A Weekend in the City

I just returned from what amounted to a good/strange weekend in NYC. First off, I broke my vow of never driving in NYC and drove there. I decided that driving in and out of the city had to be better than riding Greyhound, also known as the 7th circle of hell. By timing it right (getting in around 730 at night on Thur and leaving at 830 Sun night) the experience was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The toughest part was finding a parking spot near my sister's apt on 125th. I ended up parking next to Marcus Garvey Park Thur night and waking up early Fri morning to steal a spot on 121st of someone who left for work.

The best part of the weekend was going to Belmont Park on Saturday with my sister, her roommate and a friend from school. The trumpet player (Sam, he was very annoying) remarked that I was lucky for being with 3 lovely ladies to which my sister replied: "That's disgusting, he's my brother." It was a day filled with drinking and betting. Although, I blame my addiction to SportsJournalists.com for losing money on my first bet. One of the horses in the 3rd race was named Rock Bottom so naturally I thought that was a funny coincidence and bet that horse as part of a trifecta. Well I looked up at the scoreboard about a minute before the race and Fucking Rock Bottom was a late scratch. I just accepted my fate of losing the bet and continued to drink.

The weekend got a little bizarre today when I saw on the news that on Saturday night the first of 4 separate shootings in Harlem happened about 100 yards from my sister's apartment which I was in at the time. The thing is, my sister's roommate was outside not too long after the first shooting because she had left to rent The Office season 2 (we were tired from Belmont and felt like staying in). When she came back in, she remarked that there was a big group out on the corner. It wasn't until today that she realized why that group was there and how close she came to being out there during the first shooting. I had never felt unsafe before when visiting my sister, but tonight I needed them to walk me to my car when I was leaving. But anyways, those are the hi/lowlights of my trip to NYC.

 

Glad you made it back safely!

 

Don't come back!!!!

 

Did anybody ever tell you you're a dickhead?

 

So

So the best part of a weekend in New York City was leaving the city?

 

It was a relaxing weekend. Got to see friends who I hadn't seen in months and my sister who I only get to see about 5 times a year. I walked around Central Park on Sunday and just generally relaxed. Belmont was fun, just drinking and hanging out. It was my fourth trip to the NYC in the last year so I didn't have any elaborate plans or anything like that.

 

in a word, yes.