I had a slow leisurely morning on my second day in NYC. Taking time to enjoy my coffee, finish my book, and have a nice breakfast. Then I jumped headfirst into the chaos that is Times Square on Black Friday.

I relieved my crowd-induced-anxiety by heading over to Madison Square Park where I enjoyed the, well-disputed-best-burger-in-New-York-City, at the Shake Shack. I was a little surprised they were actually open this late in the season.

After that it was off to have a look at two of my favorite buildings in the city. The Flat Iron building
And the American Radiator building.

Afterwards I headed over to the Freemans. I wanted to check out this little secret gem hidden away in an ally of the LES. It was cool, but veering on too cool. I stayed for a couple of beers before heading to Lorely for a tall glass of German suds and the meeting of friends and family.

Then it was off to our big dinner. For reasons I won’t get into we had a “break the bank” expense budget that had to be spent and it was my girlfriend’s parents 40th anniversary. We also had reservations at Perry St. This was a Jean-Georges Vongerichten (his blog) joint. He’s is probably one of the most famous chefs in NYC. And this was probably the best meal I ate all year (and probably in the top ten meals I’ve eaten ever). We went haywire in this place ordering several appetizers, all kinds of special cocktails, desserts, wines and entrees (grilled tenderloin of beef with herbal spinach and liquid gruyere for me). It was wonderful for everyone. The restrooms were out of toilet paper though. Not the type of thing you’d expect from a place like this.

Afterwards we to Turks & Frogs which I believe was having a sewage problem. I have no idea why we stayed there so long but the experience was disappointingly if not for the company. We quickly scuttled over to The Otheroom. This place was great. The music was perfect all night, the atmosphere was fun, dim and cozy, the people were really cool, the women were hot and the men were gay (mostly). We stayed here till about three am.

Our adventure home included three taxi rides, a car accident, the new jersey transit system, some tears, getting list in Secaucus, and a $60 cab fair. Ouch.

Denver makes the nasty list again, and I’m not sure I should be proud or ashamed (mostly ashamed). That is to say - I love that Denver knows how to party, I hate that we can’t do it responsibly.

Men’s Health magazine graded each state on the deadliness of it’s drunkards and Denver ranked first. The listing took into account death rates due to alcoholic liver disease, how many citizens regularly down five or more drinks in a sitting (CDC), drunk-driving arrests (FBI), the percentage of fatal accidents involving intoxicated motorists (U.S. Department of Transportation). and the MADD report card of state efforts to cut down on excessive drinking. This is how the report card shook out:
100 Denver, CO - F
99 Anchorage, AK - F
98 Colorado Springs, CO - F
97 Omaha, NE - F
96 Fargo, ND - F
95 San Antonio, TX - F
94 Austin, TX - F
93 Fresno, CA - F
92 Lubbock, TX - F
91 Milwaukee, WI - F

If my previous trip to Manhattan was all about the sexiness, then this last trip was all about the foodiness.

We started off at Spitzer’s Corner where I had my first pork belly sandwich. It was good but there were way too many tomotoes on it for my taste. I can verify that the hickory smoked hamburger is incredible though. We also started with a dozen oysters from the raw bar that really hit the spot. Spitzer’s main draw, however, is not it’s food but it’s incredible selection of beer. I had a couple of the Golden Monkey Tripels which were great, but, at 10% alcohol, they quickly did some pretty good damage.

Thursday started off with a trip to the Macy’s day parade, an American Thanksgiving Day tradition. There were throngs of people and it was hard to get a decent view but it seemed like on of those things I needed to “check off my list”. I’m glad I got to see it when I did because it seems that every year the parade degenerates into more of a marching/floating advertisement and less of an actual parade. Someday it will implode on itself. Lunch involved a pretzel and hot dog street food. Dinner was, of course, the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, salad, rolls, gravy, wine combo that we have all come to know and love. Given the choice, I would take a green chili smothered burrito over turkey anyday, but I have come to terms with the traditional holiday fair and always enjoy my annual turkey meal.

My birthday week (last week) was so full of kickass it’s hard to comprehend.

It started out last Friday by heading over to a friends for drinks and then going to the Murray Farm Massacre. I haven’t been to a haunted house since I was a child but The haunted house was certainly frightening and well designed. I’m no stranger to corn mazes though, and this one pretty much sucked - way too easy (even at night) and not all that freaky.

Saturday we threw a raging halloween/costume party at our house. G made seven crockpots worth of homemade, slow-cook, goodness. The were black lights, and costumes, and spooky sounds to boot. The night finished with a big ole dance party that devolved into everyone dancing on the furniture. This resulted in one broken kitchen chair, a burning wig in a chandelier, snack carrots ending up in mysterious places, and one skull nearly cracked open. It was all worth.

Sunday mostly involved laying on the couch and recovering from Saturday’s debauchery.

On Tuesday we got the new Tivo hooked up. This thing is absolutely brilliant. It has already started changing the way I watch TV and I haven’t watch a commercial in over a week. Not to mention I have all kinds of great movies lined up that I’ve been waiting to see.

For my birthday, G and I hand bacon cheeseburgers (from my very favorite hamburger shack down the street from us) and champagne for dinner. I am also now a real art owner. G gave me a signed and numbered Audrey Kawasaki print called “Nest Hair”. Number 55 of a limited print of 100. I’m in love with it. It’s one of the coolest gifts I have received in a long time.

Thursday we met my Dad, his wife, my bro, and pandy out for a sushi dinner. Johnny Holly’s has great sushi and fantastic service without the pretentiousness. If you are ever thinking about going to the sushi den, drive ten blocks further south and go to Johnny Holly’s instead. You’ll be glad. If you are hankering for any sort of asian food that isn’t on the menu, just ask for it, and the kitchen will fix it up for you.

Thanks to everyone for making my week be so tremendous.