#hell is dinner in Manhattan south of 14th street

[whiskeyswifty]

The way I’ve battled the Taylor AND Beyoncé ticket wars multiple times (and won each time!) but they all pale in comparison to attempting to get a Saturday night reservation for dinner in this fucking city. In the village no less, like this might be what breaks me.

[kittywildegrrl]

MamaCat MamaCat Where Have You Been?

Here I sit, in NOT an airport bar. Don’t fly out of Newark Concourse B gates42 – 46 if you can help it. The amenities bite. Sorry not Sorry, Newark Liberty International.

So I got myself this dry but relatively nutritious pre-packaged turkey & Swiss on wholegrain with lettuce. It’s not great but it’s not bad, and it’s 26 grams of protein that I need right the hell now.

I just had a holiday vacation in New York and I am completely exhausted. #DoingItRight

It was the first time I’ve been back to the City in four long and eventful years. The first time since the pandemic. The first time since the career-ending dance rehearsal injury. And it was glorious.

I have lived in New York, auditioned here, worked here, lived and loved here. But I have never had the opportunity to just enjoy the City the way the touristas do. I have never been free to just wander about having fun and no deadlines. Turns out it’s really awesome.

Don’t get me wrong.  Of course there was business. But business was concluded Thursday night. I timed my trip to visit my friends Shannon & Phillip so I could attend a voiceover thing. It was another one of those gatherings that I have begun attending, but instead of over a thousand people at VO Atlanta, it was an intimate group of four students and a coach during the day, and a downtown cocktail mixer of around forty that evening. Could not have been lovelier.

(Good grief. We don’t board for two hours. If I had been trying to arrive two hours before boarding, there would have been transit chaos. So instead, here we are… sheesh. Why am I flying out of Newark??😖)

And the next day, we did very jolly little. Ventured down to the Park. Met Shannon at Whole Foods after her class. She made chili for dinner. So low-key.

And then came Saturday, the Saturday that the Chamber of Commerce wishes was depicted in all the TV shows and movies. The sparkling blue sky. The air temperature, neither hot nor cold, just… air! The doggies of New York, out walking their humans in the sunshine and sweet fresh air. We wandered west to Little Island from the 14th street stop on the 1. We wandered further downtown, mainly via the Hudson River greenway, then across on Jane to Hudson Street, and the next thing you know we’re having guacamole and drinking cocktails called, “Love Come Down" at the White Horse, entertaining the waitstaff and making off-color remarks about Dylan Thomas. Those cocktails are extremely well crafted.

(It’s frikkin cold in here. It’s only 70 degrees outside and lucky us, the air conditioning is on. Goody goody. Suddenly very happy to be bearing a coat. Besides, I look damn good in this coat.)

Sustained by the powers of an appy and a drink, we continued downtown to meet Shannon’s husband Phillip at the Dead Rabbit. If you’re a fan of NYC history like I am, then you may have correctly inferred from context that we were now well downtown, Water and Broad, Bowery Boys & Little Five Points stuff. On the Historic Fraunces Tavern tour and everything.

And verily, thanks to the largesse of HusbandCat, back in Minneapolis, we ate and drank like 19th-century street gang members. No, more like the Old Money would have.. Yum yum yum no apologies no excuses. We enjoyed craft cocktails, Irish Stew, and all manner of good filling foods before we staggered gently, as a trio, down to South Ferry for an after-dinner stroll.

You can’t party like that at home. Even if you really live in New York, these are the things you save for company, because it’s just too expensive and time consuming to wander Manhattan and eat at expensive places. The One Percent can manage it. But we of the working classes wait for Special occasions.

Sunday, I met Bethany & Adam Sharp for brunch. They’re friends from Minneapolis theatre adventures gone by. We had an excellent meal in the Heights, and afterwards I got to see my dear old friend Gilley, their lovely Russian Blue cat. He's about 12 now. And I swear he remembered me.

As I left their apartment and began wandering around Washington Heights, I checked in with Shannon to see if she was up for adventures or in for personal mental health. She definitely wanted some Me Time for herself, and that’s when I hiked over to the A train and 181st and headed straight for Coney Island.

We’re boarding. Tell you more later. Meow, darlings.