This past Tuesday, I visited New York City. When I sat down to write this entry about it, I thought, "Wow! It's been so long since I've been there!" but then consulting said blog tells me that I was there last in September, during my whirlwind circumnavigation of the city, and before that in late April for a Colbert Report taping, and before that in November, and before that to see Pavement... yeah. Ok, so not that long.

Anyway. I left on a 7 AM bus to the Port Authority so I could be plenty early for my interview on Varick Street. And plenty early I was, but the joy of the Peace Corps lobby is that there is a huge map on the wall and lots of articles everywhere about interesting and beautiful places. Yes, Peace Corps! Yes, I'm excited. It went well!

Afterward, I wandered further downtown to say hello to the World Trade Center before heading up just north of Times Square for lunch with my friend Heather. She took me to this place called Pret which had a vegetarian sandwich that included hummus and avocado, so I was obviously pretty pleased with this arrangement. It was great to catch up and hear about her new job and let her try to talk me into staying in the city till she got off work. Try to? More like, succeed in.

While Heather went back to work, I wandered around Rockefeller Plaza, which is a five minute walk underground from her office. I people watched for a good portion of the 3.5 hours left in her day. Some older woman trying to figure out how to take a picture of the toy soldier statue I was sitting next to using her fancy cell phone camera. Someone got engaged on the ice skating rink. Some mom lost her marbles trying to take her sons' picture in front of the tree because they were making silly facing and goofing off. Some tourists.

After Heather finished work, we took the subway to her neighborhood in Brooklyn and walked a few blocks to the Park Slope Ale House, where I had a lovely evening with her and my friend Ross. I love having friends who are just cool enough to get along with anyone, including other friends who they don't know. It was well worth the time wasted at Rockefeller.

Beer of the day: Harpoon's Chocolate Stout, a very lovely chocolatey stouty stout.
Tree of the day: Norway Spruce (the Rockefeller tree)

The trip home was not so pleasant. Sometimes I forget how freaking far Brooklyn is from Manhattan via subway, because I probably left Park Slope around 9:15 and didn't get back home till 1:30 AM despite arriving to Port Authority slightly after 10. Dear goodness. No Toms River bound buses till 11:30. Construction at the Bus Terminal. Construction at the helix.

But a day well spent, the tree is lovely as ever. Heather, if you're reading this, go see the tree for the first time in your life.