Ever wonder how the other half lives? Well, we got to find out this weekend. Our dear landlord, who we'll call "Charlie" helped out with our finding out. A little background: We have the coolest landlord. He lives in Miami, we've never met him, he pays me to show apartments and we have a great friendship. Did I mention that I've never met him? Anyway, he keeps an apartment in midtown but never uses it. He has told me on many occasions that we were welcome to "borrow" it any time.
So, we were invited to the Big Apple BBQ Block Party this past weekend to convene at Madison Square Park. It just so happens that our landlord has an apartment a couple of blocks from Madison Square Park. Everyone see where I'm going with this? I called up Charlie and asked him if it was available this weekend. I told him that it would be really cool to be able to get out of the heat for a while and stay overnight since we were seeing a Broadway show on Sunday. He said "of course"! We were given the address and told to get the keys from the doorman and to pick up the sheets and towels from the valet and to have a great time!
Sam and I met up with Carlos on Saturday afternoon and went to the building. The doorman was really nice and gave us keys and had us sign in. Charlie had forwarded a note with my name (+husband) so there was no problem at all. We took the elevator to the 47th floor and checked out the apartment. It was beautiful! Very new, very spacious and very simple. Great stereo system, big TV, comfy couch and a terrace overlooking downtown Manhattan from the 47th freakin' floor!
The Terrace looking East to Brooklyn
Charlie also told me that there was a roof deck that was accessible to anyone in the building. We would check that out later, but first - BBQ!!
Sam and I were on a mission. We wanted Texas BBQ and representatives from the Salt Lick from Austin would be on hand. We waited in the long-ass line in the 90+ degree heat for what seemed like forever. My super smart husband decided that he needed to wear a Texas Longhorn shirt so we could represent! After about 20-30 minutes in line (on line?) we were tapped on the shoulders and told to "step over that hay bale and have a seat. We're gonna get you some food". I had no idea what was going on. We crossed the hay bale and sat down with some other people from the line who were wearing UT clothes.
This is where the $35,000 University of Texas education finally started paying off. We were given free food, free beer, free drinks and great seats under a shady tree. We were treated to rib samples from other pit masters while we waited as well. We wanted our friends to taste the Salt Lick too and asked our hostess Amy if she would get us two plates if we paid for them. Her response? "If you guys want more plates, I'll get you more plates". When I asked her if I could buy some water, she brought me two Sprites (they were out of water) and told me not to worry about it. When Carlos found us in our little BBQ haven, he was able to cross the hay bale and was treated to Salt Lick sausage and brisket as well. It pays to be a Texan!
Hook 'Em Horns
Mmm, Salt Lick
Following our Salt Lick lunch, we left the block party, stopped to get some beer and headed up to the roof. Holy shit! That's all I could really say. 360 degree views of Manhattan. The Empire State Building was so close it was like you could touch it. We could see the Hudson, the East River, New Jersey, Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan. It was awesome. We were later joined by Pax, Mary, Marissa, Meagan, Blayne and Brian for an evening of picture taking, cigar smoking and beer drinking. It was phenomenal. We watched the sun set over the city. We ordered in Thai food and fell asleep.
View of the Chrysler Building (my mom's favorite)
Sam and I on the roof
Mary in her Pig Ears
Carlos in the Pig Ears
A closer view of the Chrysler Building
We could almost touch the Empire State Building
The Flatiron Building (My Favorite!)
Skyline at Night (not the greatest picture but you can see the GE building (Rockefeller Center)
Today we treated ourselves to a show. Sam usually hates Broadway shows, but there are two that he is willing to see - Avenue Q and Spamalot. We got great tickets for Avenue Q and loved every minute of the matinee. It was great! I highly recommend it. After the show, we went back to the apartment, packed up our things, brought the sheets and towels back to the doorman to drop off to the valet and headed back to our humble apartment in Brooklyn.
I had a hard time looking at the Empire State Building from street level - it's so much cooler from 50 stories up! We got to see how the other half lives and we want more!!!
2 comments:
Wow! Thanks for all the wonderful pictures of my building!
Love,
Mom
you write so eloquently, I feel as if I can see the sights just from reading your blog. I used to live in Manhattan (right near the Empire State Building actually), and my view (from the 16th floor) was of the building across the street, which kinda sucked. Sounds like you had a great time!
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