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"One belongs to New York instantly, as much in five minutes as in five years." Thomas Wolfe said that, and I think he was on to something. The city was wonderful; however, the experience would not have been nearly what it was without Matt and Lisa.



They were the loveliest hosts and they showed us an unforgettable time. While it is nice to be home, we could have easily stayed for a long, long time. But, sadly, it is over for now, as if it were a dream. The crowds are gone and the last train has vanished.




But before we left more great times were had. We went to Central Park a couple of times where we strolled about enjoying the weather and sat by the water with some fancy beers.






We saw Rockefeller Center. We had hamburgers at The Shake Shack, then walked through FAO Schwartz and Tiffany Jewelery. We saw the Flatiron Building and Anthony Bourdain's old place.




We saw Ground Zero where we had a moment of silence. It was quite an amazing site and almost eerie. We walked through the night talking, then met Matt at Mario Batali's Otto for a late dinner and bottle of wine. We had even later nights, every night, to a cocktail on the roof where we could enjoy the NY skyline, conversation, and the old lady herself- Empire State. We even made our way up to her top one evening where the views were indescribable. The buzz of the city at half volume, the romance, the vertigo, and the billion bat sized moths circling the Art Deco antenna overhead. Matty and I visited the schools and caught a few beers at Bar Spain. I had a couple hours to myself to cruise around Greenwich Village while the ladies had a massage. We visited The Museum of Natural History. We read books and napped by the East River. We met with Nate and Ryan for bingo at the Black Rabbit and then burritos, then free $35 shots at Nate's place, then more at Ryan's place. We ate Papaya Dog, and Grimaldi's Pizza, and Zabars, and Mr. Softee.









We had drinks at Matt's work, Clover Club. We went to church, then toured the church. We had a long brunch, just out of the rain, at Matt's old work, Public. We did so many millions of things that I never want to forget about, and then we spent our "last" day getting bumped from all of our flights, resulting in a surprise extra night with our hosts.

Our first trip to New York City was remarkable, unforgettable, and immaculate to say the least. Good times.