How do you know? (long...)

(Or ‘the Fabulous weekend’, continued…)

The weekend with the Moms on the Run (MOTR) really WAS fabulous. And full of laughter! Before we even left DC, we were out on the train platform at Union Station…we walked down a ways then ‘picked’ a train car to get into. We’re all lugging our stuff up the aisle, struggling to load it overhead…finally a passenger who is behind us comments, “I thought this was the ‘quiet car’?” Well, we heard THAT and cracked up and agreed we had to get off of that car! It took us a couple of tries, but we found a car that worked for us…

When we arrived at Penn Station we bought the passes (3 peeps on one ticket) and managed somehow to get through the turnstile. Dragged our bags downstairs (thump-thump-thump) THEN inadvertently got on a “C” train as opposed to the “E” train we should have been on. When we finally realized this (not too far out of our way, fortunately) we could not just switch where we were…nor could we go back one stop…we had to go back a few stops to Penn Station, drag our suitcases back all around up and down the stairs to the other side BEFORE we could get on an “E” train. We called this “Subway Surfing.” And it can be a LOT of fun but only counts when dragging luggage.

Anyway, we (the MOTRs) have all been using the word ‘fabulous’ lately, followed by a *toss-toss* of our hair…the word kind of came about from an incident in a little shop we visited on Thursday after our late lunch at Rue57. Before we left Rue 57 we all used the ‘facilities’, which were downstairs. I had a salad with grilled chicken and a chocolate martini. The tossing of our hair is from seeing the show, “Wicked,” which we all loved. Of course, one of us did fall asleep for a short time at one point. It wasn’t me but I was getting drowsy there at one point. After the show we got our second wind and went for a late night snack at Lindy’s. We used the ‘facilities’ there, too. They were downstairs. Their blueberry cheesecake and potato pancakes were awesome.

Friday morning we woke up to snow! Yes – snow on the first day of Spring. We got a late start to go to the Today Show, but that was OK. So we weren’t front row or anything and as a group we did not get on the show, but…the birthday balloons we were carrying around did. The ‘other’ Gina had recently had a birthday and we were celebrating…speaking of the other Gina, let me backtrack here. There were six of us on the trip…three of the six are left handed and there were TWO of us named Gina. Those are all very odd odds! Five of us had names that ended in ‘a’. Okay, back to business…

There were two of us who definitely were on camera (not me!). However some of us got to shake Meredith Vieria’s hand. And Meredith LOVED our matching MOTR t-shirts. I think she thought they were just fabulous. David Gregory was filling in for Matt and OMG is he tall! After the Today Show (not the end but when we got tired of standing in the rainy snow) we went into Rockefeller Center – to the NBC Studio store. I got a cool NBC Chime thingy. We did not go up to the Top of the Rock as it was rainy and it was $20…that is something for a clear / dry day. When we left the NBC Studio store we literally almost ran into David Gregory on the street. Someone commented how tall he was. He was just walking along, dragging his suitcases. We guessed he was heading back to DC…

Since it was snowing and raining on Friday morning one of us had the great idea to try to change our spa appointment to Friday from Saturday. We called them and they were willing to accommodate…so after a quick snack we were off to the spa! The entire SPA was, you guess it, downstairs! Two of us got finished early after an painful facial experience…they left for a bit of exploration and Bloody Marys…and the secret of the mural. The rest of us waited till we were all done. We walked out of the spa to sunshine! Yes!! Then it was pizza at Ray’s - open 24 hours, of course. We headed back to our suite and reconvened with the others. By this time it was time to think about cleaning up for dinner. We had originally been planning to eat at one Italian restaurant in Little Italy but our Concierge told us of another Italian restaurant located near there. We decided to give it a shot. We were told we did not need reservations, either.

We took the Subway, correctly this time, to Spring Street. We walked through SoHo till we found a place to have a drink. On the way we stopped at various shops. It was fun. The restaurant we stopped at was one that served organic food. Interesting. I had a White Russian there. It tasted kind of like a chocolate martini! I can’t quite remember, but I think those facilities were in the basement.


Off to Little Italy. I’ve noticed that Italians call Italy “It-ly” – they say it without the ‘a’. All of my family (that is my mom and her sisters) call it that. Our concierge also pronounced it It-ly. Anyway, along the way there were many Italian restaurants trying to entice us into their establishment…we thanked them and said we already had plans. We finally got to our location, Il Cortile, and presented our concierge’s business card to Stefano (the maitre d?) and he looked at it blankly…we’d been assured that he would know our concierge! Anyway, after a moment he said “I have met him before.”

We were showed us to a table where Angelo, assisted by Mario, would be waiting on us. Hmm, they put us in a table in the corner. We proceeded to have a fabulous time there. The wine was flowing, the food was delicious, and dessert was on the house! And…the bathrooms were downstairs.

We planned to call a cab for the ride home. Funny, they said there was a limo / driver that would take us where we needed to go for $40…so we accepted that offer. Before we left we took a group photo and a group photo with Angelo. And…according to someone in the group, Angelo has a firm @$$.

The limo ride back to the hotel was hilarious. I think we blinded the driver once or twice with all the pictures we took…darn that flash! We got to the hotel and our nice driver took another group photo with the limo behind us.

We proceeded into the hotel and then found the bar for a nightcap…not that we NEEDED a nightcap, but what the heck! We were in the city that never sleeps, after all. I had another chocolate martini. Mmmmm. With a chocolate stir stick!

Saturday morning…I was tired but felt pretty good. We got up for a day of exploring the downtown area. One of us was a tad under the weather so one MOTR stayed with her – she had already seen these parts, so it was all cool. Four of us rode the subway to the World Trade Center stop…on the correct train, too, and got off the first time. We went looking to explore ground zero, and thought that the WTC PATH would get us there. But as it turns out, the WTC PATH is ACTUALLY a train station…the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) station at the World Trade Center location. Duh…who know? Well, we do, now! Anyway, after we figured THAT out we walked kind of randomly.

Then we were thinking we needed to go to a restroom and found a little Italian café where we got sandwiches and drinks. We got to talking the gentleman who worked there and he told us we would be able to use the facilities in the pizza bar on the other end of the building. No problem – we did just that. We walked into the pizza bar and did a double-take – as the gentleman working there looked like an exact replica of the person we’d just spoken to. It was his twin brother. LOL Anyway, he proceeded to give us some other cool sightseeing advice and we took it. We walked the perimeter of the downtown area – Battery Park – and took pictures of the Statue of Liberty.
From there we continued along until we reached the South Street Seaport Pier 17 area with shopping and dining. We found lunch. At this point we had heard from the other two…they were up and at ‘em and looking to join us. We gave them instruction on where to go on the subway and how to meet us. After an hour or so they did not show up. It turns out they had missed the last stop at WTC and went back they way they’d come – they even thought there were two Spring Street stops on the Blue line. They had to re-visit Penn Station to do the changing sides routine to come back and they eventually met us. However, they did not get confused by the WTC PATH. They got there just as we finished our lunch so we moved inside and they had lunch. Before we left we used the facilities. We had to go downstairs for that. Of course.

From there we left to explore Chinatown and Little Itly (in the day light this time), and also to visit the bakery we missed the night before because we’d gotten dessert on the house. Everybody who already did not have a scarf bought one to keep the chill off…and some of us bought new ones anyway. We got our yummy desserts, too. Now, by this time we had to use the facilities. Again. We saw a Starbucks and decided that would be the place to go. Now the bathrooms were not downstairs, but the line was longer than the drink line and moved much slower. Only one was open to the public – the other was for the employees. One woman tried to CUT after we’d been waiting nearly 30 minutes. We told her no way – even though it was an emergency. Someone who worked there directed her elsewhere. After we had some relief we ate our bakery items there while drinking Starbucks.

Then we left and moved on. I got a really fabulous jacket at Yellow Rat Bastard. It was on sale for $40 marked down from $125! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Someone else needed to use the facilities by this time. The SoHo Café was available and the line was not as long and moved more quickly. It also was not in the basement. Maybe that is a SoHo thing…but I don’t think so. Finally it was time to head back to the hotel suite to freshen up for Saturday night and the comedy show we were going to find. After we decided on a plan of action we walked out towards Times Square – which looks fabulous with all the lights at night – we ran into someone peddling discount tickets (which they do EVERYwhere by the way).

We decided that that worked for us and we backtracked to the club. There we got drinks and appetizers and waited for the show to start. The hostess was Meghan – and she made me so laugh hard I cried. She took one look at our MOTR group and said “What is this? PTA Gone Wild?” Did she hit the nail on the head, or what? Well, not THAT what, but it was really funny. The comedians were hit or miss – good or bad. It was good though, bottom line.

Next stop was Times Square – just walking and enjoying the sights and sounds. I took pictures and had a great time. We walked to about the end of it down one side then crossed and worked our way back.

On our way back we decided it was time…time for our late night nosh session and we stopped at the Brooklyn Diner, which had been referred by one of our co-workers. Chicken noodle soup tastes great at midnight after a long day of walking the streets and seeing the sights! And the desserts that followed weren’t bad either! After we closed that place down it was time to head back for the night. So sad…our weekend was almost over!

Sunday morning…we got up and slowly got motivated. We went wandering around - we were going to have Mimosas and Bloody Marys but they don’t serve in NY until Noon. So we killed some time: First we walked in a small part of Central Park. I was reminded of scenes from “Home Alone 2.” Then we stopped by Magnolia Bakery for the cupcakes to take home to our families. Then it was back to the St. Regis for the aforementioned drinks. I did not know you could get a $25 Mimosa…but if you don’t specify the type of champagne you certainly do!

After we finished these drinks we hurried back to the suite to gather our already packed luggage and hail a cab for our first cab ride in the city to near Penn Station for our connection to the VA Moose bus for our cheap ride back to DC. I’m never sitting in the front seat of a NYC cab again…that is for sure! Our driver could not find the location but the other one did and funny enough got out of their cab right in front of the folks who we’d been sitting behind at the comedy club the night before. How weirdly random is THAT? They called us and we got out of our cab and just walked. We waited a few minutes and got on our bus and found seats together. The ride home was uneventful and I even managed to sleep…but obviously I’m still not caught up. They even stopped at a rest stop in Maryland I think for snacks. I got a latte from Starbucks… then we were back home (well at the Rosslyn Metro stop) where we caught our last train home. we were greeted at the Springfield/Franconia metro (the last stop) by two of the husbands and then it was truly over.

What I learned on my trip…that the bathrooms in most NYC establishments are…downstairs! The WTC PATH is not what you’d think. And there really ARE two Spring Street stops (Blue and Green lines) on the subway. Finally, hanging with the MOTRs is a blast and I cannot wait to do it again!