NEW YORK CITY!!!

Ahhh... I am just returning from my NYC adventure...and I am TIRED! I had planned the trip to NYC to walk a half marathon to signify my upcoming 35th birthday. I wanted to do something healthy as I hit this significant age... in the process of deciding to do the half marathon I had recruited some friends into going as well. (Five other people were supposed to be part of the adventure.) My plan was to fly to NYC Friday spend part of the day solo, meet up with friends later that day who were going to meet me in NYC after having been to DC...then Saturday meet up with the rest of the gang and party it up in NYC... and walk the half marathon this morning...and all head back to Maine today... I was going to hitch a ride with the couple who had been in DC...
Well... life does not always go according to plan... As the marathon approached my knee (non pvns knee) had been bothering me, my IT band was not in good shape and my physical herapist didn't think doing the whole race would be doable... but I was going to try anyway... to do some of it...one person decided she couldn't make it due to other vacation travel plans... then one of my closest set of friends (the folks arriving from DC and supposed to be giving me a ride back) had to back out due to some life circumstances... leaving, me, one of my friends and her boyfriend... well last weekend I learned that my friend's boyfriend wasn't going to make it... leaving myself and one friend, Sue... and she was not sure how she was going to get to and from the city... so I didn't know for sure how I was going to get home...
But, it has worked out, and I am home... from a WONDERFUL weekend in NYC. Friday morning I was up at 3:30 a.m. so that I could be at the airport well before my 6:30 a.m. flight. I flew, one way, to LaGuardia in NY... which by the way, took LESS than an hour air time... from the airport and jumped on a bus to take me into Manhattan. I got off the bus near Grand Central and walked to my hotel... and it was only 9:30 in the morning! I did not expect to be able to check into my hotel, but knew I could leave my bags there as I explored the city. But, to my amazement, I got to check in as soon as I arrived!!! That gave me time to get things situated in my cell... I mean room... (it was sooo small, it felt like a jail cell!!!) Then I went out walking around, just to see what I could see... then I went to a wellness expo that had been set up for the people participating in the half marathon, including picking up race numbers for me and Sue. The expo was very crowded and I walked around for a while, got all kinds of free stuff, and then took it all back to the hotel to unload. I decided that would be a good time to take a power nap... but about 30 minutes after I had lain down, my phone rang. It was a friend of mine, from NYC, who I had not seen in ages... We had been out of touch for a while and he randomly had called me last week and had said, like he does in every conversation, "So when are you coming to NY so I can take you out for a drink?" He was surprised when I told him I was coming in on Friday! He had been unsure of his work schedule, but managed to get the afternoon off, and picked me up at my hotel and we went to walk around a nice market in the lower part of Manhattan and out for a margarita. I got back to my hotel around 5:30 p.m. and finished my power nap, getting up at 6:15 to get ready for my show... I had tickets for the 8:00 performance of HAIR on Broadway. I got dressed up, little black dress and heels... and walked the 2-3 blocks to the theater. My seat was in the LAST row of the HIGHEST part of the theater! But it had leg room, so I was great with that. As it got closer to curtain time, the place was still fairly empty and one of the ushers informed those of us in the nosebleed section that we were welcome to move down into empty seats to get closer to the stage. I stayed kind of behind most people, still wanting that aisle seat for my legs... but I did move about 10 rows closer, which was a great view... that's the thing about the Broadway shows... the views from most seats are adequate and do not take away from the performances. I have loved the music from the Original Broadway show of Hair for years... I have the cd and have been known to blast it while cleaning... so I was very excited about seeing the show... plus I have always believed that had I been around in the 60's, I would have been a hippie, no doubt about it... I had seen the movie and knew the plot... and was expecting the deep character development and emotional connection to the characters... but it didn't happen for me, at this show, like it has in most others. They sang...the songs from the soundtrack I have... but there was no conversation between the songs, no character or plot development... the performers were talented, VERY talented... I am always in awe of people who can sing and dance like that... but the way this version of Hair was written, disappointed me a little... But maybe that's because I have been fortunate to see several Broadway shows and have seen some AMAZING ones! But I was still glad I went! After the show I met up with another friend, who as it worked out, happened to be in NYC for the weekend on business...whose hotel, ironically, was one and a half blocks up from mine! CRAZY?!! He met me at my hotel after the show so that I could change into something more comfortable, because I was NOT going to walk around in my heels longer than needed! We ended up going to a bar for a couple of drinks. This was sooooo NYC... he thought there was a rooftop bar close to our hotels, and we found the entrance and asked if it was open. (It was a beautiful spring night, warm with a light breeze, perfect for sitting outside.10 One of the two LARGE bouncers asked if we were on the list... The List?? ahhh... nope... so we started to leave but then the guy said that he could let us in given the condition that we promise to spend a certain amount of money in drinks, and if we didn't we still had to pay that amount... so my friend agreed... and we were led to the elevator then escorted to the bar... it was quite dark, but had some cool lighting around the indoor bar area. We got drinks and then proceeded outside on the rooftop... it was beautiful up there! The moon was out, we could see some stars, and we could of course see all of the tall lit up buildings around us... The seating was crazy... the furniture looked like it belonged on a beach in Aruba... wicker couches with large cushions plus these 'bed' looking things... that looked like they would be on a beach too, kind of with canopies built atop the four posts...where people would lay to relax, under a little shade... we stayed outside on one of the couches while the crowd grew and grew and the dance floor inside became packed. We had a great time getting caught up and joking around, giving each other a bit of a hard time here and there. I think that I needed that kind of a night, where I was distracted and really enjoying myself, being present in every moment... I felt really happy... and almost a sense of freedom I haven't felt in a long time... this whole trip was kind of like that for me... I felt like I was able to get away from things... Saturday morning I strolled into Times Square around 9 a.m. and got something for breakfast... I sat in the middle of times square at one of these small tables they have set up there... It was cool - I was there a bit before the city fully awoke. I called Sue to see where she was on her drive to CT so that I would have an idea of what time she would arrive at Grand Central. After breakfast I wandered around a little more... and then went back to the hotel for a bit then hit the pavement again... Sue's train would arrive around 12:30 p.m. and I promised to meet her at Grand Central, so I decided to take my time as I went to meet her... and headed over towards Rockefellar Center and returned to St. Patrick's Cathedral to see teh stain glass windows there that I love. I am not a religious person... and in recent years have questioned the existence of God and have felt more resentment than faith in the almighty... but that church... is amazing... it truly is a work of art. I then wandered down 5th avenue and saw some street performers near the NYC Library then headed back towards the train station where there was a little festival going on...for Earth Day...there was some live music and some booths to look through... it was cool. Then I met up with Sue and we walked back to the hotel to drop off her stuff... then we decided to head to Central Park to scope out the course and to see what we could see... On our way there we decided to go to a Deli to get lunch to take to the park... and we went to "Hello Deli", which if you are a Late Night with David Letterman, you have heard of... The man behind the counter was none other than THE Rupert G! The guy Dave talks to on his show... We tried to play it cool ordering our sandwiches... but then I asked it we could take our picture with Rupert G and he was nice enough to pose with us... He asked us where we were from and he asked us about the lobster industry here... and was shocked that I am from Maine and don't like lobster! He asked if my dislike came from having too much of it when I was growing up, and I said no, that lobster was very expensive and my family was not in a position to have lobster often. He was blown away that people in Maine could to afford to eat the food for which it is best known. It was a cool conversation. We then went up to the park and walked around... had our lunch (GREAT sandwiches Rupert G!!) and walked around more... I was pleased that my knee felt great during the walk... however... because I have not been able to walk much due to my knee, my feet have not built up the needed calluses and I thought I was developing some hot spots (pre blister spots) and decided to pick up some moleskin on our way back to the hotel... by the time we made our way back... I had walked a lot that day... probably 6-7 miles... and the hot spots were full blown blisters.. both feet... on the balls of my feet... pretty big...between the size of quarters and half dollars... OUCHIE! We then decided to go out to dinner (I hobbled, Sue walked..) and we went to a cuban restaruant, which was fantastic! Neither of us had eaten Cuban food before... I assumed it would be like mexican food... it was similar, but definitely had it's own flavor... Delicious! Then we stopped off at a bar for a drink... a bar that Rico had suggested...unfortunately, the bar was dead... not hopping like we had hoped... and after that, my feet were screaming... and Sue was tired, so we opted to make our way back to the hotel, pauding in Times Square so Sue could see it at night...

Fortunately Sue and I had talked this week, and knowing that my knee had been bothering me and that it was supposed to rain today, we had decided that we may or may not do all of the race.. but that we would start it... well last night my feet were killing me and I told her that I knew I wouldn't be able to do any of the race... that I would go up with her to the park and hoped she would do as much of it as she wanted to... and she said that she would see how she felt, but that she wasn't too worried about it either way. I was relieved she felt that way.. after coercing her to come to NYC to do the half marathon... knowing that she didn't h ave her heart set on finishing it was a relief... I had to let go of that idea when my knee started bothering me last month...

So this morning we awoke to the sounds of cabs driving through puddles on the streets below our hotel room... It was pouring! Sue decided to shower first and had her walking gear ready to go... after her shower she steps out of the bathroom and told me her clothes got soaked in the bathroom because the shower curtain was not pulled as far as she had thought... she tried to blow dry them... but it didn't really work... I told her that she was ahead of the game because I was sure she would be that wet during the race anyway... at that moment she said... she wasn't going to do it, the marathon... but still wanted to walk up and check it out... so we did... sporting our rain coats over our jeans, t-shirts and sweaters... by the time we had walked the 9 blocks or so to the entrance of Central Park we were soaked and cold... we continued towards the starting line and more and more people were heading in the same direction. It made me a little regretful that I was not going to be a part of something that involved so many women... it would really be a cool thing... but I was also relieved that I would not have to walk or stand in those weather conditions for 3+ hours... Sue looked at me and said, ok.. let's go get breakfast! So we did... we went to a diner close to Carnegie Hall, and as are all food establishments in NYC, it was pricey, especially for breakfast, but it was delicious! We both had cinnamon raisin pecan french toast... also called the Tony Bennett French toast... YUMMY! We made it back to the hotel and changed into dry clothes, checked out of the hotel, and hailed a cab to get us to Grand Central! We got on the train, got to Sue's car, and came back to Maine...

I feel like I was gone for more than 2 nights... I fit A LOT into a short amount of time. Other than the blisters... I had an awesome time! AWESOME! I need to do things like this more often... I really do... and I am thrilled that Sue came too, that she enjoyed her time in the city... I am thankful for that... but this trip also reaffirmed that I can and need to do some things solo... It also taught me that while I was busy trying to plan this trip... trying to coordinate people's schedules... trying to figure it all out... that it just worked out... the original plan of having 5 of my friends with me fell apart... but somehow it worked out that I got to fit in a lot of other things, with other friends who live in or happened to be in NYC... so it was great. Over the last few years, I have become more of a control freak than I was as a kid... when I was known as the "Who gives a care" girl... where nothing seemed to stress me out... and this experience reminded me that it's okay to not always have things planned or controlled... granted I had control over what decisions I made... but I had a great time without worrying about all the little details! Yay!

I am also happy to report that my knee tolerated a lot of walking this weekend... A LOT... of walking... and had it not been for my blisters... I would not be any worse for the wear! Yay!

(Pictures soon!! I promise!)