I forgot to mention that during our trip we went up to the Top of the Rock Observation Deck and got some amazing views of the city. It was well worth the $20 fee.
Here's a view of Central Park:
And a shot of the Empire State Building:
It was pretty hazy/gross day so I flipped them into B&W. Here is another that I took of St. Patricks Cathedral:
NYC - Done.
Next up - Nashville, TN
My trip to New York City has come and gone quicker than I ever imagined. I had a great opportunity to meet up with Jenny & Jamie in NYC. Jennys friends were out of town and asked her to house sit their apartment at the Trump World Tower. I am lucky enough to be her friend and got to stay in a premier location for free. Sweet!
I spent Tuesday, from sunrise to sunset, flying cross country. It normally wouldn't take so long but of course, the plane I was on had mechanical problems so we sat on the plane for nearly 2 hours before it got fixed and we were able to take off. Upon arrival in NYC I had just enough time to meet up with the girls, get cleaned up and head out for dinner at STK in the Meatpacking District. Great food but horrible service which seemed to be the theme of the week. After dinner we headed over to Hotel Gansevoort for cocktails in the O Bar. The dirty martinis were great but a word to the wise, if you haven't drank a lot of water or eaten anything that day, you might want to avoid them. Jenny & I learned that one the hard way...
On Wednesday, we went down to the Ground Zero. I had never seen the twin towers in person but all of the images that I saw on the news came flooding back to me. It's hard to believe that something like this could happen in the US. There is a great memorial dedicated to all of those that lost their lives on 9/11 that I was able to get a photo of: 
They had the perimeter of the site blocked off by fences so it was hard to get a good shot of the site. The photos that I did get do not do it justice - the depth and sheer size of the area was astounding. 
That night we headed over to Tao for dinner and cocktails. This place was probably my favorite of the night spots that we hit. Great music, awesome food, good sake...what more could you ask for? For desert we ordered the Tao Chocolate Buddahs just because we were curious. I kind of felt bad for biting the head off of someone's god...but it sure was good! 
Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) I had planned on going down to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade but that didn't exactly happen. I woke up and saw how awful the weather was (cold & raining) so we staying in bed and watched it on TV. How awesome is that!? When we all finally go out of bed we headed out for lunch in Rockefeller Center and then went to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Rockettes. If you make it to NYC over the holidays, you should really check out this show. It's amazing how the Rockettes dance moves can be so precise. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was well worth the money. 
Our next stop was back to the Trump for a bit of rest before dinner. On our way back into the apartment we noticed that Megu was open so we decided to make a stop in for cocktails. 
A couple of things to note: the restaurant was completely dead with the three of us being the only customers in the place. Since we were only there for cocktails, the chef sent over what was the equivalent of a friend noodle with sea salt on it. When the waitress delivered in she said "Compliments of the chef. Though some people are allergic to this and could die. Enjoy". It was the strangest thing. So we gave up eating them and had swordfights, smoked or made walrus teeth of them.
The noodle was gross but we did discover the best martini ever called "Blessing" made with pomegranate juice...mmmm! We also discovered the electronic commode. Here is a quick description that I found of one:
"Plus, you can kiss your bidet goodbye. Neorest is outfitted with "Washlet" technology, a warm-water cleansing unit that includes oscillating spray massage, front- and back-aerated warm water spray, and a warm-air dryer. Of course, there's also a heated seat. "
Ummm...it was C-R-A-Z-Y! It probably doesn't help that we found that after a few drinks...
After the excitement of the toilet, we headed over to SAPA for Thanksgiving dinner. Traditional turkey, stuffing, etc all done gourmet style. It certainly wasn't moms cooking but it was good - probably not worth the $100 but oh well.
Friday was the big shopping day. Jenny & Jane hit 5th Ave while Jamie and I headed to SoHo. Hands down the best store design I have ever seen was at the Prada store. You can check out a couple of the photos here.
That night we had dinner reservations at Butter. The DJ was playing some great music but much to our dismay, it was a very light night and they closed down at about 1.30. Though we did celebrate my birthday (again) and the DJ played happy birthday for me. Did I mention that it was another dirty martini night? Not smart...
Hotel QT was the next bar we hit but there wasn't much of a scene. We did, however, see a man wearing a speedo that had "I AM SPARTACUS" written across his bum. We got a photo but this thing isn't letting me upload it. Dang it!
Next stop was The Cellar Bar in Bryant Park. This place was dead! It had to be because it was the day after Thanksgiving and people were all tired or something. We managed to close down 2 bars in the city that never sleeps...how is that possible? I think we finally got home around 4am.
