This past weekend I was fortunate enough to finally have guests! My Mother and her friends, Pat, Deb and Des ventured to the Big Apple for a short get-away. When they arrived last Thursday, their party split in two. Pat and Deb took a cab to my apartment complex and checked into the penthouse suite, which they had reserved for the entire weekend. Mom and Des, on the other-hand, came straight to the Ed Sullivan Theatre for a taping of the Late Show. I had wanted to get tickets for all four of them, but was only able to reserve two. Anyway, they had a great time at the show and afterwards I brought them up to my floor so they could see my desk. I also introduced them to Tony Mendez…whom they were both excited to meet. After I got off work I met the entire group including Amy at a restaurant on Broadway. I then took them down to Times Square so they could get a glimpse of all the lights. Amy then took us all to a little place called Café Lalo where scenes from “You’ve Got Mail” were filmed. While there we all indulged in some cheesecake.
I knew from that first night it was going to be an entertaining weekend: Mom accidently sat on a gay guy in the subway, whom then put his arm around her (I think his boyfriend got a little jealous), and then Mom and the ladies struck up a convo with a couple of strangers sitting across from them on the train. Fortunately, and a bit surprisingly, the New Yorkers they interacted with seemed patient and friendly.
On Friday the girls got up early to try to get on the CBS Early Show down on 5th Avenue. Not only were they on TV, but they got pictures with all the hosts including Harry Smith, Maggie Rodriguez, and Dave Price. Mom also struck up a conversation with Harry Smith about my hometown Exeter, Nebraska, which he had actually heard of! Needless to say, they had a great time. The rest of the day they explored some of the cities’ sites. They walked down 5th Avenue and bought tickets for a bus tour of the city. The tour took them around many of the sites in mid and lower Manhattan including Greenwich Village.
Me, on the other-hand, spent my morning preparing for an interview at ABC News for a supper reporting job with the ABC News on Campus bureau at UNL. Working for the bureau would be a great opportunity to gain valuable reporting experience while collaborating with a prestigious organization like ABC News. I feel like the interview went well, but we’ll just wait and see what happens.
Saturday consisted of more site-seeing in lower Manhattan. We had hoped to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but the line was over a two hour wait. Instead we took the Staten Island ferry so we could at least get a closer glimpse of Lady Liberty. We also went to the World Trade Center site and saw the plans for the 9/11 Memorial. After getting some pizza for lunch the girls went to a matinee performance of the Broadway musical, West Side Story. While they were at the show, I went with Amy to a rooftop party one of her friends was hosting. Although I didn’t know anyone there I still had a great time. I would love to have a rooftop terrace in my apartment some day…it’d be great for grilling out on hot summer days and reading a good book in the evenings. After a few hours we met up with Mom and the gals and ate an authentic Italian supper in Little Italy. After supper, Amy, Deb, and Pat went to the Opera while Mom, Des, and I went to a movie, which Des was kind enough to pay for. Since there was nothing neither Des nor I particularly wanted to see we let Mom choose the movie. Big mistake. She chose, “The Last Song,” the new film starring Miley Cyrus. Needless to say, it was awful. But at least it was so bad I could actually laugh at it for being so bad…so it was still an enjoyable outing.
On Sunday I took them to Easter services at Advent Lutheran Church on 93rd and Broadway. Easter Sunday is always my favorite church service of the year, and this one did not disappoint. Following church we went out to lunch and ate on the patio of a Greek restaurant on Broadway. It was a beautiful day. That afternoon we took a nice stroll through central park and then they got on the bus to go on an evening tour of the city. That evening they also were "fortunate enough" to witness a huge gang of teens descend on Times Square. Dozens of teens were arrested and four individuals sustained gunshot wounds. Mom and the gals played it safe and took a cab home...good call.
As I was leaving for work Monday morning we said our goodbyes. Their flight left that morning. I’d definitely say there trip was a success. They managed to cram pretty much everything significant there is to do in NY into one weekend. They seemed to be going nonstop and they hardly complained…or, at least, I never heard it. Not only was it an enjoyable vacation for them, but it was also a nice chance for me to have guests. While it’s been nice spending time with the interns, there’s nothing quite like seeing a familiar face. So, I just want to tell Mom, Pat, Deb and Des thank you for taking the time to visit me…I had a great time!
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