Uh DUh! My NYC Trip

Sometimes I feel like I never have anything to write about, and then I have days where I feel like I have tons. So reminder to self (and teaser for you): I still want to write about the laxpower preseason poll, my new phone, Momentum of Failure's Present Yourself project, Kindle sharing (yesss!?),  and probably some other stuff, but this comes first.

Presenting: Caroline's Trip to the Big City!

I decided to visit my college friend KAM down in New York, and we were planning to meet up with some other people we graduated with to visit and hang out. I thought the best way would be to train down, because I fear driving in the city and didn't want to attempt to find/pay for parking. In the end, between gas and parking, my train tickets and parking at the station ended up evening out cost wise.

So I get up on Sautrday morning bright and early and drive the 1.5 hours down to the train station. My train was to depart around 10:05, and at about 9:20 I hit standstill traffic due to a car fire, and commence a mini freak out. I hadn't been to the train station before, so I wasn't sure how far I was away, and didn't know what was going on once I got to the station. Thankfully traffic began to move and I was probably about 10 minutes from the station, so I made it in time. And my train was late, haha. 

The train ride down was fine. Daddy had suggested I sit on the right side of the train so I could get the views of the river, but it was all frozen. Train arrived about 30 minutes late, and KAM and I attacked each other in Penn Station. Normal. She leads me to the subway, and as we stand waiting for it, a man approaches me and grabs my hand. As he pulls it to his lips to kiss it, I pull it away. He then asks if he can at least have a hug, and I replied, "No, thank you." Welcome to New York!

We got back to KAM's parent's apartment and commenced about a 3 hour gossip session. I had left my phone on vibrate from the train, and I don't know why hers was on vibe, but we completely missed about 5 calls and texts from those we were supposed to be meeting up with. We finally got in touch with them and made plans to meet for dinner at West Lake Palace on the Upper West Side.

Let me tell you something. West Lake Palace? I hope to visit there every time I go to NYC. Free refills on boxed white wine?! I am so there it's insane. And the chinese was pretty solid too. It's not exactly the most refined dining experience ever, but they pulled a table out of the back for us and kept our carafe constantly filled. Dinner for 4 came out to around $40 before tip. I'm in love. No lie.

After dinner we headed across the street to a bar called Jake's Dilemma, where they had really good music and we had a really fun server. Our friend GAV had a boy completely smitten with her-he was dancing with her in the middle of the bar, and by dancing I mean real dancing, not that bump and grind biz. GAV's young man had a friend with a beer holster. It was magical. 

After that we said goodbye to one of our college buddies and headed up somewhere to a place I thought was called Terrapin Bay, but a google search produced no info. It was definitely more of a dance-clubby scene, so I chilled while the others shook their things. KAM and I decided to call it a night, so we headed back to her apartment, but first stopped at an amazing deli near her apartment where I got a "French Burger" that involved brie. I may have died of happiness.

The next day, KAM was destroyed, so we spent the day on her couch watching movies and ordering pizza. She still couldn't move by the time I had to get back to the train station, so she gave me orders and I got in a cab back to the station. The train ride back was uneventful, and we were on time until we arrived, where we had to sit for about half n hour while two other trains went into the station before us.

I definitely had so much fun visiting, but next time I think I'd like to get a hotel room and be able to rely on myself a little more. my parents were visiting my uncle the same weekend, and I would've loved to be able to meet up with them at some point, and just general exploration might've been cool.

Second ever visit to NYC? 3.75 out of 5 stars.