NYC

Every year, Coke plans a family trip to New York for their customer, Hess.  Jay, my stepdad, runs the U.S. for convenience store sales and invited his daughter, Tara, and I.  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  What a trip.  We had the most fun, ever. 

Recap...

Friday:  Arrived around lunchtime.  Driver (I've never had a car pick me up from ANYWHERE!) and Tara (who flew in from Tampa) waiting for us.  Checked in to our suite at the Waldorf Astoria.  Drooled over said suite. 

Walked to the Stage Deli for a Brooklyn lager and HUGE sandwich.  Here's us in front of their 'famous visitors' wall. 

Walked around and took pics. 

Saw the tree. 

Stood in the middle of Times Square. 

Took a cab to Ground Zero.  Realized you needed a ticket to get inside.  Then realized tickets were sold out. 



Walked around the corner to find a museum.  Toured that.

It was really neat, but still a 'work in progress'.  It'll be amazing once it's finished.  It was filled with recovered pieces from the site, excerpts from people affected, tributes to lives lost, and an origami exhibit.  I was most moved by the silence inside.  I know people are generally quiet in museums, but no one made a sound.  It was like we all wanted to experience the emotions and be affected.  It really takes you back to that day.

 

Then, we headed back to the hotel.  Got ready.  The whole Coke/Hess crew hopped on a bus (saw a full, fledged fist fight on the streets) and headed to dinner at Carmine's, which is a family-style Italian restaurant.  And by 'family', they're obviously referring to a 'village'.  I couldn't believe all the food they brought us.  And then wasted because we barely put a dent in any of it.  I was actually disgusted by that.  What we ate (all brought out in HUGE bowls and platters)...First, different kinds of bread.  Then, fried calamari.  Then, caesar salad.  Then, sampler platter with oysters, sausages, spaghetti bake, stuffed peppers, etc.  Then, cold pasta.  Then, steak.  Then, chicken.  Then, fish of the day.  Then, sampler dessert platter with cheesecake, bread pudding, cannolis, ice cream, etc.  I thought it was a joke.  I've never seen so much food in my life.  I was just imagining Justin trying to figure out how we could box it all up and bring it back to Georgia with us.  He hates wasting food.  That night, Tara, 2 other grown kids, and myself headed to the Comedy Cellar.  Aziz Ansari was scheduled to do a stand-up routine that night, so we were really pumped!  Well, we didn't have reservations, stood in line only to find out there was no more room inside, waited for the next show at their upstairs bar, sat about 5 feet away from him while he waited to go on, watched him walk out of the bar after that show, realized he wasn't performing during the next show, closed out our bar tab, and left.  What a bummer. 

The only picture from Friday night.

Saturday:  Shopped.  Hopped on another bus and headed to Foxwoods Theatre to see Spiderman on Broadway.  Holy amazing.  It was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life.  So, so well done.  I couldn't believe it. 

Headed back to the hotel.  Got ready.  Walked to dinner at Smith and Wollensky's Steakhouse. 

Then, mom, Jay, Tara, and I went to Whiskey Blue to find Justin a bar t-shirt.  They didn't have any.  Turned to leave.  Jay spotted Joe Buck, so we went back in and hung out there.  Then hung out at the Waldorf's bar for a while.  Called it a night around 1 a.m. 

Sunday:  Got ready.  Packed.  Brunch buffet in the Waldorf Astoria's lobby.  OMG.  It had to cost $100 a person to eat there.  Click here to see the spread of food.  They served everything...sushi, omelet bar, crape bar, lobster, desserts, etc.  It was incredible.  Again, I was wishing Justin was there to experience that. 

Huge, beautiful clock in the lobby.

Then we headed back to reality...