Day 1Getting Lost, Asian Food, Oysters and Late-Night DrinkingThursday, April 19, 2018
Temperatures: Low 38°, High 48° Mike is already in this area for a work trip, so when I land at the airport I'm supposed to make my way to Penn Station where we'll meet. He suggests I take a shuttle, but the shuttle system requires taking multiple lines that I don't know how to navigate. I could figure it out. I could. But I don't. I take a $50 taxi straight to the station. When I get to Penn Station, the stars are not aligning. Mike and I cannot (CAN. NOT.) find each other. He's on one side, I'm on the other. He offers to meet me on a street corner, but I mishear the name of the intersection. When I do finally find the correct corner, he's still not there. (Where!? Where!?) This, on top of the fact that it's cold and rainy. The situation is not peachy. Luckily, we do eventually find each other (and also connect with Andy and Jenny) and all is well again. We drop our things at the Airbnb, then head to lunch at Momofuko, which is this well-known Asian-ish restaurant. The food is amazing. We order a few different saams (rice and meat wrapped in bibb lettuce) including the stuffed rotisserie duck ssam and seven spiced beef brisket ssam (both are amazing), plus bao buns and this rice dumpling bowl thing (I don't even know, but it was the fairest one of them all). In addition, we randomly order a spread of country ham. The fact that we can order country ham makes no sense, because isn't this an Asian restaurant? It's tasty anyway. Lastly, drinks are consumed. I go for something with scotch and lemon that I loooooveee. After, it's back to the Airbnb to nap, shower and change for dinner. We stop for quick coffee at Cafe Bene up the street and off we go. Andy, Jenny, Mike and I meet up with Glen, Eisha and Clay at Maison Premiere, which is this moody oyster bar with a speakeasy vibe. It's cool. We order a platter of oysters and vote on our favorites, plus a bunch of seafood to share (including sea urchin!?). Mike and I also order an absinthe cocktail to split. I like it but he doesn't, so that becomes mine. (I don't understand the deal with absinthe. I try to get someone to explain it to me. Why is it special? Is it supposed to, like, make you trip? Or is it like moonshine and it's just really strong? No one is able to clear this up for me. I sip it and hope for the best.) After, we head to a honky tonk bar called Skinny Dennis for IPAs (I drink those now!) and live music. The music is loud. The beer is cheap and good. We chat and share these frozen rum-and-coffee slushies that remind me of Bourbon Street and are probably kind of gross, but taste refreshing in the moment. After, we move to a second bar where the bartender quickly informs us, "You all have time for one drink, then we're closing." That's probably for the best. More drinking and chatting ensues. After, it's time for late-night pizza at Joe's Pizza. It's freezing outside, but I've stopped noticing. |
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Day 2Meeting Emma, Lunch with Barcorn & a Hiking Shoe AdventureFriday, April 20, 2018
Temperatures: Low 36°, High 52° Emma Pressman and I haven't seen each other in 10 years, so this is a fun reunion. I wake up early to meet her for smoothie bowls, and the two of us spend an hour catching up on the last decade. Back at the Airbnb, Mike, Andy, Jenny and I pack up and head for the train that will take us out of the city and into New Jersey. Our timing is shit. We miss the first train and have to wait an hour for the second. It's our fault, though. We should have known it would take forever to get to the station. That's what happens in a city with a billion cars all fighting for the same ten feet of road real estate. It's a madhouse. The train takes us to the doorstep of Arthur's Tavern, where we meet up with Barcorn for lunch (he lives in the area). We order too many appetizers (a wedge salad, French onion soup and a salmon platter) so that by the time our main courses come (Caesar salad for me, fish sandwich for Mike) we're both full. I take the salad to go (dun dun dun...PLOT JUICE). From there, it's on to the hotel! Glen invited us on a hike tomorrow. I really want to go, but neither Mike nor I brought hiking shoes. What to do? Could we buy shoes? Maybe, except that we're in middle-of-nowhere New Jersey without a car. The nearest shoe store is 10 minutes away, but it'll take the Uber driver 20 minutes just to pick us up. Plus, we haven't been able to get in touch with Andy or Jenny (who are supposed to be coming with us to dinner). The shoe store closes at nine. Time ticks by. Game time decision? Order the Uber. We're going for it. We make it to Famous Footwear at 8:50 p.m. The moment we walk in, the cashier gives us an odd look. "Well," he says, "you can come in, but you know we're closing in ten minutes, right?" Yes, we know. From there, it's a mad dash. I scramble to find whatever shoes fit first. I land on some $65 Adidas and it's like, I want to hike, but do I want to sixty-five-dollars hike? I must, because we walk out of the store, new shoes in hand, at 9:00 on the dot. After a quick stop at Walmart for hairspray (during which time Mike is on his phone watching the Cavs lose), we head to Taphouse 15. They have an amazing beer selection. Mike is extra impressed by this, and he orders a few IPAs. We also order a kale salad (goat cheese, candied pecans, raspberry vinaigrette) and a sopressata and hot honey pizza (super thin, really good). Soon, the rest of the gang shows up: Glen and Eisha, Rob and Liz, Scott and a bunch of other people who I kind of know, but loosely. Someone puts a sour in my hand, which I sip. We all chat until it's time to go. |
Day 3E. Coli Salad, Morning Hike and the WeddingESaturday, April 21, 2018
Temperatures: Low 38°, High 61° I still have my leftover Caesar salad from yesterday, so I bust it out and start muchin'. When I'm almost halfway through, Mike goes, "You might not want to eat that. There's a recall on romaine lettuce because of an E. coli outbreak." Um, like, all romaine lettuce? "I don't know." What do you mean you don't know? You've been sitting there watching me eat an E. coli salad and you don't know!? I Google it. The outbreak started in New Jersey. I'm in New Jersey. The outbreak is for all romaine lettuce. I'm eating romaine lettuce. The outbreak could kill you. I don't want to die. I make myself puke it all up. We meet up with people for breakfast bagels and coffee at Mount Olive Bagels, then head to our hike! The weather is perfect. Chilly, but quickly warming as we walk. We found out yesterday that Avicii died. I'm surprisingly moved by the news. He's one of the first DJs that I remember listening to when I was first getting into electronic music. For so many people, he was the reason they even liked electronic music. I spent the morning listening to Levels on repeat, but here's the cool thing; the people I'm with are electronic music fans too. They know about Avicii's death, and care. On the hike, someone starts playing Levels on their phone. Later, we're all singing the words to that song. I soak up the kinship. We make it back from the hike, change and shower, then head to Czig Brewery for a beer and some empenata food trucks. I haven't eaten much on this trip, and I don't eat much now. This is typical. I get excited, kind of full of nervous energy, and I completely lose my appetite. It's time to get ready and then head to the wedding! The ceremony is sweet. There's a cocktail hour, followed by speeches, good food and lots more alcohol. The band was especially amazing; every single member of that group could sing. We danced a ton. I met new people. Overall, it was a good one. Day 4The Airport Is Far, Far AwayIt's the final morning. Mike and I are sitting at brunch in the hotel dining room trying to decide the best way to get back to the airport, which is, apparently, not easy. To Uber, it's over $150. We could take the train, but the timing is wrong. We could catch a ride with someone back into the city and then Uber from there to the airport, except that no one's really leaving soon enough. I'm starting to get nervous. Everyone sees that I'm getting nervous. Glen must see it too, because he comes to the rescue and offers to drive us all the way to the airport. Relief pours into me. Thanks again, Glen.
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Our Favorite Memories
For me, it was getting to know these people better. I was feeling uncharacteristically comfortable and experienced zero introvert burnout. That was a gift. I'm glad we came.
Mike: "I don't know. I liked it all. It was all good. Thursday night was fun. Friday was good to see Barcorn. Saturday hiking, short brewery trip, the wedding. Did you write all that down? 'Cuz your name is Tinny?"
Mike: "I don't know. I liked it all. It was all good. Thursday night was fun. Friday was good to see Barcorn. Saturday hiking, short brewery trip, the wedding. Did you write all that down? 'Cuz your name is Tinny?"