New York City 2010

Grandma was looking down on Matt and I as we enjoyed a long weekend in New York together over Memorial Day weekend.


Thursday, May 27


My flight departed SLC at 8:30am and arrived at JFK at 5:08pm. I took the subway to Columbus Circle, where I met Matt and we went out to dinner.


We took it easy the first night, heading back to Matt's apartment in Brooklyn, where we settled down with a bottle of Jack and Kacy, Matt's roomie.


We went to bed early so we could get up and start my vacation in New York City.



Friday, May 28


First stop: The Museum of Natural History.


Here's Matt standing next next to a planet where you can go inside for movies. This was the space center.


Matt and I spent hours inside this museum. There's so much to see. I highly recommend it to everyone who visits New York.



Friday was a museum day. After the Museum of Natural History, we walked across beautiful, green Central Park and went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). On Friday's, the MoMA is free from 4-8pm.


Apart from all of the amazing artwork (Picasso, Matisse, Warhol), there was this crazy exhibit that had been in town for several months. Have you ever seen the movie, The Ring? I like to compare this exhibit to the video that kills you in seven days. There were pictures, videos, and nude humans all over the 6th floor.


There was a video of a group of naked people laying face down in a grassy field humping the ground simultaneously. There was a video of a woman caressing her breasts up and holding them up to the sky. There was a video of a woman cutting her stomach.


Then there were the live nudes. I walked around the corner to see a woman sitting on a bike seat that was mounted halfway up the wall and staring at people in the audience. She was nude. I walk around the next corner and there is a man laying on a table with a science class skeleton on top of him and staring at the people. He was nude. I go around the corner and there are two men standing about a foot apart from each other while people walked through them. They were nude.


Then you go down to the second floor and see the artist sitting in a chair, staring at someone sitting in another chair across from her.


Weird. You just don't see that here in Utah. Check out more on the exhibit here.


After our museum day, we met up with Kacy and went to dinner at a really good pizza place. We enjoyed delicious pizza and beer. We took the subway downtown to Tribeca and had a drink at the Tribeca Tavern, then headed back to the apartment to hang out with our buddy Jack.


Saturday, May 29



We stopped by the Freedom Tower, which doesn't look much bigger than last year.

Then, Matt and I headed over to Battery Park hoping to see some fighter jets circling the Statue of Liberty as their turnaround from the Fleet Week parade taking place on Long Island. We didn't see any. Instead, we had an amazing view of the Statue, boats, and millions of people trying to get on fairies.

After sitting there for an hour, we got back on the subway and headed back to Brooklyn. We went to the Transit Museum, which was surprisingly awesome! Where else can you take pictures of yourself driving a bus?

After taking many pictures as ticket takers, money counters on the money train, and passengers on the 1920s subways, we headed to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory right under the Brooklyn Bridge. I enjoyed a waffle cone filled with butter pecan and strawberry ice cream. It was delicious!

We hopped back on the subway and went back to Manhattan to meet up with Kacy at H&M, where I have to visit everytime I go to NYC (still none in Utah). We went out to dinner at a really delicious Chinese restaurant in the East Village. Then, headed back to the apartment to meet up with Jack.

Once we got back to the apartment, we heard that Matt's neighbors were having a party. Matt always complains about these neighbors. There are two different groups of Latinos who have huge parties in Matt's backyard, which is an area with several buildings enclosed around it, making the DJ sized speakers and volume penetrate off the brick. The building literaly shakes.

We waited up for Matt's BFF, Whitney, to drive in from Boston. Then Matt made me watch Adventures in Babysitting, which is ok since it's one of my favorite movies of all time.

Sunday, May 30

Today is Matt's birthday! For his present, I bought him Yankee tickets. The Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 7-3. It was a really great game, and such a beautiful stadium! I hate to say it, but after going to a game and experience in the embiance of a Major League Baseball game, especially at Yankee Stadium, if I ever move to New York, I think I'd have to become a Yankee fan.

After the game, we met up with Kacy, Darryl, and Whitney for Matt's birthday dinner at Cafe con Leche. It's a mix of Spanish and Cuban. Once again, it was delicious!

Then we headed back to the East Village to go to a speakeasy. It was so exciting! You go into this hot dog restaurant and there's a phone booth. You go into the phone booth, pick up the phone and talkwith someone in the speakeasy. You have to give them the secret code to get in. We only stayed for one drink because it was so expensive, but when we left, all the faces of the people eating hot dogs were very confused after seeing five people come out of a tiny phone booth.

We went to a cheaper bar where we met up with another one of Matt's friends, David. Then, after a few drinks there, we all headed back to the apartment for more drinks and snacks.

Monday, May 31

My last day in New York, we all went to a street fair on Madison Ave. These street fairs are crazy! There are tons of people (as usual) and vendors on every inch of the 15 blocks. I bought some earrings, but it was so ridiculously hot and humid, that I couldn't stand being in the heat any longer. I ate some delicious pad thai, and munched on some of my Matt's gyro.


We headed back to the apartment to pack. Matt was on the same flight home with me, so we said goodbye to Kacy, Darryl, and Whitney (who had to drive back to Boston) and left for the airport. We ended up sitting on the plane for 2 hours and 45 minutes. The new law requires pilot's to return to the gate after 3 hours of being idol on a plane. We barely made it. We landed in SLC a little after 12:30am.