New York...Part Uno

Holy moly, I have to stop making 24 hour trips to NYC. The last time I went, I flew to NYC with my friend Alicia to go to our friend, Kasey's wedding in CT. We spent one night in NY and, although we had fun, were totally exhausted. This was a similar trip...fun and exhausting.

Kallie, Kassie and I met at the airport to fly Airtran. Let me take a moment to fill you in on how e all know each other. When I met my husband, Dave, in college, he was friends with Kallie's husband, Scott. Since Kallie and Kassie are sisters, we all became friends. Actually, Dave has been roommates with both of their husbands and we were all involved in each others weddings. Super fun! Now, back to the trip. I have never flown Airtran before, but their lines were always annoyingly long, but the staff friendly. After we all waited in line we finally got to our gate. Because we booked separately, we had scattered seats. I went to the ticket counter and saw this life saving sign, "Business Class Upgrades Available" praise the Lord! We upgraded all of our seats for both flights (dallas to atlanta and atlanta to new york). That is the way to fly.

Here we are after the upgrades had been purchased!! Happy girls!

from l to r: Kallie, Kassie, Me

Kassie, sittin pretty in her seat...oh, "adult" drinks are free in business class, something Kassie and I responsibly took advantage of. The man next to her really took advantage of this, like, if I had that much to drink that would either be wheeling me out in a chair or would have called security to come and get me!

Kallie in her seat! She was a bit further away, but we still chatted!
Yea, bad camera shot, this was before the one drink I had, I promise... But really, I felt like a kid with ADD on this flight. I was like cheerleader happy/annoying. We were just so excited. I am sure the men in business class were a little, ok a lot, less enthusiastic about having us up there, but hey, you only live once!
Another comment about Airtran, and don't get me wrong, it could have totally not been their fault, but I have never sat on any plane longer than I had to sit on theirs. We landed in Atlanta and had to wait on the plane for like an hour...yea, the back of the plane was about to start a riot. I heard a lot of cursing, we were very thankful to be in the front!! We thought we might miss our connection, but thankfully that was running behind as well. We were even able to grab lunch at Charlie's. This flight, we all sat in the front row!

Here is our first cab ride (of many) in NYC!

I get car sick, so I sat in front!

I am feeling a little pressed for time. Because all of our flights were delayed, thanks Airtran and the airports who caused that, we were rushed to make our reservations. I arranged for us to eat at the lovely Mesa Grill, a Bobby Flay establishment. So, Kallie checked us in that the New Yorker Hotel. It was so nice. They were so helpful. When I stayed in NY before, my hotel room was about the size of my bathroom, this was not the case this time. We had the best room with the best few and enough room for all of us and our stuff. I asked the man who checked us in if they had a fridge in the room, he said it would be $20. I am still pumping for Jilly, but just decided it wasn't worth the money. However, when we came back from dinner, there a little fridge sat! How great. The New Yorker rocks!

Kallie enthusiastically checked us in...

I was annoyed at the delays so Kassie made me stand by this bear...

I love this picture of Kassie. I made her pose for a picture so she wouldn't be left out. So, she decided to check her watch...only goof ball didn't have a watch on. This was her face after that moment...so funny! A totally Kassie moment.

We made our way up the our floor...27!

Apparently Kassie is the only one who likes to be crammed into a tiny elevator with a bunch of people and no air because she is the only one smiling!

Mesa Grill
Oh, the lovely Mesa Grill. It lived up to all my expectations. First, we were greeted by a very nice looking male host. I mean, he was like a pretty man, not just hot, but pretty. We got drinks at the bar, I had a mojito, Kassie had the margarita and Kallie had some cactus pear drink. Oh, we got an insider tip to got to Le Souk for dancing from the bartender ladies...more on that later!

Kallie and I in front of the restaurant!
The restaurant host gave us the best table in the house. We were on the second floor at a table right in the corner of the balcony. We could see the entire restaurant including the kitchen! What a treat! from l to r: Kallie, Kassie, Me

Our view of the kitchen

This was a rosemary biscuit...yum-o!!

this was another tasty treat, a swirled cornbread muffin

For our appetizer we got the Goat Cheese :Queso Fundido" and the Tequila Cured Salmon with Crispy Squash Blossom Salad. Two things about this salad, one I ordered it because I have always wanted to try a fried squash blossom. If you guys get the chance, you should try this, it was so good. Second, Kallie mentioned that in the past, she wasn't a fan of salmon. However, we all loved this salad. The salmon was so delicious and tender. It was great. And the goat cheese...I could have left after the appetizers and been a happy women!

After this we ordered the New Mexican Spiced Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with a Sweet Potato Tamale, let me just say that the New Mexicans know how to rub their pork! We also tried the chili relleno...I could have done without this one but wanted to try it b/c I just saw it on a Throwdown!

This is our cab ride home!

We got back to our hotel for a wardrobe change and to freshen up for a night of dancing. Remember, our bartenders told us about Le Souk. Well this is what we saw. There was just a false alarm, but man, let me say that the NYFD has some H-O-T-T-I-E-S! We should have taken a picture, but missed the opportunity.

Here is our going out look: from l to r: Kassie, Kallie, Me

The pictures of the evening end here, but the story hasn't. After we got dressed we went back down stairs, passed the hot firemen and tried to get a taxi. We weren't working it and couldn't get any of them to come over our way. However, I noticed a nice stretch black limo dropping off some kids who looked like they just ended their spring break partying. I asked the driver if he could take us to Le Souk. At first he said he was going the other way, but then he must have had an epiphany. Like, hey, i might be able to make some money off this chick! He asked how much I will pay him, I give him my offer and we are in the limo. It was crazy. It looked like an alcoholic had raided our limo and left all of his drinks behind. There were like 4 bottles of something on the floor and cups of who knows what everywhere. Let's just say it is forever embedded in my brain. This memory is made better because it was Kassie's first time in a limo. We had the dance music pumpin, the windows rolled down and we were taking in the city. It was a nice ride, even the parts where Kassie and I were sliding all over the seats. It was like they greased them up or something.

So, we arrive at Le Souk, which, once again, was suggest to us by the bartender who look to be like girls we would hang out with. Whoa! Culture shock. It was not like any dance place I have ever been. It had a totally bollywood theme with the 3 ft tall bong type things. People were smoking out of them, and I found out that it was flavored tobacco. The only cool thing was the bartender guy was from Austin, TX. I wasn't into the guys or the dancing or the drinks or the music. It just wasn't my scene.

We leave that place, find another taxi and decide to go to a trendy place. We told the taxi to take us to Bungalow 8, however we ended up at Marquee. We wait in line there like little puppies in the window waiting for the door man to let us in. While we were waiting we saw Mario Lopez walk in with a girl who looked like she was 16. Let's just say that I don't know what all the hype is about in regards to him, if there is any hype. I'm not a fan. However, we finally get picked to go in and $60 later, yes it was $20 a piece...What What??, we got in! The dancing was great, the music was good but it was so crowded. Kassie got slapped in the face a few times by some girl who thought she had to dance with her hair. Let me just say, girls, leave the head whipping off the dance floor. You aren't a member of the Pussy Cat Dolls!

It turned out to be a night to remember. We got back to our hotel, showered and went to bed at 3:30am. Yug! We set our alarm for 7am....

I will post more on day 2 soon!