So I had a great weekend in NYC. Hadn’t been back up there to visit friends in over two years. I stayed with Nick M. and Dana in LIC, Queens; also got a chance to catch up with my old pals Russell W. (who really needs to start blogging again and make use of that fabulous domain name of his), Gail M., Reeves H. (who similarly needs to start a blog already for chrissakes) and Colin R., my ex-roommate from the heady East Village days of 1998-1999.
Points of interest from the trip:
1) I took a Chinatown bus up there and back. 35 clams round-trip vs. about 200 bucks on scAmtrak. All went well save for the fact that the bus’s shitcan smelled as if it hadn’t been drained in about six months. You get what you pay for. And I’d happily do it again.
2) I arrived mid-day on Saturday and we went the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. It was hilarious. Some photos (not mine) are here. Notable Parade-related happenings:
a) Reeves, taking in the spectacle of flesh, turned to me and said “All of these women look like they were drawn by R. Crumb.”
b) After the parade, we took a stroll along the boardwalk. Nick saw an elderly woman wearing a T-shirt that said “Alive with Pleasure.”
c) If you ever visit Coney Island, be sure to check out Shoot the Freak.
3) On Saturday night we went to Zombie Hut, on Smith St. in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens. The flaming scorpion bowls will hurt you bad.
4) I was delighted to attend a brunch for travel writers/travelers/writers that Rolf Potts put together on Sunday at The Half King in Chelsea.
I’d been corresponding via email with Rolf over the years but had never met him face-to-face. I also got a chance to meet, among others, Ayun Halliday, author of “No Touch Monkey: And Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late,” which I hear is hilarious, and Tony Perrottet, who wrote “Route 66 AD,” a fascinating book about the ancient Romans’ travel exploits. Also in attendance was the interestingly-named Forrest Mallard, a special events production expert who works at City Hunt.
(Side note: after I got up on Saturday morning and was preparing to leave for the brunch, Dana looked at my attire and said “Newley, you’ll fit in well in Chelsea on Gay Pride Day with that stripey on.”
Gay pride day?
Yes, Gay pride day.)
5) After brunch, on my way out of town, I saw a short, fat hispanic man in his 40s walking through the Port Authority subway station. He was wearing a white T-shirt with bold black letters on it. It said “I Have the Dick So I Make the Rules.”
New York, NY. I’ve missed you so.
UPDATE (6/30): Also in attendance at the brunch was the travel writer and Italy expert James Sturz; I met him but didn’t know his name until now.
No related posts.