New York, sans kids

Our New York trip, as described by Danny.  Ahem.  New York was great.  Things at the Cochise property were consuming a lot of time and energy and it was becoming stressful for Heidi.  I actually didn't mind doing the renovations, even though I was tired.  Things always took longer than expected, though.  One of Heidi's second cousin's got married in New York and we decided to make a trip out of it.  I wasn't that excited about the city itself, but I was excited about leaving behind the kids since we haven't ever done that.  I didn't want our trip to just be building hunting and walking around because that is not my idea of a vacation.  We went with Heidi's sister, Heather, and her husband.

On the first day, we rented bikes and rode through central park.  I wanted to scout out the places from White Collar, and this lake boardwalk was where Neal was captured, and the skyline is from the key he found in the box.  My bike had good brakes but I like my Trek better.  

This is where Peter and the gang did their take downs.  I've never been into selfies but they really came in handy for this trip.  Then I saw the lady carrying the bag of trash and though about photoshopping her out, but hey, this is New York.  People carry bags of trash.  

This is where Kevin ran from the bird lady on Home Alone.  

Heidi and Heather met with some of Jacquie's friends while Jason and I hung out.  We went to the grand central terminal and then went to this bar on the roof of the Viceroy hotel.  I got a lemonade and we just chilled.  I was like, "So this is what you do in bars?"  

 The girls didn't want to go to the view balcony of the World Trade Center One, so Jason and I did.  It was $32 to go up, and I thought that was excessive, but they made a ride out of it.  The elevators had display screens on three of the walls that went from floor to ceiling.  As the elevators ascended, the video was a rendering through time of the city's progression from the standpoint of the rising elevator.  It was cool.  On top, the visibility was perfect and it was impressive to see all the buildings, even though I'm not a buildings guy.  

Heidi and I saw Jersey Boys.  I liked it.  I was familiar with most of the music, as we had performed several of the songs in Central Singers and Lyrics.  The guy who played Frankie Valli was amazing.  I stayed awake through the whole show.  Maybe that's because there wasn't enough leg room to slouch back and lean my head against the back of the seat.  I usually fall asleep during performances.

Brunch at Sarabeth's on Central Park Avenue.  Apparently this restaurant was one of Walt's favorites.  This is smoked salmon eggs benedict.  It was pretty good.  They had real maple syrup.  I used to like my homemade stuff the best, but I liked the real syrup better.  

Yvonne and Sue joined us for brunch.  Yvonne is Rich's ex-wife, and Rich was Ruth's brother.  Ruth was Jacquie's mom.  Sue is Yvonne's daughter, one of six kids.   

I got in a little nap before the wait staff kicked us out.
 

On Saturday night we ate at this run-down hole in the wall Italian joint with some of Heather's friends.  It looked pretty shabby but it was booming and the food was great.  I don't like Italian food but this tuna was great.  I even got gelato.  It was worth the expense.  

RJ's wedding was in Brooklyn.  RJ is Rich's son, with his second wife, Les.  

Heidi is with Cindy and Sandy.

Rich, Jenna, Les, and RJ at the reception hall in New Jersey.  The food was amazing.  I should have taken a picture of it because there was unlimited selection and amount.  I tried a couple varieties of sushi, cooked tuna, smoked salmon, shredded beef, stewed peppers, and more.  You could get full just on the appetizers.  Then there was a live band that was pretty good.  Their vocals were okay but the instrumentals were impressive, especially on their Bon Jovi cover of "Living on a prayer."

Then there was the sit-down dinner.  I had the sea-bass.  It was good.  I wore my ear plugs all night but I cut them in half so Heidi wouldn't notice.  The music was so stinking loud, even people without ear plugs couldn't hear each other and had to tell.  

Mark lent me his tux.  My size and everything.  Heidi got her dress from Ross.  I was going to buy a power suit, like Neal Caffrey, but I didn't make time to go to the store.  Plus we didn't think it would be formal enough.  Then people showed up to the wedding in jeans, so I woulda been okay.  But whatev, it was fun to dress in the tux.  Last time I did was probably in dental school.

After dinner was the dessert bar.  There were mini waffles, ice cream, scones, chocolate fountain, deep fried oreos, creme brulee, and more.  I ate way too much.

The band played until about 11:30 and then the after-party began.  I was done and ready to go home but Heidi wanted to stay.  I was willing to stay for her, so I had a nap on the plush chair.  The next morning there was a brunch in the hotel for the out-of-towners.  I had lots of bacon, an omelette, and a bagel with orange juice.  Mmmm, bacon.  We rented a Prius to drive to and from the reception and we dropped it off at the Hilton near JFK.

I even did a CE course while we were there.  It was a good vacation.  Good to get away, good to see Heidi's relatives, and good to learn how we travel.  One morning the shower wasn't warm.  It was about like a swimming pool, and I just toughed it out.  Then the water started to get cold and I had to get out.  Heidi turned it on and said, "There's no hot water."

I called up the maintenance and told them.  The guy said, "Yeah, no one has it.  Sorry."  I was like, "That's not gonna work.  What are you going to do to make it right?  Can you comp our room?  No?  Oh, you're gonna have to talk with my wife.  She's the one taking the cold shower."

Heidi gets on the phone and tells them it's unacceptable.  They reduced the rate on our room, but good grief!  Heidi goes, "If your boiler can't keep up with demand then you need a second boiler."  The guy goes, "This isn't a boiler.  It's done by steam."

I think, How does the water turn to steam?  A boiler.  But whatev.

A student from the 2nd ward stayed with our kids and everyone survived.  I used to love when my parents left because Shannon would stay with us.  We'd eat pizza everyday, play nintendo and watch Willow.  Okay, that's all for now.