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Hey all.
Just returned from a long weekend in New York City. If you haven't been, go - it's a great city to visit (though you couldn't pay me enough to live there). We actually ended up at staying at a friend of a friends apartment on 9th and 49th. Perfect location in Hell's Kitchen for just about anything.
The most important thing about the weekend - if you're ever in the area. hit a bar on 46th (b/t 8th and 9th) called the House of Brews. Over 80 types of beer, and only three were macro-brews (bud, bud-light, mich-ultra), and none of the three were included in the 25 on tap. Truly, my kind of place - the five big wide-screen TVs made it even better. And even though I was only there for 72 hours, we were there enough that they knew us by sight.
Oh, and if you get the chance, try a beer brewed by Sam Adams called 'Utopias', which is a non-carbonated beer fermented in a whiskey barrel, and with an ABV of 25%. It tastes and finishes more like a great port than a beer, but even at $10/oz, it was worth it.
Cabs were interesting in the sense that, compared to Chicago, they are CHEAP. I'm sure they're cheaper in other cities, but for big cities like NY, Chicago, LA, etc - they were really reasonabaly priced.
One thing I read they were considering in St. Louis, and I think they've tossed around the idea of something like this in Chicago - all bars, restaraunts, etc are non-smoking. And we didn't even realize it until earlier today at lunch, but I have to say, it was VERY nice. And it didn't seem to hurt businesses at all. Maybe, after a change like this, there are those that 'rebel' against going out, but they're back sooner than later, and everyone just gets used to having to go out to the sidewalk and smoke - or stop smoking. I now wish Chicago would enact something like this.
It was just a coincidence that we ended up there this past weekend. We decided long ago to avoid lower Manhattan yesterday, but we did make our first trip over there on the 10th - my first time there since July '01, when we took a trip to the observation deck on the South Tower. And it was certainly sad looking at the pictures of those who were caught helping others out, and died later during the collapse, and of course thinking about what happened there - but it wasn't like I thought. I think I can say that that's becasue I wasn't really personally affected by 9/11 in that noone I know died, or was even related to someone who did. I'm sure if I went past that 2nd degree of separation I would find someone, but this far out - while still able to whip up an anger at those who did it - I'm not tremendously saddened by what happend anymore. I've been able to move on to the point that now, Sept 11th is just another day, and a day before my wedding anniversary. And I hope I never have to think of another day like that for that length of time again - although I fear I will, and probably sooner than later.
Probably the coolest thing we did was went to the U.S. Open Women's Final on Saturday. I was hoping for Sharapova, but given who was there, I was happy to see Clijsters win, since she was 0-4 in Grand Slam finals to that point. The complex that they have the US Open in is incredible. The food is overpriced, as you'd expect, but the options are far ranging, and pretty damn good. The only knock I could give them was there were only two beers available inside the stadium - Heinikan and Amstel Light, and there are worse problems for a stadium to have. If you get the chance - and like tennis at all - it's a lot of fun. And since we bought our tickets on Friday, you should be able to get there.
I really like the NYC Subway system, especially compared to Chicago. But they could definitely use some more signage to help out of towners make sure they get on the right platform and/or train. Even still, I'd trade ours in Chicago for New York's in a second.
I'm sure there's more, but I'd be suprised if anyone's read all of this to this point, so...
Just returned from a long weekend in New York City. If you haven't been, go - it's a great city to visit (though you couldn't pay me enough to live there). We actually ended up at staying at a friend of a friends apartment on 9th and 49th. Perfect location in Hell's Kitchen for just about anything.
The most important thing about the weekend - if you're ever in the area. hit a bar on 46th (b/t 8th and 9th) called the House of Brews. Over 80 types of beer, and only three were macro-brews (bud, bud-light, mich-ultra), and none of the three were included in the 25 on tap. Truly, my kind of place - the five big wide-screen TVs made it even better. And even though I was only there for 72 hours, we were there enough that they knew us by sight.
Oh, and if you get the chance, try a beer brewed by Sam Adams called 'Utopias', which is a non-carbonated beer fermented in a whiskey barrel, and with an ABV of 25%. It tastes and finishes more like a great port than a beer, but even at $10/oz, it was worth it.
Cabs were interesting in the sense that, compared to Chicago, they are CHEAP. I'm sure they're cheaper in other cities, but for big cities like NY, Chicago, LA, etc - they were really reasonabaly priced.
One thing I read they were considering in St. Louis, and I think they've tossed around the idea of something like this in Chicago - all bars, restaraunts, etc are non-smoking. And we didn't even realize it until earlier today at lunch, but I have to say, it was VERY nice. And it didn't seem to hurt businesses at all. Maybe, after a change like this, there are those that 'rebel' against going out, but they're back sooner than later, and everyone just gets used to having to go out to the sidewalk and smoke - or stop smoking. I now wish Chicago would enact something like this.
It was just a coincidence that we ended up there this past weekend. We decided long ago to avoid lower Manhattan yesterday, but we did make our first trip over there on the 10th - my first time there since July '01, when we took a trip to the observation deck on the South Tower. And it was certainly sad looking at the pictures of those who were caught helping others out, and died later during the collapse, and of course thinking about what happened there - but it wasn't like I thought. I think I can say that that's becasue I wasn't really personally affected by 9/11 in that noone I know died, or was even related to someone who did. I'm sure if I went past that 2nd degree of separation I would find someone, but this far out - while still able to whip up an anger at those who did it - I'm not tremendously saddened by what happend anymore. I've been able to move on to the point that now, Sept 11th is just another day, and a day before my wedding anniversary. And I hope I never have to think of another day like that for that length of time again - although I fear I will, and probably sooner than later.
Probably the coolest thing we did was went to the U.S. Open Women's Final on Saturday. I was hoping for Sharapova, but given who was there, I was happy to see Clijsters win, since she was 0-4 in Grand Slam finals to that point. The complex that they have the US Open in is incredible. The food is overpriced, as you'd expect, but the options are far ranging, and pretty damn good. The only knock I could give them was there were only two beers available inside the stadium - Heinikan and Amstel Light, and there are worse problems for a stadium to have. If you get the chance - and like tennis at all - it's a lot of fun. And since we bought our tickets on Friday, you should be able to get there.
I really like the NYC Subway system, especially compared to Chicago. But they could definitely use some more signage to help out of towners make sure they get on the right platform and/or train. Even still, I'd trade ours in Chicago for New York's in a second.
I'm sure there's more, but I'd be suprised if anyone's read all of this to this point, so...
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