I went to New York for the first time this past weekend. For the most part it was a great trip...with a few ups and downs.
I went to spend the weekend with Brian. He's been "living" out there for awhile now, and we'd been going back and forth about me coming out there since about July. We finally decided on a weekend, and I was on my way.
I was very nervous prior to going out there. I had the typical stereotype views of New York City...lots of people, very dirty, scary. But once I set foot in the city, all of that nervousness went away. New York is great, it is definitely somewhere I could see myself living, if only I could make enough money!
My flight out of Dallas was delayed, and if I had gotten on my original flight, Brian would have had to wait at the airport for about 2 hours for me. I was lucky enough to get on an earlier flight and made it in when I was supposed to. Brian was kind enough not to throw me directly into the public transit system, and we hopped in a cab and headed to his apartment on Wall Street. The cab ride wasn't even as bad as everyone seems to make it out to be, this coming from one of the most nervous passengers ever. We dropped our stuff off at his place, I met one of his roommates, and then headed out to this club to meet up with one of his friends (who happens to also be an IU alum). The club was called 40/40 and it was your typical "club". His friend had gotten a VIP room upstairs, so we made our way up there. When we walked into that room, I was immediately overwhelmed with the heavy scent of cologne and True Religion jeans. The friends of Brian's friend were interesting folks to say the least. One of the guys was going on and on about how he insults people by throwing money on the floor (this being said as he's holding a huge wad of cash wrapped in a rubber band, as if it would be ridiculous to bend down and pick up $300 off the ground. I'm sorry...I would pick it up with no problems! We watched the end of the Yankees game and then decided to head out to the next place. As we were standing there waiting for the tab to come, Cash Wad guy pulls this little baggie out of his pocket and offers us some "blow" before we go. All I could think in my head at that point was "Welcome to New York!"
So...we leave. As we are standing outside waiting for a cab, this guy is standing behind us and says something. I didn't hear what he had said, but Brian went over and started talking to him. The next thing I know he's in the cab with us on our way to Juliet's. When we make it through the velvet ropes at Juliet's we get inside and I feel like I'm in an episode of NYC Prep. This place was ridiculous. First of all, they did not serve beer, and all the drinks were at least $14 a pop. There was this guy that would get up and play the guitar to different dance songs that were playing, it was rather annoying actually. While we were at this place, the random guy in the cab and I became fast friends. He was chatting with me, and pulls a small square of foil out of his pocket and offers me something I couldn't understand. I assumed it was more drugs, and declined. I stopped talking to him soon after this because he either got incredibly drunk really quick, or partook in whatever he was trying to offer me. There was another guy from Dallas with us this night, an older gentleman (and I use that term VERY loosely) who was talking to me quite a bit that night. Although every time he would stand by me, his hand was on my backside. This was a bit uncomfortable, so every time he did it, I would just work my way to a different position away from him. At one point, Brian had gone to the bathroom and this guy pulls me by the arm to the other side of the bar, pushed me up against this pillar and starts making out with me. Did I mention this guy was married?? I pushed him away from me, told him he was inappropriate and went to find Brian, who was thank goodness closing his tab. We left, and I decided at that point that the New York club scene was not for me.
After a fairly overwhelming first night out in New York City, I was ready for a something a little more low key. We got up on Friday and started walking. The weather was perfect! It was a little on the chilly side that day, but as long as we kept walking, I wasn't cold at all. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and waited in line for "the best pizza in New York" at Grimaldi's. The pizza I have to say was delicious. After lunch, we walked around Brooklyn for a bit and then headed up to Canal Street, through Chinatown and into Little Italy. We were walking so fast, that I feel like I might have missed a lot of the sights. There was so much going on, especially in Chinatown with all the street vendors. Little Italy was really cool, lots of outside restaurants playing music. The buildings are all so old and most of them are really cool looking. We ended up in the lower east side (I think) and went to this bar called Spitzer's, which was a lot like this bar in Dallas, the Gingerman. I don't know how far we walked, but my feet were starting to hurt at this point. I have to say, I truly underestimated the amount of walking to be done in NYC. Especially after sitting for a bit, I was hurting a little. We walked around a little more and then headed back to Brian's for a nap. When we got back to Brian's I met his other roommate. Both girls are very cool and super nice people. We found out that one of the parties we thought was Saturday night was actually that night. So after our nap, we got up and got on our Halloween costumes and headed out to grab some dinner. We first stopped at the oldest running bar in New York, McSorley's Old Ale House, to meet up with another one of Brian's friends. After that we went to Death and Co for some dinner. This bar was very different. We had to give the door man our name and wait for people inside to leave before we could go in. We sat at the bar which was pretty cool, because the bartender...oops, I mean the mixologists were pretty entertaining to watch. I guess this place is know for their specialty drinks. Brian ordered something, which I couldn't even bring myself to taste just because it smelled SO strong. We ate some dinner and then headed to another bar. We had been waiting for his roommate to tell us when she was going to be at the party we were headed to. Now, the funny thing about all of this is that Brian and I are dressed up in our costumes for Halloween...it was Friday night...it seems that we were the only people in New York dressed up! We went to this other bar, which I can't remember the name of, and played pinball. Brian kicked my butt a couple times. We then found out that the roommate we were waiting for had already been at the party and was leaving. So, we hopped on the subway and headed for the party. The party was alright, we didn't really talk to anyone and it was pretty crowded, but this guy's apartment had a backyard which they had put a tarp over. There were some pretty good costumes. This was probably my favorite night with Brian, because it was just the two of us all night, and we got along great and had a lot of fun just being together.
The weather on Saturday was awesome! It was warm, although a bit overcast and looked like rain. We went to brunch at this place called Little Giant. I had the cheesy egg on a roll...SO GOOD!! Brian had a breakfast burrito which he let me try, that was good too. But the best part of the meal was the mac and cheese. YUMMY! We got back on the subway to head to Central Park. I guess the trains were messed up because we had to go back downtown to get on another train to go uptown. I felt at this point that Brian was a little aggravated. We were on the train for what felt like forever. The guy was calling off stops and said Times Square. Brian looks at me and asks if I really wanted to walk through Times Square. Well...this is New York, I have never been...the answer to that question is "yes". So, we get off and start walking. He looks at me and says "get ready to enter hell". He wasn't happy. We booked it through Times Square, to the point that I felt like I couldn't really slow down to look around, much less stop to take any pictures. We make it down to Central Park after a stop at FAO Schwarz...another annoyance for Brian. Before going out there I had told Brian a few of the things I had wanted to see in Central Park. Bethesda Fountain, the Boathouse, Bow Bridge and the Alice in Wonderland statue. There were many more things I could have seen there, but I knew I was pushing it with just those things. I could've spent all day walking around there. So, we first found the fountain, I was able to take a couple pictures of this. We walked over to the Alice in Wonderland statue and sat for a while. We watched a couple get married, which I thought was kind of sweet. We then walked past the Boathouse and over to Bow Bridge. I was also able to get a few pictures of the bridge. Brian wanted to show me the roller rink, so we walked over there, but it was closed so no one was really skating. We made our way back to the subway and headed back to the apartment for a nap. I have decided that afternoon naps in New York are awesome.
We got up that night and dressed up again in our costumes. I was a pirate and Brian was Donnie Darko. I think both of us looked pretty good. When we left the apartment we realized it was raining...not too hard, and luckily it was still pretty warm outside. We jumped back on the subway to whatever neighborhood the party was in. When we got off the subway it was raining a bit harder, so we stopped at the Duane Reade for an umbrella. We found a bar to have some dinner and have a couple beers before the party. Being that it was actually Halloween on Saturday, everyone was dressed up. It was a pretty cool thing to see, so much fun. We headed to the party. The party was really fun, there were a lot of pretty cool people there. The cops showed up..which I couldn't really understand. It's Halloween night in New York, who calls the cops for noise complaint? We just had to turn the music off. Brian was pretty distant from me at that party, as he had been all day. I had felt all day that I was annoying him. So, I tried to stay out of his way as much as possible being in a place where I knew no one. It was getting pretty late, with daylight savings time and gaining an hour, and I had had quite a bit to drink. I was pretty much ready to call it a night, but Brian wanted to go to this Karaoke bar down the street. I felt he was already annoyed with me, so I didn't want to say I didn't want to go. We walked in the door of this bar and were immediately assaulted by this flaming gay guy...who apparently Brian had met before. He talked on and on and on...and the longer it went on the more angry I got. I told Brian I wanted to leave, so we headed back to the subway and made our way home in the rain. The walk from the subway to Brian's place was the worst I had felt the whole trip. The events of the day were all unfolding in my head and with every step I was feeling more and more like he didn't want me there at all. We got back to his place and got ready for bed. I couldn't sleep for being so upset so I decided to pack. Now...I admit that I went a bit crazy that night. I had had too much to drink, and I felt rejected. Brian was kind enough to turn the light on for me, and he went back to bed. I got all my stuff packed up, got dressed and was ready to leave to try and make the first flight out. Again...I understand now in the light of day, that this was all slightly insane. I ended up laying down to listen to some music to calm down. I started crying, which I guess woke Brian up. I told him what I had been feeling and asked him why he acted the way he did all day. He told me that it wasn't about me, that he just didn't know where any of it was going. I didn't really understand this answer, because I didn't feel at all like I was putting any pressure on him during the last two days about the two us of. I just wanted to be with him and see New York City. I ended up falling asleep in his arms.
I hadn't slept for more than about an hour or so when I woke up with a very upset stomach. It could have been the amount of Blue Moon I had drank the night before or how upset I was with the situation, but I was sick. We had wanted to get up and go see more of the city that day, but I just couldn't do it. I was so tired and was running to the bathroom about every 20 minutes. I took some anti-D medicine and tried to go back to sleep. We got up a little while later and I still wasn't feeling much better. Brian was incredibly sweet to me, he went to the store for Gingerale and crackers and he bought some soup. I was able to sleep a little more and when I got up again, Brian made us the soup for lunch. We ate together in his bed...again, this was incredibly sweet to me. I started feeling better and we had a couple hours before I had to leave for my flight, so we got up and got dressed and went out to see lower Manhattan. We walked through Battery Park and saw the Statue of Liberty from a far. We had a great walk that afternoon. He put his arm around me, and he made me feel like I mattered to him. We stopped at Whole Foods for some cookies, one regular and one Vegan to see if we could tell the difference...we could. We walked by the World Trade Center site and then headed back to his place.
I got my stuff together to get ready to catch a cab to the airport. I had the biggest lump in my throat the whole time, knowing that I had to leave him. Despite the previous day/night being bad, he had been so good to me. I hugged him goodbye at the cab, and couldn't even speak. I didn't stop crying until I got back to Dallas. The cab driver, everyone in the airport, and the guy sitting next to me on the plane must have thought I was nuts. Which I guess I am...I'm crazy in love with a guy who, despite the chemistry and connection we share, does not want to be with me.
So, that's my story. I will always have the memories saved in my mental scrapbook, even if I didn't get to take many pictures to prove I was there.
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