Black Friday

The tower of turkey, lettuce, tomato & bacon - Carnegie Deli
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11am

6:16am and my eyes fly open.  Ken was up & out the door shortly afterward and by 7am Jodi was up and at em with coffee in tow.  By 8:20am we were driving on the Gardiner and 20 min later we were driving in circles cause I wouldn't listen to Jodi's directions - for all who know me - big shocker!  Then there is the carrot story...I packed some carrots to munch healthy in the airport - you know the customs form you fill out, the one that asks if you are bringing any fruits and vegetables into the U.S. - yeah, well don't answer no then plop a big tupperware container in front of the customs agent - they don't look upon that favorably so I was ushered into this side room where I thought for sure I was getting a cavity search.  And it was all because of the bloody carrots!!  The next adventure I'm sure will be how to get from Laguardia to the Park Central Hotel - I'll be in need of a drink I'm sure if we arrive, with luggage, at the hotel in a timely fashion =)

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7pm

Another funny story - Jodi spotted a particularly nice looking straight guy Sean on our plane (with girlfriend Sinead in tow) and before you knew it we were sharing a cab into town with our driver Andre (who's mother & brother are NYPD don't ya know so we zipped through the city with the lights & siren wailing).  Funny how things happen.  We dropped off the luggage at our Park Central hotel and stepped out for some shopping but nothing at the Gap, Macy's or Daffy's jumped out at us or maybe it was the HORDES of shoppers EVERYWHERE that deterred us.  Weaving in and out of the crowds we passed nearly a block of animal (fur) protestors camped outside of Macy's with some very graphic posters & riot police strategically positioned close by.  I was nearly in tears.

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We passed 2 delis on the way with lineups literally down the street - guess they are a hot commodity in NYC.  Soon enough our tummies were grumbling so we started north again & stopped in a Godiva chocolates to tide us over ($8.14 for 2 pecan clusters!!!).  We passed Carnegie Deli again and, whaddya know, no lineup so thought we'd check it out.  After seeing the size of a pastrami on rye delivered to the table beside us, we thought it best to share a club, fries & slaw.  I had to eat my half in 2 chunks because of the sheer height!!  I certainly missed Al at this place!  Back to the room to plan for the night.

Timmy's takes over NYC - yay!!
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Written on Day 2

After a 20 min wait in line to get our luggage, we got up to our 11th floor room to chill for a bit.  Jodi ran out to pick up some cranberry juice and vodka for pre-evening cocktails but 2 sips and I just couldn't do it so I was the designated walker for the evening - good thing too cause we walked and walked and walked.  It was a beautiful balmy evening so we now know the Village & northish Soho like the back of our hand.  The plan was to drop in at the Duplex where we thought there would be a piano belting out showtunes but alas, a beer & a ginger ale later there were no showtunes under our belts.  So the strolling began before we would arrive at our destination - the Pyramid Club on Avenue A for Retro 80's.  We took a stab at trying to find the bar with the funky bathroom we went to with Nicky 2 years ago