As I'm tapping away on my blackberry at a Japanese cafe/restaurant on the Upper West Side (next door to ASCAP, by the way!) I am truly finding it difficult to believe that I have actually made it back into city tonight....
While the smarter half of the population started their holiday weekend on Thursday (Friday at the latest), I decided to have the shortest long weekend for myself amidst the chaotic routine.
Setting off at 9am for Livingston Manor in the Catskills, we were there shortly after noon at the welcoming home of a lovely family of friends who not too long ago moved out of the city.
A lift back into town is quite a luxury unless you drive, so who could say no? Even if it meant leaving the BBQ in the sun at 4.30 - ridiculously short a visit, clearly. "A couple of hours at the most", suggested my new friends. Who would have thought...!
Well, to make the long story short, it took roughly 4 hours (!) to get back into midtown Manhattan, including a quick stop near LaGuardia to drop off the rented car, a shuttle across Queens to the airport to pick up a cab on the spot, a journey back into the city in a shared taxi with another lady we met in the shuttle.... Basically, not your average holiday weekend, that's for sure!
And on top of everything, hoping for a decent quick dinner, I ended up at a sweet little Japanese cafe with one of the worst "special" rolls (recommended by none other than the hostess) one could have in New York. How lucky can you get?
Next time I take a weekend off, I will double check to make sure it's a real weekend and not a quick fix via LaGuardia! Oh, the lovely BBQ and the wonderful company of fascinating friends, both old ones and new ones, we left behind this afternoon...in return for a crowded airport queue hungrily awaiting a yellow cab!
Let's not forget - tomorrow is a Monday (again!) and I sincerely do hope to hear slightly more positive "holiday weekend" stories from my friends!
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