No Plan NYC

 

My love affair with NYC is well documented. I’m happy to announce two years in and it’s still living up to all my expectations. I had my sister here this weekend. She has never set foot in The City. She is an avid Gossip Girl and Real Housewives viewer and of course she’s been listening to me wax romantic about the place for about 30 years. So all these years her feelings on the place tended to vacillate between indifference and resentment.

Now she’s embracing new things in her life. She’s ready to branch out.
She wanted to make re-thinking NYC part of that plan.
No pressure.

Here is where I thought I’d fall down. I never have a plan. I find a train. I hit the streets and I wander. That is why I love the place. Sure, there are amazing museums and galleries. You can picnic in The Park or hit The High Line and take in the views. But for me, the energy and spirit of NYC is what I love. I don’t care if I’m in the Upper West, East Village or Central Park I will find something that makes me remember why I am in love.

I started to plan a day with tourist kinds of activities. Then in a middle of the night panic I decided to just stick with what I do best; winging it. That is the beauty of this place. There is ALWAYS something great to do-plan or not. Plus, The Husband says when I’m there it is so obvious I’m having fun that it’s hard not to enjoy it just being around me. As soon as I come up from that train tunnel, my enthusiasm is so strong it’s contagious.

So I pointed out Madison Square Garden as I raced into the Borders to use the bathroom. Then we headed to Broadway for American Idiot. From there, we sped (as we were improperly dressed for a March winter) through Times Square around the Rockefeller Center Ice and then in a cab downtown. (With promises she’d come back for a visit when it was warmer.)

This is when the magic happens. We met our resident Fun Girl for drinks. We were served “Darlings” by a waiter with an accent that made the word darling sound so lovely we needed more. Then we hit the streets again to dinner. My sister even experienced what I like to call the Fun Girl Jedi Mind Trick wherein F.G. makes you think you’re “heading to a better street to catch a cab” when in fact she’s leading you on a walk to your next destination all along.
I love NYC with Fun Girl.

 Our dinner was in a building that was unmarked (Hello, Gossip Girl) and up an elevator into a hidden room that looked like a bordello. Of course the only meat at this bordello was cow, but the ambience provided by red quilted leather walls was enough.

 

Where else can you get Darlings and Bordello Steak within nine (cold) blocks?
Yes, New York City continues to live up to my expectations.
I think this weekend, even without a plan, it lived up to my sister’s as well.

She can save her indifference for Jersey.