Blog Master G

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NYC & Avenue Q

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 · No Comments

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Last weekend Jen and I cruised down to Manhattan and had such a fun time that we questioned why we don’t go more often. From Saratoga Springs, it took us only 2.5 hours to the “Welcome to Manhattan” sign just past the George Washington Bridge, and only about 3 hours total to get to the Lower Eastside to Heather and Saahil’s place.

Objective: See my first Broadway show, enjoy dinner in Manhattan, and hang out with Heather and Saahil, whom I hadn’t seen in a couple years. All missions accomplished, and we had tons of fun.

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Our show of choice was Avenue Q, which we’d been wanting to see for years and about which we’d always heard great things (coming in January to Proctor’s!). It lived up to expectations and was absolutely hilarious (Bad Idea Bears!). It’s like an R-rated (perhaps even X-rated) Sesame Street for adults, about a puppet who’s just graduated from college and moved to his first post-college apartment. With songs like “What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?,” “If You Were Gay,” ” Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist,” and “The Internet Is For Porn,” the show was pretty much non-stop laughs and also rang true to the post-college experience (hmm… whom do you know with B.A.s in English?). It was the best musical I’ve ever seen, right up there with Little Shop of Horrors, which Jen and I saw back in November when we went to Toronto (never blogged about that trip!).

It was a matinée show, and right afterward we got caught in a torrential downpour. It looked a little something like this:

Jen laughed at me for buying and eating a giant pretzel from a street vendor. Hey, I was hungry and our dinner reservations weren’t until late. Every time I’m in the city I always forget how packed with people it always is — especially in Times Square. It’s always fun to be in the midst of so much energy and vibrancy.

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When the storm broke, we headed back to Heather and Saahil’s place for some pre-dinner drinks, then battled the rain on our walk to a local wine bar then a most delicious dinner at The Mermaid Inn. We had fried clams and raw oysters (both west coast and east coast varieties) for starters; everyone but me had lobster sandwiches for entrees; and I had grilled mahi mahi.

Good times, and thanks again for hosting us, Heather and Saahil! We’ll look forward to the next trip.

View more photos from the weekend.

Tags: photos 2008 · travel