This is the first of a series of blogs from NY to capture what I did the previous day. This is my first trip out here and so far it has been… amazing. I never considered myself a “city person” but this city is quickly making me realize how much I enjoy taking public transit and walking from block to block. Granted, Laurie and I are on vacation so this wouldn’t be typical living, but you get my point. Anyway, day 1…

– Arrived here at 7AM sleepy as hell. I discovered why people rave about JetBlue and came to love the “Red Eye” package that came complimentary with the flight.
– Rode a taxi to Grace, Norman, and Elaine’s place… woke everyone up… then passed out for a few hours.
– For lunch we hit up John’s for some good wood-fired, authentic NY pizza. It was good, not great, but I was hungry so it made me happy.
– From there, we walked west and passed by Serendipity III which looked like the Bart on Halloween… crowded, uncomfortable, and not worth it. We didn’t go in but took a picture to capture the moment from outside.
– We kept walking west and went into Dylan’s Candy Shop. I got some sour candy and Laurie got a bag of Harry Potter Bertie Botts Beans.
– We finally hit Central Park and started walking north. We took plenty of “bench breaks” (basically sitting at a park bench and watching people walk by) and ate our candy… I had a black pepper jelly bean while Laurie tried bacon, grass, and vomit.
– The Met was amazing. Laurie and I covered all the galleries we wanted to check out. I was a big fan of the Modern Art and Arms and Armor galleries (they had a huge section on Japanese armor which was pretty awesome) while Laurie enjoyed the European paintings and sculptures.
– Met up with Elaine afterward at DTUT cafe for a coffee break.
– Headed to the west side for dinner with Ronni at Fairway Cafe on top of the grocery store! Quite the scene and really good food. Plus I got to catch up with Ronni and hear about her super exciting NY life and try and convince her to come back to SF more often to visit.

My day finished with some nice TV and hanging out with the apartment people. Great way to start the vacation. Laurie and I are off for an exciting Day 2… we don’t have plans yet but I’m sure we’ll figure out something fun to do. Pictures to come later…