New York, New York

Just got back from my weekend in Manhattan and I thought I'd post some pictures that I know you are all just dyin' to see. I got in Friday morning around 9:30 and promptly crashed on Laura's futon for a couple of hours. Those early morning flights can be rough; however, I can't complain because I got to watch the sunrise at the Greensboro airport and it was beautiful. Anyway, after I woke up from my morning nap, I walked downtown (from 108th...because the weather was beautiful and sometimes there isn't much that can top a nice long walk down Broadway) and got in line at TKTS. While in line, I was entertained by these steel-drum-playing rastafarians:

I ended up with a ticket for The Light in the Piazza, but not from the TKTS folks. Nevertheless, it was fun to wait in line and hear a steel drum rendition of "I Will Survive." So, I walked up to Lincoln Center and met Laura, who showed me around Julliard; we met up again before the show and ate dinner. Before I met her again, though, I met an Auburn grad (incidentally, it was Hicks Poor, who used to play for Auburn back in the Dameyune Craig days) on the subway and he said that the Auburn Club in Manhattan was going to watch the game on Saturday at this sports bar called Ship of Fools. Of course, this made me unspeakably happy, as I was expecting a weekend bereft of college football. Those Auburn folks always come through in a pinch.

Anyway, back to Friday. The Light in the Piazza was a perfectly lovely show. To me, it seemed like a real throwback to some of the old classics. The music was absolutely beautiful, and the two leading ladies were take-your-breath-away talented.

After the show, I waited for Laura in the square outside of Lincoln Center, where Julliard students had set up a huge movie screen and were showing West Side Story. Laura and I watched some of it and then went to this little place called Mozart's and ate some of the most incredible chocolate fondue I've ever had. I mean, this was a serious chocolate experience. Mmmmmmm.

On Saturday, I woke up and had the traditional New York bagel breakfast and headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I could just spend days in that place, but there was Auburn football to watch, so I walked through the Matisse exhibit (wow -- Matisse and his textiles...It totally rocked), walked around the second floor where they have paintings by Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Picasso, Cezanne, et al, and went to the trippy rooftop exhibit:

I also snapped a shot of the skyline from the roof of the Met:

You just gotta love a view of New York over Central Park. A skyline floating on a green wave...beautiful.

So I left the museum (somewhat reluctantly) and walked over to 2nd Avenue, where the Auburn folks were watching the game. I go in, grab a (6 dollar - yikes!) beer, and proceed to watch Auburn run over Mississippi State with about 50 other Auburn folks. It was very exciting. We cheered, we had shakers, we sang the fight song...it was almost like being home (where beer is $2.75, but whatever):

With four minutes left in the game, I left to get ready for Carroll's wedding. I guess this kind of cuteness is going around these days, and I seem to be there to capture it on film:

Yeah, the picture has a bit of a soft focus. That's not poor photography; that's the diffusing light of romance, folks.

This morning, I got up and took the train all the way down to the World Trade Center site and listened to them read the names of the victims. These pictures will go into my next post...so watch this space.