Traveled to NYC this weekend to cheer on our alma mater cross country teams as they competed in the Div. III Regional Qualifier. We left Boston at about 7:30 or 8 and got down to the Hotel in NJ where the team (and we) were staying and met up with the coaches at about 11:30/12:00. After a few drinks with them, and some guilt tripping of some other key players that hadn't made it down, they left for bed and we held down the corner of the bar until 2am. The five of us got up bright and early at 6:30 to get ready for the day, and went to give the team a Slow Clap walk to the bus around 8. At the race we had about 20 Alumni there cheering them on, most of whom were wearing bright red Union Suits and flowing capes with the Shield on the back. It was a pretty spectacular sight to see us running from spot to spot to cheer on the team. There were also approximately 15 current xc team members running around in similarly ridiculous gear to cheer on the team. We made quite a formidable red cloud when running around and an excellent roaring cheering section as we lined the course.
Afterwards the various groups of us split off and went our own ways for the afternoon... Some of us went to this (apparently famous) BBQ place called Dinosaur in Harlem for lunch and met up with my cousin while there. I haven't really talked to her much in the past 15 years, but we used to be inseparable. I was a little nervous that she and I would be completely different and the lunch would be awkward, but in fact it was the complete opposite. It was great to see her, and so much fun! The lunch was great all around. I had a BLT that came with the absolute most delicious bacon one could even imagine. About the time it started to get dark out we left there and proceeded to drive down to Alphabet City where we met up with some of the other Alumni hanging out down there. We started at one very German bar where I had a beer from the Oldest Brewery in the World. It was very yeasty and old-tasting and delicious. Best beer of the night, hands down. We then went to another bar down the street where we met more people, and the bar-hopping had begun. In all we went to, I believe, 8-10 bars and a pizza place. Having started at 2:30 that day, 1:30 felt unbelievably late and we started winding down then, with certain members of our group of 12 starting to black out, and others getting tired (and grumpy - I'm included in that group... unfortunately!). Some of us drove to Jersey City, NJ where a friend with us had an apartment we crashed in, which was really nice of him. Others went off to their respective friends houses. One thing I've noticed about NYC is that everyone's apartments are so small you can't fit more than three people in any one place, so we all had to split up into small groups.
The next morning we walked around colorful Hoboken and had breakfast at a wonderful cafe that served a delicious Chai Latte. We also stopped at the running store that the girl with us works at, and she helped me pick out a pair of shoes and gave me a discount. It was wonderful - discount or not - mostly because I hate going to those stores and having someone help me pick out shoes, but having a freind there was so much better!
We also went to the Steven's Institute of Technology campus which overlooks the city from across the river. Gorgeous.
It was a long weekend, and we didn't leave the city until 4:00 when we finally met up with the other girl who was riding with us. Before picking her up we drove all around the lower west side (I think) and passed by the stoop from Sex and the City. On our way out we stopped at a White Castle in Harlem which is always a good experience. Between the four of us, we went through 18 burgers, and 4 buckets of fries!
All in all, a good trip... I think I would have liked to see more of the city, and less of random bars in the lower east side (again, I think...). The city is so enormous that you can't possibly see all of it in one weekend even if you had a plan and a Segway. There were parts of it I liked better than Boston, and definitely a lot of parts I didn't. I think it could be a fun city to live in, but perhaps too big for me. I will be back, though, of that I can be sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment