A Nice Get-Away

New York City! I met my friend Sheri for a nice long weekend in New York. I met Sheri when I lived in Wichita, and we really hit it off. I only lived there for two years, and really only knew Sheri for one year, but somehow, we became fast friends. We've traveled together before, and we always have a good time.

We did SO MUCH in such a short weekend. The day we got there, Thursday, we went to see Scarlett Johanssen and Liev Schrieber in The View From the Bridge, and Arthur Miller play. It was really wonderful. We were WAY up in the balcony, but once we got over the vertigo, we both enjoyed the play.

The next day was shopping day. We went to several trimmings stores in the garment district - M&J Trimmings and Tinsel Trading Company. I allowed myself to choose five different ribbons and got two yards of each. Don't know what I'll do with them yet...I also bought some sweet little flowers that will be great in some project, I just know it. Such amazing stores.

We also got ripped off at one restaurant - Roxy's at Times Square. Don't go there. It's supposed to be a NY deli, but they charge outrageous prices. Granted the sandwiches are huge, but they're not very good.

On Saturday, we went down to the Lower East side to the Tenement Museum. I liked that quite a bit. The tour focused on several families' lives and experiences. It was a little hokey, but overall a good museum. From there we wandered over to Little Italy and Chinatown. Then we took the train up to 80th and Broadway to Zabar's, a fabulous market.

On Sunday, the weather turned nasty - we had planned on going on a pre-Passover Jewish culture walking tour, but it was pouring down rain, so we just went to the Strand, then headed up to Harlem to eat soul food at Sylvia's. On Sunday's, they perform gospel music in the restaurant. It's pretty tourist-y, but still fun.

One thing I did realize on this trip is that I can get around pretty much anywhere now. I was sort of nervous of the subway system, but was able to figure it out. We went from Mid-town to the lower East Side, out to Brooklyn, up to Harlem - all over the place. In fact, we must have looked fairly competent because three times over the weekend people asked us for subway directions!

It was so nice to get away from work for awhile and do something fun. I'm tired, but I do feel refreshed and relaxed. Not that I really want to go back to work tomorrow, but I feel that I can get through another week.