Fun and Games Dept

Pulaski, Va.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I hit the road early this morning. Not really an early bird, I realized that we had finished Pennsylvania (almost 100 miles), had passed through Maryland (12 miles) and were almost through West Virginia (about 15 miles) when I woke up.

And I was driving!

First order of business was to send a friendly wave to Thom in Northern Virginia as we passed his off ramp. Remembering our visit with him last year made us both smile. That was quickly followed by a wave to Jimbo in D.C. (via I-66 from where we were). We haven’t met Jimbo yet but he gets major woof points.

And then we made our way down I-81 through Virginia. There’s a lot of Virginia along I-81, but it’s a scenic drive. I had never been south of I-64 before so it was relatively uncharted territory.

Our first stop was for some grub in a delightfully homey-feeling chain of a place called “Country Cookin'”. These appear to be in old Perkins (or something like it) and are a lot like “Eat ‘n Park” that you see in Pennsylvania. The waitress, Gina, was friendly and tolerant when we made the huge southern faux pas of ordering “iced tea” instead of “sweet tea” or “unsweet tea”. We were corrected and learned our lesson for the duration of the trip.

After Country Cookin’ we washed the car (yay! for warm weather!) and then made a trek into Pulaski, Va. Ever since I was a little boy and discovered another town with the same name as my hometown on my grandparents’ map mounted on the dining room wall (very 60s chic), I’ve wanted to see what this other town was like. So Earl and I drove up Main Street of Pulaski (rhymes with “whee!” whereas my hometown of Pulaski, N.Y. rhymes with “why”). It’s a little bigger than it’s northern counterpart, but it has two interchanges with Interstate 81 and Route 11 runs right through the middle of it. It was kind of cool. Earl took the obligatory picture.

Betcha didn’t know that the simple things make me happy.

Earl and I are officially on “Spring Break”. We are en route to the House of the Mouse in Orlando. It’ll be our first time staying at the new Saratoga Springs Resort at Disney. It’s also our first trip to Disney where we haven’t planned our activities in advance. We’re taking it easy this trip.

Tonight we have settled for the night in Grantville, Pennsylvania, about seven miles from Hershey and 20 miles or so north of Harrisburg. This motel is filled to brim with high school wrestling teams.

Let’s hear it for eye candy (though they are a bit young for our tastes). I don’t know how well they are going to do at the tournaments over the weekend, judging by the loud voices proclaiming how drunk they are getting.

Let’s hear it for Pennsylvania boys that drink!

We’re planning on hitting the road nice and early tomorrow. Earl is accommodating my dream of driving the entire length of Interstate 81 on this trip, tomorrow by this time we’ll be quite a way into Tennessee and hopefully within spitting distance of Georgia.

Rockefeller Center.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Tonight Earl and I went to the musical “Spring Awakening.” While we enjoyed last night’s show (“The Apple Tree”) very much, this show was much more powerful. From the stark staging and intriguing use of cast members to the music and the storyline, Earl and I both felt genuinely moved by this show.

“Spring Awakening” is set in a small provincial German town in 1890 and looks at a group of teenagers and their struggles with their growing interests with one another, including their budding sexuality. In many ways, this show is delightfully raw in it’s frankness. The music is truly inspiring having been written by Duncan Shiek.

Earl and I both thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but agreed that this is not “a family show”. We both highly recommend seeing it when you get the chance. At the bottom of this entry is a link to a video about the show.

After the show we went to Langan’s Bar and Restaurant just off of Times Square. Luckily, I budgeted calories for a late supper so I don’t feel one ounce of guilt.

Looking up Park Ave from E 61.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I have been jet setting around Manhattan for most of the day. We slept in a little bit and then headed for our first stop: The Art of Shaving. I picked up the early 20th century safety razor I’ve had my eyes on for the past several years. This will make manuevering around the mustache much easier.

From there we headed up Lexington and jumped on the train at 60th. This was our first time together on a train in New York. I can navigate Boston’s T without an issue but the trains here go a little beyond red, blue, green and orange lines. Once we got our bearings we were good to go and before we knew it we were headed downtown. Earl stopped and get a haircut on St. Marks and then we headed to the Village, where we did lots of window shopping and had a bite to eat.

Afterwards we headed to Grand Central Station to gawk like tourists and then jumped back on the train, stopping at Bloomingdale’s so I could pick up a new pair of pants for tonight’s show. It’s all about the fashion babe, so we ended up going to the The Gap across the street. I’ll have to model for a photo later.

We did a lot more walking and are now installed in the hotel room to catch our breath before heading out for the evening.

Early To Rise, Early To Bed.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I are back in the hotel room after a night out on the town. It’s quite chilly here in New York, so we’re bundled up like we’re from upstate or something. At least we’ve left the dog sled at home.

Tonight we saw “The Apple Tree”, featuring a wonderful cast including the very talented Kristin Chenoweth. We both enjoyed the show and recommend that you see it if you have the chance. It’s a three act play (the first show I’ve seen that had three acts) and is a fun show. Currently being shown at the Studio 54 Theatre, the smaller audience coupled with the smaller cast gives the show an intimiate feel. Ms. Chenoweth is a multi-talented performer, with an incredible singing voice and impeccable comedic timing.

We both highly recommend the show.

Afterwards, we followed our tradition and stopped at The Stage Deli for a bite to eat. Upon first glance of the menu, the choice was obvious, I had to have the Linda Lavin Salad Platter. I don’t know what made that choice obvious, but it’s what I had and it was quite enjoyable.

I’m now singing the theme song from Alice in my head again. As I type this I can hear the jazz Wurlitzer in the dead space between my ears. Good times.

MacGasm.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I went for a walk this afternoon, with our first stop being the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. As we decended down the spiral staircase into this gigantic version of Mecca, I had a MacGasm. I think I even gasped a little.

Luckily, we came out with no credit card burns on our palms.

E 61st.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I have arrived safely in The Big Apple. We are at the Loew’s Regency on Park Avenue at 63rd. I’ve taken a picture out the window Joe. My. God. style to make me feel right at home here in Manhattan. I believe it’s E 63rd but I’ve been around so many blocks while en route I think my bearings are a little off. I know for certain that I’m not in Jersey.

We’ve been here for about 10 minutes. Earl has ripped the ventilation grate off the heater and smashed the mini-bar. I’ve asked him to close the barn door and to get a grip. Otherwise, all is well in our weekend home.

We’re going out exploring.

Update: It’s actually E 61st looking toward Madison Avenue.

Earl and I are spending the night outside of Newburgh, N.Y. He has business meetings in the morning and then from here we’ll make the hour or so trek to our hotel in Manhattan. Tomorrow night we have tickets to “The Apple Tree” starring Kristin Chenoweth.

My sister has been trying to get home from Moscow since early Wednesday morning. She landed at JFK yesterday, where her plane sat on the runway for four hours because they had no place to put her plane. She was not amused. For the next thirty hours, each and every flight upstate was canceled. She had no way to get out of JFK. There were no hotel rooms available. She ended up sleeping for ten minutes on the floor next to an arcade machine until a woman next to her screamed because a mouse had run across the floor. So she wandered terminal four awaiting a flight today.

They were all canceled as well.

She finally rented a car and armed with no sleep for the previous 36 hours and a brother who is as accurate as Rand McNally, I talked her from JFK to the New York State Thruway. I later suggested she stop for the night and finish the trip tomorrow morning. So she’s staying in the same hotel as us tonight. Her luggage is somewhere between JFK and Anchorage, so she grabbed some night clothes at the store and hung out with us for a bit. We’re all having breakfast in the morning before we continue our trips in opposite directions.

This is certainly a nice way to kick off our weekend.

After yesterday’s snow day, today has been a relatively normal day. The National Weather Service says that about 31 inches of snow fell over the past 48 hours. It seems like I’ve moved twice as much out of the driveway. I resisted the urge to fight back to the snowplow driver by pelting him with his own rocks and sand when he drove by and nearly buried me in a snowdrift. Those guys work hard and I appreciate what they do, but he still made me mad.

Earl has a meeting out of town tomorrow so I’ve decided to tag along. We’re going to the lovely city of Newburgh tonight and then we’re going to spend the weekend in Manhattan.

We figured it was a great way to spend the post-Valentine’s Day weekend. I’m hoping it’ll be warmer down there.

Earl and I have installed ourselves in Albany, N.Y. for the night. We are joining our friends Sean and Jeffrey (and their friend Evan) for dinner and then we are heading out to bear night at Club Phoenix.

It was hit or miss whether we were going to make it here tonight after all, as Earl worked most of the day and has been traveling like a madman all week. After a little bit discussion (friendly of course), we decided to make the trip after all.

We’re looking forward to the fun and I’ll probably have stories to share tomorrow! I’m typing this blog entry in TextEdit and then have to go up to the lobby to post it, because the hotel-wide free wireless internet isn’t working very well. Perhaps with our room next to the laundry room the dryers are throwing out bad vibes or something.