New York City Day 4

    After having a late night out the night before, Joey and I were a little slow moving this morning.  The convention was having a softball game in Central Park that Joey was really looking forward to.  Our hotel was really close to Central Park so we were able to just walk over. 

We started our day with a fresh smoothie.  It was just what I needed.  

In typical Brianna and Joey fashion, we got really lost locating where we were supposed to go for the game.  We ended up doing a lot of walking around Central Park.  I didn't mind too much, because it was so gorgeous outside! 

The producer of the show, Spot, is a yoga instructor.  He offered a yoga session for those that didn't want to play softball.  I decided to try it out.  Yoga is not my thing and I don't think it ever will be.  I did manage to complete the hour long session.  

       Joey had a great time playing softball with the guys.  They got a couple of games in.  I got to live one of my life long dreams, I went for a run in Central Park!  It was everything I dreamed of and more.  There is so many people running through Central Park on a Saturday morning that it looks like a race is going on.  I only did two miles because it was really hot and I was terrified of getting lost and not finding my way back.  I am glad I got to run in such a beautiful and iconic place. 

The softball group

An idea of how crowded Central Park is on a Saturday.  

  The softball games didn't end until the afternoon.  By that time Joey and I were STARVING!  We had only had smoothies that morning.  There was a restaurant, Jason's Pickles that I had been dying to try while we were there.  I looked it up and realized that we were within walking distance to it.  We walked right over and got a table.  The food was absolutely amazing!  It was southern food and fried chicken.  I got some smothered chicken dish that was one of the best things I have had in a long time.  It hit the spot! 

The fried pickles we started with

My lunch.  It was amazing!  

Joey's food

  After we ate, we headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the night.  For some reason, I didn't take many pictures of this night.  It was the last night of the convention, and we all met in Times Square at an Italian restaurant for a last dinner together.  Times Square is beyond crowded on a Saturday night.  We had to make our way through masses of people.  The restaurant was some old restaurant, but I was not impressed by the food at all especially for the price.  It was nice to spend one last night with all the new friends we made.  After dinner, we went to a rooftop bar for one last hurrah with the group.  The bar overlooked the Empire State building which was pretty neat to see at night.  We said goodbye to the group and headed back to our hotel. 

Our last night in New York city

New York City Day 3

   Friday ended up being another incredibly busy, and fun filled day.  We had to get up very early again to go and watch another taping of the Covino and Rich show.  It was at a famous comedy club, Carolines, and it was a lot of fun to watch again.  There shows are three hours long, so we had to leave a little early.  

   

  One thing that I planned and really wanted to do was to go on a food tour of NYC.  The food there is so incredible and I knew that we wouldn't have time to even scratch the surface of all it had to offer.  I found a walking food tour through Greenwich Village.  I knew we wouldn't have another chance to go to that area, so I thought it would be the perfect way to see a different area and try some good food.   We took the subway, and arrived with a little time to spare.  We sat in this beautiful little park and took in the sights while we waited.  New York in the summertime is simply the best!

   Before long, it was time to meet for our tour.  The man who owned and ran the tour company, was absolutely incredible.  He was seriously the nicest man ever and he was so, so knowledgeable about the area and food.  He explained to us that we would be making seven stops and we would all get plenty to eat.

  

A street in Greenwich Village

     Our first stop was Artichoke pizza.  They are famous for their special artichoke pizza.  He explained that this was the first one, but they now had like 18 locations in the city.  I can see why!  The pizza was so good and unlike anything I had ever had.  It was the smallest restaurant ever, but he said late at night when the bars let out the line would be done the street.  It was a great start!

    Our next stop, was another teeny tiny little place.  It was a falafel place that I can't recall the name of.  I LOVE falafel and this was some of the best falafel I have ever had!  I could had eaten a lot more, but I knew we had a lot more food on the way. 

Enjoying my falafel

    Next we went to Pomme Frites, which is another teeny tiny place that specialized in Belgium fries with all sorts of dipping sauces.  He got us the most popular sauces to try.  They were some of the best fries ever and the dipping sauces put them over the top.  It was so good! 

 Next, we did some walking.  We walked through a park, and I believe it was Washington Park.  It was beautiful and just felt like the quintessential New York park.  I loved it!  

He explained to us that this is a replica of the Arc D'Truimphe in Paris

A shot of the World Trade center

   Our next stop was a bagel place.  I was excited to try an authentic NY bagel.  It was good, but honestly I was not blown away by it.  I really didn't taste much of a difference. 

    We walked some more through the neighborhood.  We turned a corner, and all of a sudden, I saw a large group of people in the street and sidewalks taking picture of this building.  I was a little confused, until our guide explained to us that it was the outside shot of the apartment building from the show Friends.  It was pretty neat to see in person.

 
    Up next, we went to another pizza place, Brooklyn's pizza.  It was pretty good pizza, but I liked the first pizza place better. 

   Our second to last stop was an authentic Italian deli that had been around for over a hundred years.  Joey was drooling over the meat case.  We wished we lived there so we could have bought some meat to try.

 
We got an arancini that was incredible.  It was piping hot and so tasty.

    Our last stop was the cupcake shop where we had met in the beginning of our tour.  I chose a chocolate cupcake with Italian buttercream and it was so good.  It was the perfect way to end such an incredible tour.  I am so glad that we did this tour and it was so much fun!

   After our tour, we took the subway back to our hotel to get changed and ready for another night on the town.  The convention was having an event on a rooftop bar.  We got to see another different area of the city.  It was a lot of fun and I decided that rooftop bars are really the best in NYC.

   We made our way back to the hotel but not before I got my Halal cart chicken.  Halal chicken is only found in NYC and it is honestly the best stuff ever!  I insisted that we stopped every night so I could get some.  It was really that good.  I dearly miss that Halal chicken.  I would seriously go back just for that!!!

New York City Day 2

  Thursday was our first full day in NYC.  We woke up pretty early because we had a show to get to.  While I got ready, Joey ran down to the corner deli and got us amazing breakfast sandwiches.  I couldn't get over how convenient it was to always have everything you needed so close by!
   After we got ready, we headed to the Sirius radio headquarters.  Covino and Rich were doing a live taping and we got to be in the studio during it.  We met lots more fans and Joey loved getting to meet so many other fans.  They even brought in some really good NYC pizza for lunch. 

At the studio

During the show

Had to take a quick picture

  After the show, I wanted to do some shopping.  I wanted to treat myself to a new Tory Burch handbag for my graduation present.  We got a little lost, and ended up walking for miles through Central Park.  Central Park in the summer time is gorgeous, but it was a lot of walking!!!

Central Park

  After so much walking, we finally arrived at Tory Burch!  Of course with my luck, we got there and they were sold out of the purse I had my eye on.  So, it was basically a waste of time!  We opted to take a cab back to the hotel because it was hot and we were tired!  We quickly learned to not take cabs in NYC.  It took so long because of traffic and it was very expensive!

 
   There was a really neat little Mexican place next to our hotel.  Joey was hungry from all that walking, so we stopped in so he could get tacos and I could get a margarita.  It hit the spot!

Such a neat little place!

 
   After our snack, we headed back to our hotel to change for the night.  The hotel only had two elevators and they were the smallest elevators I have ever seen.  You had to stand in the elevator single file.  Here is a picture of Joey in front of the elevator to show how small it was.

    The place were going for the night was pretty far.  We decided it was finally time to try out the subway.  What an experience that was!  It was raining that night, and we ended up getting off at the wrong stop and had to walk through the rain.  The subway system can be confusing at times!  Luckily, someone told us that Iphone maps have a transit option and we started using that and managed to navigate the subway much better after that!  We bought Metro passes and ended up using the subway the rest of the time we were there.  It is just so much faster.

In the subway

On the platform

    We headed down to the harbor for a city cruise with the rest of the convention goers.  It had been raining on and off all day, but it cleared up for a bit.  We were all waiting in a line to board the boat, and the sky just opened up and it was a torrential downpour.  We all got soaked!  Because of the weather, the water was VERY choppy.  I am very lucky that I don't get seasick.  The storm left as quickly as it came in, and it ended up being a very nice night.  The cruise was a lot of fun and we got to see some great sights like the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.  I am glad we got to go on the cruise.

The skyline

Statue of Liberty way off in the distance

Closer shot of the Statue of Liberty

Brooklyn Bridge

     After the cruise, all the convention goers headed to a nearby bar for drinks.  We had a blast and met so many new people.  It ended up being a pretty late night, but we had a great time!