| NYC with Baby Bro! September 26, 2001 Day #1 Flew into New York this morning after getting only 3 hours of sleep. It took 1 1/2 hours for the shuttle to get onto Manhattan island! Apparently, the NYPD set-up checkpoints at some bridges and entryways. I took a shuttle since it was cheaper than cabbing alone… that was a mistake! The guy sitting to my left got really frustrated with shuttle driver. He didn't realize that shuttles troll around the airport until every seat is taken. So he tried to be an alpha male and yelled at the poor driver to leave the airport. The driver tried to explain his company's policy and one of the other riders helped out so the angry passenger was placated… but instead of the usual silence you find when forced to sit in close proximity of a bunch of strangers, it was a strained, uncomfortable silence. Thanks a lot, buddy! I was incredibly thankful when I was dropped off. I booked us at the Hilton New York in Midtown. Not posh but nice. The first thing I did was buy a MTA farecard. I was debating between the one-day and the one-week but went with the one-day. I was betting that Dave would rather cab it than constantly deal with the subways. My goal for the day was to see the Guggenheim museum. According to a NY website, it was free until mid-October but I was kindly informed that it wasn't and, on top of that, was undergoing renovations. Wonderful. I already paid for a $5 bagel (that cream cheese must've been made from a golden cow) so I didn't want the trek to be a total failure. The collection was interesting enough but seeing a number of Kandinsky's work was what made me happiest. I had dinner alone which was perfect for the place I went to - Oyster Bar. It's a seafood restaurant inside of Central Station. I almost crossed it off my list of restaurants because it's in a train station after all but I decided to give it a try. I had the most divine raw oysters!! The menu listed 12 or so different varieties to choose from so I tried three. Did you know that Blue Point is not a very good one? Anyway, I had Belon, Tatamaguche, and Kumamoto. The Belon was my favorite but the Kumamoto was a really close second. My entrée was pan-fried lemon sole with white asparagus. Yummy! Don't ask how much that dinner was. Dave got in pretty late. Our first meal together in NY was at McDonald's since it was the closest 24 hour place I found. |