Well...I've escaped Manhattan for a week and I'm back at Cocoa Beach, Florida. It's been so wonderful to be out of the city and be soaking up the sun beachside.
So...I'm spending the days laying by either the beach or the pool...the afternoon napping...the evenings watching the Olympics. That's the perfect schedule for a vacation.
Before flying down to Florida...my good gal pal, April visited for a few days. We hung out and got up. I was able to show her what I call "My New York." She's been to the city several times and I wanted her to see things outside of Times Square.
Her first day in the city I took her north to The Cloister - one of my favorite escapes. The trees, flowers, grassy fields make it seem like you left Manhattan. We ate lunch and walked around the grounds before walking up to the Cloister.
The Cloister is owned and operated by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is home to some of the most amazing art from the 1400's including the famous tapestry of The Unicorn in Captivity. I've been up to the Cloister many times but I had never been inside. We went in to use the restroom and were told we could make a donation of any amount and walk the museum.
So we did.
It was beautiful. The grounds and architecture were gorgeous. It was great getting to see all the ancient tapestries including The Unicorn in Captivity. I didn't know that it would be so huge. It covered a huge wall and the detail in the needlework was fascinating. We spent a good deal of time walking the halls.
From the Cloister we went all the way downtown to Chelsea and then over to Union Square where we got to meet up with April's sister Beth and her family who were also vacationing in New York. We ate ice cream in Union Square and I got to answer a lot of fun questions about living in New York...where did I get groceries? How big was my apartment in relation to a Starbucks?
From the square we went up to the theater district off Times Square and met up with Antuan. We had several friends meet us there and throw their names in the hat for the In the Heights ticket lottery. Even with a bunch of friends trying to throw things in our favor we didn't score tickets. So we settled for a quick dinner with Antuan before he got ready for the show.
It was a full day - but April isn't one for resting when she's in NYC. We went back to my apartment (where I rested for about 45 minutes) and then we went out on the town. We danced the night away before coming home and crashing.
The next day I worked and April hung out with her family and then the last day of her visit, Sunday, we had brunch at diner of the Upper East Side called Big Daddy's Diner. Having a casual brunch gave us more time to talk about life, relationships and everything else.
Afterwards we went across down and the up to 110th to the cathedral of St. John the Divine. A lot of the interior that's been refurbished over the last year or so is done. Having the make shift walls down opened up most of the space. It looked more like it did the first time I went after first moving to NYC.
About 2 weeks ago Stephenie Meyers' book Breaking Dawn was released. I've read all of her books and was very excited about the release of her latest. I've gotten my old roommate and dear friend Elizabeth hooked on them as well. I called her Friday evening to let her know that the book, Breaking Dawn, was going on sale at midnight.
I asked her if she wanted to go with me. She said, "You're crazy. Yes, let's go."
And we did.
At midnight I was #640 in line and didn't care...I got a copy and started reading it on the flight down to Florida.
I'm a geek.
