal which we enjoyed on his rooftop terrace. What a host and what a spot.
Monday early AM, Liz left and it was time to get back to it.
