New York, New York -- June 2002: Day 1

In 2002, we thought the "American" thing to do would be to boost the economy in New York City.  Also, we'd had been there alone, but never together and it was time to get out of the New England bubble.  So, we caught a train from South Station to Penn Station.  It was a scenic and low-stress way to travel, but took a lot longer than driving.  Being country bumpkins, it felt a little scary to be dumped in the middle of the city.  I had never hailed a cab before and was barely aware there was a long queue of people waiting for their turn. All of a sudden, we were zooming through Midtown.  Our destination was Flatotel at 52nd Street and between 7th Avenue and Avenue of the Americas.  We picked it because its central location, aesthetics (we were able to get a newly renovated room), and mostly because it was so darn cheap (we got an awesome deal through the NYC tourism site that included parking, hotel, two excursions, and $100 for dinner at a select restaurant)  Anyway, 2002 was before Tyra decided to house America's Top Model contestants at Flatotel and I'm sure the price has since been driven up.  At the time, the were in the process of updating most rooms from pastel eek to modern chic.  We had a fairly large room, big modern bed, modeled after Frank Lloyd Wright's work, and a rather large bathroom.  There was barely any service at the hotel, which had it's good and bad points.  The lobby wasn't loaded with beautiful people to stare blankly at you when you ask a basic question (like most boutique hotels), but there wasn't really anyone to ask questions.  It almost seemed like a bare bones commuter hotel, as some of the rooms included kitchenettes.  The one person behind the desk was usually pretty nice however.  They just weren't concierge material.

We were famished when we arrived, so we hit the first deli we saw, which happened to be Fluffy's Cafe.  Despite the cutesy name, we had some solidly good NYC deli sandwiches without the annoying crowd you would see at Carnegie Deli.  And, they were only around $3 each, which was the best part.  As we only had a few hours, we hopped in cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The place was so huge, we could have used an entire week.  Instead, we just tried to hit the highlights, which, for us were the Temple of Dendur, Astor Court (with a Japanese Tea House), and the Frank Lloyd Wright room.  There was so much, we saw what we could and vowed to return another time.  We walked until our legs gave out and then it was time to return to he hotel for rest before dinner.

Looking for something quick and close to Broadway (where we would later be seeing Rent), we chose the Hourglass Tavern.  It was quick all right -- they kick you out after the hour-long hourglass on your table runs out!  I really enjoyed my meal, however.  We chose the prix fixe pre-theater menu, which starts with a huge loaf of sourdough bread and salads.  I had a vegetarian meal: polenta, ratatouille and dumplings in a hearty tomato sauce.  We were stuffed by the time we left and all for $20 per person.  I would highly reccomend the Hourglass Tavern if you want a casual meal, pre-theater.

We were so excited to see Rent on Broadway.  It was my favorite shows, but I had only seen the touring company in Boston.  We had fairly decent mezzanine seats, but with the size of the Nederlander Theatre, we felt like we were close to the action.  It was an amazing show.  And, an unknown Jai Rodriguez from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy played Angel.  The show let out and we were then swept away through Times Square with the crowd.  It was unreal -- it was eleven at night and it was a sea of people just moving forward.  We went with it soon landed back at hour hotel, exhausted from our first day.