NYC Part 1 - Taking a bite out of the Big Apple

Arrived in midtown Manhattan after a looooooonnnnnggg ride in on the subway from JFK. Cheapskates that we were, it only cost us under $2 apiece since for some reason, AirTrain was free that day. (Needless to say, we decided to take a cab back to the airport on Sunday.)



As you can see, the weather was beautiful, at least up until the hour our plane was to take off for the trip back to Florida. We had an almost 2 hour delay on the ground because of the lightning and torrential rain. Takeoff was like a roller coaster and tilt-a-whirl combined.


We decided to head down to the Village to get something to eat. Joe had texted some addresses of a few places that they like. We ended up at a place called "Lenny's" . The food was fresh and plentiful. Actual turkey breast and lots of it.

This is a shot taken along 10th Street. We walked past Ruben Hall on 5th Ave and 10th St. That's the dorm where Joe lived when he was a freshman at NYU.

We took the subway up to 59th to do some browsing and people watching at the Apple Store. The line for the iPhones was unbelievably long. And every computer, laptop, iPod and whatever other device was there was being test driven by all the kids in the candy store.


On Saturday morning Sean and Jeffrey came down from Albany (I found myself all weekend still saying down to NYC even though for the first time I came 'up' to it.) We hung out at the Starbucks up the block from our hotel. Man, it's sooooooo difficult to find a Starbucks. It been almost a year since we've seen each other. Had a great time (Part 2) while they were there with us.

Later we went with my extended family to Carmine's for dinner. There were 17 of us. Boy did we eat. And NO Titanic for dessert! I don't think any of us had a bit of room for it.

After dinner we headed over to Long Island City to see Joe's and Joy's apartment. Some shots looking up their street with their building in the background.

Some views from the windows in their apartment.

After leaving their apartment Wayne and I took the subway back to Manhattan and walked around Rockefeller Plaza and Times Square and 42nd Street. After about 3o seconds (that long?) we couldn't wait to get away from people!

We waited a while for this Ugly Betty to display again so that we could get a shot of it.

And we think we were being stalked by the paparazzi. This guy seemed to be everywhere we were . . .

On Sunday morning we met Joy and Joe for brunch at the Popover Cafe in the UWS. Love that place. Wayne is thinking about opening one here in St Pete . . .

Yes . . . the pepper mill was moved and then moved back . . .

That stalker caught me in the subway.

GALA Photos

Street banner . . .

At check in.

Knight Concert Hall . . . the venue where Una Voce performed.

Una Voce on stage at the Knight Concert Hall.

A standing ovation!

Pasta Per Tre

Mike R is up visiting Wayne for a couple of days. I've heard a lot of good things about Mike and this was the first time we met. I was invited over for dinner and Mike made us un piatto squisito della pasta con il pollo. (I love Babel Fish translator!) It was sooooooo good! Spicy! YUM!

As you can see in this closeup, I had started to eat it before I remembered to take a picture. Hey . . . I'm Italian!

Ybor City, Cook Out and Sunset Beach

How could I forget this one? Since I moved here I've been wanting to stop into this little ice cream store nearby. I finally did last weekend after dropping Wayne off at the train station. Looks like I've found another comfort food watering hole.



On Friday night we met Scott and Keith for dinner at Streetcar Charlie's in Ybor City in Tampa. I hadn't been to Ybor yet, but have heard a lot of good things about it. Dinner was great. Definitely will go back for more.



We then headed over to the Tampa Museum of Art, currently housed in what looked like an old school building. A new, flashy home is being built in downtown Tampa. It was "Art After Dark" night and we were going to see Linda's and Debbie's work that was in the show. It was fun, lots of people there, Starbucks coffee, gelato, and beer sampling.


I forgot my camera so all of these shots were taken from the web.

Saturday was a laid back day. We went to see Wall*e at the movies. This AMC theatre has $4 matinees on the weekends! The popcorn and the soda cost us $16 though. Then we went swimming for a little in the pool and then had some outdoor grilled chicken and vegetables.

On Sunday we met Billy and Gary at the beach. Getting hot out there, but we did spend a lot of time in the water; was a bit more refreshing than out on the beach.

Miami or Bust!

I brought Wayne to the Tampa Union Station on Saturday. He was heading to Miami for the GALA Choruses Festival 2008 gathering. Gay and lesbian choruses from around the world gather every four years.

There were about 28 in the group heading to Miami on this train. The Amtrak people were very accomodating and kept the group together by allowing them to board first and sat them all on one car. There were members from Una Voce and Crescendo, the Tampa Bay Women's Chorus.

The Tampa Union Station is a "classic" Union Station, I think. Not a lot of activity there, but it was cool. It is about a 5 hour trip from Tampa to Miami.

Happy Birthday! The Big #%@ - OH!

Actually . . . it was a GREAT day to turn one of those numbers that ends in a zero! My co-workers at the credit union surprised me while I was waiting on a member. They snuck up behind me and sang Happy Birthday, holding a cake, a balloon, a box of candy and a card. For those of you who know me, it didn't take long to tear into that box of chocolates!

I got to connect with all of my children too! Dinner at Wayne's . . . crab cakes, stuffed chicken breasts, roasted potatoes, and a 10 layer cake!

One of the gifts he gave me was a Sony digital photo frame. Another toy to play with! It's fun loading the pictures and watching them change. (Doesn't take much to keep me entertained???)

June 28 Addendum

These were posted on Y & E in NYC blog. I just had to add them here. They are also added to 2 of my previous posts Gay Pride Family Pride from June 29 and Saturday at Sunset Beach

Pass It On . . .

Thanks to Allogenes for this. I had to pass it on . . .


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

A July 4th Weekend

This 3 day Fourth of July weekend turned out beautiful weather-wise for most of the weekend. We went to the beach on the Fourth. There were a good number of people there. The water temperature was refreshing. There was this sailboat sailing back and forth with this pirate flag displayed. Captain Jack Sparrow, perhaps?

We headed over to Gulfport after leaving Sunset Beach to check out some pasta with shrimp. There was a street fair going on, with a parade and fireworks planned for later that evening. We ended up at the Backfin Blue Cafe where the dinners hit the spot. We ended with the Key Lime Pie.

Later that evening we headed up my street to the Bay to watch the fireworks over at the Pier. Reminded me of Albany when all of these people come out of the woodwork to watch! I've never seen the park so crowded up as far as my street!

On Saturday night Wayne invited over a few people for pizza and a movie night. He made 3 different pizzas: pepperoni, white pizza with ricotta and sauted spinach, and a sausage, pepper, olive and mushroom one. All of the dough was made from scratch; and one of them had white wine in it.

On Sunday night The GALA Choruses of Sarasota and Tampa Bay (Gulf Coast Men's Chorus, Crescendo, the Tampa Bay Women's Chorus and The UV Rays and Una Voce) presented a Friends and Family Concert in St Petersburg. Just before the program began, a wicked thunderstorm blew thru and the power was knocked out. Luckily, some of the lights were still lit. Unfortunately, the A/C was knocked out! However, the program was wonderful! Brought the house to it's feet!

Afterwards a bunch of us went over to Georgie's to celebrate the end of the July 4th Weekend and to get something to eat!

A Visit from Linda and Louie

Linda and Louie arrived in St Pete on Sunday at midday. They checked into the America's Best Inn on 3rd Avenue N. It's the place where I stayed when I came to check out the area last July.

I met them there and proceeded to give them the grand tour of St Pete. We drove around the downtown area, along the North Shore just north of downtown and along Coffee Pot Bayou. We drove across to the beaches on the Gulf. These shots were from Sunset Beach. There was a small wedding ceremony going on while we were there.

We ate later in the afternoon at Beak's Old Florida on Central Avenue. Good food and good conversation. Plus...it was cool inside!

Then we did a little more touring and of course, had to hit the gelato shop!

This shot was taken on the Pier on Monday morning.

And after hanging at the pier for a while we headed over to Mazzaro's. Browsed around and then had lunch.

Around mid afternoon Linda and Lou headed back to Orlando. We'll next see each other in New York City at the end of July when we attend Joy's one woman show in the Midtown Theater Festival.