NYC

Back from vacation in NYC. Let me just say, "It feels soooo good to be back in North Carolina." NYC - a nice place to visit but I really don't think I'd want to live there. MONDAY:
My flight from Charlotte was delayed due to inclement weather in NY. Maybe an hour delay. No big deal. The flight was good. Sat with a sexy, blond named Michelle, on her way to "COUGAR" status. She and her friend were flying out to NYC to promote a singer's ( Brit Price ) album release at a place called The Bitter End.

The prearranged shuttle with Golden Touch to my hotel took forever. Remind me to never use them again. More on that later.

Got to my hotel, The Jane. Ever been to the Chelsea Hotel (NYC) or Concord Hotel (Concord, NC)? Well, let's just say The Jane is an old hotel with charm and potential. Frightening at first if one is used to staying at chain hotels. The elevator is run by a man in the "monkey suit" of years gone by. The room was very small. that was okay as I did not go to NYC to entertain myself in a hotel room. It just creeped me out a little when the door to my hallway was opened by the elevator operator and some old resident was hanging out in another residents doorway in his boxers. The smell of the shower down the hallway wafting around.






Met up with Autumn in NY. We walked around a bit and finally had dinner at Mr Tang of Mott St. Chinese. Good enough. We chit chatted a while until the place got crowded and decided we should give up the table for the next diner.

TUESDAY:
I think I walked my feet down to nubs. Didn't really go anywhere in particular. Walked up Broadway.







Met up with Autumn in NY in the afternoon and we went to the MUSEUM of MODERN ART.












Saw my favorite Marc Chagall painting "I and the Village".

We took the subway back down to Chelsea and had dinner at The Trailer Park Lounge. Had a GREAT Burger w/ sweet potato fries. Autumn in NY had something vegetarian. We wandered around after dinner to a couple thrift stores and to a coffee house where we sat around a long while talking.

WEDNESDAY:
Snow flurries fell while I was out and about on Bleeker St. Sold a few paintings at a small park before a policeman started to approach me and I put them away. Not being 100 percent sure of the laws in NY, ... I didn't want to get into trouble.

Met up with Autumn in NY at a coffee house called THINK. She and Nick and James(?) and Genevieve(?) were having conversation. Introduction and then small talk for a while.

Autumn in NY and I walked to The Doughnut Plant for a snack. We walked through her old neighborhood on Henry St.

Had dinner at an Ethiopian place called AWASH (I didn't think Ethiopians really eat). Anyway, I was not impressed and the waitress rushed us out when we were finished with dinner. Rude. I left her $1 tip.

We went to RODEO BAR. Rockabilly folks are very cliquish. There were a few there.




Enjoyed Susquehanna Industrial Tool and Die Company
play their Rockabilly/Country. Their banter between songs was as enjoyable as their music. A GREAT show overall.

THURSDAY:
More walking! Met up with Autumn in NY late in the morning. Headed down to catch the STATEN ISLAND FERRY after coffee. We stopped at St Paul Chapel @ ground zero.
It is very emotional being there. We rode the ferry just for the view. We didn't go to Staten Island. Met an Irishman on the ferry.

We walked to Williamsburg after a soft serve ice cream from a Mr Softey ice cream truck. Mmmm.
Walked across the Williamsburg Bridge.


Is this a BANSKY? Passed it as we walked in Williamsburg.
Had dinner at a place called SEA Thai Restaurant and Bistro. Very Good! The atmosphere is unique. Cool seating. Autumn in NY told me that a scene in "Sex In The City" was filmed in that restaurant. "That don't impress me much" but good food and service does!

We walked to a park area facing the East River.



Then stopped in at a Salvation Army Store.

Went out with Autumn in NY and Nick to a place called "Happy Endings". It was at one time a massage parlor, I think. Now it's a bar. Some of her friends were having a party there. Not my cup of tea but whatever. Met some of her friends, OJ and Yanzi. There until 3am or so. Left her there with Nick. Yanzi and I walked together until she came to her street. She encouraged me to take a taxi but I was okay,... until...

Some drunk THUG and his buddy approached me cussing "You don't even know!! MF!" Not sure what he had in mind when he got to me but his friend talked him into leaving me alone. I never stopped until I got to the next intersection. I wasn't "scared". I was just thinking: Tonight I find out what it feels like to be punched in the face or mugged or to be beaten to death. Took a taxi at the next intersection.

FRIDAY:
More WALKING. Later I took a taxi to CENTRAL PARK. I love Central Park! Unfortunately it began to drizzle when I got there. Watched a band play island music for a while. Sat at a lake and watched people sail their little motorized sail boat rentals.

Walked back to The Jane and later met up with Autumn in NY for coffee and cake at Think. Listened to some world musicians play. Sounded vaguely like Beirut. I like Beirut.

Walked to Angelika Cinema and saw a film. "Goodbye Solo". Filmed in Winston-Salem, NC. It was an okay movie. Won some award(s) but I didn't like that the movie only showed seedy or poor looking parts of Winston-Salem.

SATURDAY:
Rain!!! Went out looking for a flea market that was supposed to be on W 18th Street but it was not there. So I snacked my way back to The Jane. Autumn in NY and I met up and took the subway to DUMBO. Went to a flea market on Front Street. Didn't buy anything. Not too great. Overpriced.

Had dinner at Royal Bangladesh Indian Restaurant. Where two Indian restaurants next door to each other bid for your business. Christmas Lights vs Jalapeno Lights. Good food. Loved that cheesy flat bread.


Walked to The Strand Bookstore. 18 Miles of Books. Priced to sell!! I bought a book of post cards "Adrian Tomine Optic Nerve Postcard Book" and 2 art books: Mark Chagall and 1930's movie posters.

Hung out at a pizza place close to Autumn in NY's place. Talking. Back to my hotel by 11:30pm.

SUNDAY:
7 am - Golden Touch shuttle service left me stranded in NYC. After waiting in the cold for 15 minutes I tried calling them to find out where they were. "Golden Touch, please hold!" before I could even speak. On hold and then lost my signal. Called them for an hour and went straight to hold until I'd lose my signal or someone would hang up. Finally spoke to a guy who told me they had my address as 113 Duane Street. WRONG!! I spelled it all out the day before when I confirmed the ride. "We don't have anyone in the area to pick you up." "How do I get to the airport?" " Hale a taxi."
So I did. The bastards at Golden Touch had better reimburse me for the cab fare. $40
(GOLDEN TOUCH Update: They only refunded $24 - I WILL NEVER USE Golden Touch AGAIN!)
Felt so good to get back to NC. Home Sweet Home.

Snowfall

Snow fell again last night. It fell for the first time this season on
January 20th. There wasn't too much snowfall last night but it was
beautiful coming down. The sparkling white layer it left on everything
is, sadly, all but gone tonight. Nothing like the snows of yesteryear.
As a child, a snow day was exciting and seemed to last forever.

As a working adult snow days come and go so quickly that they're
hardly remembered. As an aged person, I suppose, they may seem to
linger painfully. I heard an old man say with an almost teary voice
that he couldn't wait for Spring and Summer to get here.

Keep It UP!

USAirways flight 1549, took off from LaGuardia Airport at 3:26 p.m., bound for Charlotte, N.C. carrying 150 passengers and 5 crew members. The pilot ditched the US Airways jetliner into the Hudson River this afternoon following a run in with birds or some other UFO. That apparently knocked out the engines. Rescuers pulled all 155 people on board off & into boats as the plane sank. Thankfully no immediate reports of serious injuries.

FAA spokesperson Laura Brown said Flight 1549 had taken off from LaGuardia Airport en route to Charlotte, North Carolina. It crashed into the river near 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.

Eyewitnesses reported the plane may have flown into a flock of Geese. My immediate thought was Terrorist Geese.

GHOST TOWN IN THE SKY

Friday evening Doug, Amy, their son Jacob and I headed out to Maggie Valley, NC for our camping trip. Doug hauled his pop-up Apache camper that he refurbished this past summer. Michael, Lisa and their baby Chloe and Michael's other two children Brittany and David followed us hauling Michael's pop-up camper. We met up with Charles and Darlene and their daughter's Elizabeth and Hannah. They came up the night before and were staying in a cabin at campground destination- Stone Bridge.


Doug's cousins Eric and Robert came up from GA. Eric, Kristi and their daughters Kayla and Erica were there when we arrived; as were Robert and Marya and their 3 sons Tyler, Collin and Evan. The GA cousins were in two huge tents.


We got settled and built a campfire. Roasted marshmellows and made smores. Sleeping in the camper was COLD!! My sleeping bag kept my body warm but my face was so cold all night long.

Saturday morning we built a campfire. Doug and Michael cooked breakfast (bacon, eggs and sausage) for everyone. This was done with electric gridddles (a bit more high tech than a skillet & campfire).

Later in the morning we went into town -Waynesville, to a Kmart looking for whatever whoever needed. That's where we ran into a pathetic family of INBREDS. The Queen of the bunch was a 15 year old (?) pregnant girl hobbling along with a cast on her leg, sporting a Prince Valiant haircut gone bad, wearing a belly exposing t-shirt sloganed "DADDY'S GIRL". The grandma, and sister and brother followed her throughout the store. I assume she was the one with the welfare money. "Shut up! Shut up! I'm gonna buy me a telephone! Shut Up!" she was yelling at the check out line. And they all shut up and followed her.

We drove up the blueridge parkway and walked up a trail. Beautiful country! Everyone seems too impatient to just stop and take in the beauty along the way.
Lisa was freaked out by what she thought was a snake on the way down.


Had lunch at Ammons. Back at the campsite in the afternoon- Wesley and Sara had arrived,... horse shoes and other games were played and we walked the kids over to a branch to hop along rocks in the stream. Grilled burgers for supper. Campfire ghost tails and toasting marshmellows. Not as cold that night. It was the sound of snoring that kept me awake!

Sunday we started to break camp. Went to breakfast at Joey's Pancake House. The place was packed but the service was quick. Food was good. We went back to the campsite to finish packing.

The GA cousins headed back to GA and the rest of us headed to GHOST TOWN In the Sky. (A trip to GHOST TOWN was the only family vacation we ever took when I was a wee wee lad. Oddly enough most of my family that went on that trip are all... ghost now.) Anyway we took the chairlift up - David rode with me up and Jacob rode with me down. That rides a little scarey if you consider how easily a kid could just slip out of the seat. So I tried not to think about it.

We went immediately to the few amusement park rides. Some rides aren't available yet. "Awaiting State Approval". I rode a few things that spin ya around (The Dreamcatcher and the Undertaker) and felt sick. I skipped the GunSlinger Swings because I knew one more spin and I'd be blowin' chunks. I liked the Geronimo Drop Tower that shoots you up - like the BIG SHOT @ the Stratosphere in Las Vegas.

We went to the Ghost Town and watched part of the "Can Can Girls" show and then a GUN FIGHT in the street. Bought a t-shirt and a couple "cowboy" cds from a gift shop. Overall a nice trip. Got a complimentry pass to come back. I guess it was 4 or later before we headed home. Playing Roadside Bingo.