New York, New York: Awesome Food and Late Nights
Saturday was such a nice day compared to Sunday. Albeit was cold and sunny on Saturday, but at least it wasn’t raining. The rain hit the eastern coast on Sunday for almost the entire day. So we grabbed some cheesesteaks and headed north to the Meadowlands to watch what would be a great NFC East battle between the New York Football Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. We also had a transient with us by the name of Lance who took a train to Philly and then returned to New York with us on the RV. Leave it to him and Nolan to figure out how to play quarters in a moving RV. The rain was coming down hard and we figured it would be pointless to set up everything for our tailgate. So we just parked and then linked up with some great Giants fans. We combined awnings and tailgated in the relative dryness of the over-head covers. We didn’t have a lot of time to hang out because the Giants set us up with pre-game field passes. So we bought some ponchos and headed to the stadium two hours early. Luckily, once we got on the field, the rain stopped. We walked around the field and checked out the Sunday Night Football set with Costas, Michaels, and Collinsworth only a few feet away.
The game itself was an epic battle between the two teams vying for a playoff spot, and more importantly, a top spot in the NFC East. The Eagles came in strong and scored on their opening drive and then took a 14-0 lead after a Giants fumble returned for a TD. It was not looking good for the Giants at halftime with the Eagles leading 30-17. The fans were pretty impressive with some cursing and some “@$$hole” chants throughout the stadium. At some points of the game, it was more entertaining to watch the several fights going on across the seats than watching the game. But the game did not disappoint. The Giants bounced back in the third quarter and kept the game close with Eli Manning having a strong showing. But it was a 91-yard drive in the beginning of the fourth quarter that took the wind out of the Giants. The Eagles took the lead to 45-31, ate 7:24 off the clock and took a huge step to winning the NFC East. The Giants scored again, but couldn’t recover the onside kick and the Eagles took home the victory amidst the unruly New York fans.
After the game, we ventured into Newark to park the RV for a week. It was an offsite parking lot for Newark International Airport, but it was cheap and easy access to the train and taxi systems. We were a little worried that something would happen to the RV, but our worries were unfounded, with no issues when we got back. We got to New York City around 2 am following the game and checked into a hotel that was offered to us in Time Square. I wish we could have changed it to a different night to enjoy the amenities and location, but it was still a nice place to lay our heads. After getting some rest we headed to the upper east side to stay with our surrogate family for the week; Lance, Barie and Beastie Beast. It was a great location with some awesome food and local establishments nearby. Also Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art were only a ten minute walk away. We spent the day with Lance exploring some famous establishments; Katz Deli, McSorley’s, and Johnnie Foxes. Our second night in NYC was spent watching the AZ Cardinals on Monday Night Football at Johnnie Foxes. It was an embarrassing loss, and four AZ fans in the bar that night were not too happy. Luckily, there was trivia being played to help keep our minds and frustrations from going crazy. The Zona Zoo, as our team was called, did not pull out the victory, but we all had a good time.
The next day, we slept in and then got some great New York style pizza. Nolan had some work and Aaron needed to do some stuff on the computer, so I took off wandering the streets by myself. I ended up at the Met and took a gander inside for about two hours. It was pretty interesting and I’m glad I made it over there during the week. We then went to this awesome Mexican joint that basically had a secret entrance and you needed a reservation to get in, that usually takes several weeks to get. It was delicious and a great environment. We then parted ways with Aaron and I going back to the upper east side and Nolan going with some friends from dinner to China Town. We met up with some fellow Phoenicians and drank the night away listening to some good music and having some great conversions. Aaron probably had the best conversation of the night though. Once again, we had some awesome food and a late night.
Thursday night was probably the best night of them all. We headed to the Comedy Cellar and laughed our faces off. It was a great time and we had about seven people with us so it was a fun night. After the comedy club, we headed to a nearby bar and ate some tater tots and cheered some beers. I can’t quite remember the name of it but I know they had beer pong. We didn’t play because there were so many people though. After a few scotches, I was feeling great and a few of us headed back to the upper east side. We stopped by our week long local watering hole and had a few more drinks. And another late night, surprise, surprise.
We debated whether or not to leave on Friday to make our lives easier, but we decided to make it as difficult as possible to get to Philadelphia. You see, there was a huge snowstorm headed for the east coast. We knew it and decided against leaving early. We are pretty dumb, but we wanted to enjoy the company of our friends one more night. So we ate some good tacos and drank some cold beverages and headed to Union Square. We danced the night away and broke a few glasses and met some new people. Favorite quote of the night by some random foreigner asking to put his jacket on the couch by us and carrying a plastic bag, (Us) “What’s in the bag?” (Foreigner) “Just some Coke, do you want some?” Wow, only in NYC. We cordially declined and continued to dance our faces off. And I bet you can guess, another late night!
We survived the night and got to the RV after a two hour commute via train and subway. It was miserable. And then the snow started to hit, just as we left Newark. Perfect, just what we planned. The snow was coming down pretty fast and we were rolling down to Philly at 25 mph. It was a blast, but we couldn’t blame anyone but ourselves. It was our third blizzard of the trip and we welcomed the two feet of snow with open arms and a warm embrace!