New York City?

Sorry, every time I hear the words "New York City," I think of this commercial.

But in all seriousness, I had a most excellent weekend with the Sisters Buck in the Big Apple.

Kelly and I packed some great bus food and we were on our way Saturday morning. Thanks, Sam, for dropping us off!

We took the Bolt Bus from DC to NY (and back) and it was a super sweet ride. We all took part in "Bolt for Buck" while I bolted WITH Bucks. Ha. After a solid, and swift, 4 hours, we arrived in NYC. It was rainy, but warm, so not as miserable as advertised.

Our first stop was the Museum of Sex. Whoever recommended this gets a cookie because it was a pretty fun museum. It could have been bigger for the price, in my opinion, but was still worth it. There were three exhibits to see last weekend including:



As the wall says, "The Sex Lives of Animals." We perused bits and pieces about animal bits and pieces - and what they do with those bits and pieces.



The next exhibit was about "Sex and the Moving Image." It was more interesting to me and quite well done with loads of movie clips illustrating points from early stag films to porn stars to big budget films. It was very dark in there, so no photos, but here's a link to their page.

The last gallery was a back closet of whatever else they had laying around. At least it seemed like it to me. Still very interesting stuff, but no real theme to the room. It included power tool dildos, real dolls, and this beauty:

Do you like yours with pulp? Or without?

After a quick jaunt through the gift shop, it was off into the rain to find a street vendor to feed us. I had a lamb kofta. It looked shockingly just like the lamb gyro, but was tasty at any rate.

We found the hotel with no trouble, no thanks to me. (I spent most of the weekend in a haze of following the Buck girls around. The only thing I took away from this visit, geographically, is that downtown is South.) The hotel itself was pretty and the accommodations were clean, if a little on the tiny side. I learned that economy in NY means something different than it does in WV, or VA Beach for that matter. I also learned that shared bathrooms in hotels still exist and that they are not as scary as advertised. It was a great find for us. Here's a picture:

Our room was on the second floor and the view was of an alley. The cooing pigeons were nice.

We rolled out to Chinatown and it was PACKED and there were a lot of fun shops to see. We stopped in to a tea shop, an art shop and a shop that only sold chopsticks. Kelly took a great picture of Sharon and I there.





The rain was just clearing up and it was still pretty overcast. But as you can see, we were radiant!






We took a taxi to ground zero, but it was full dark and there was nothing for a tourist to see. Other than a void of anything in a square block of downtown. That was kind of awing in and of itself. Everything else is so packed together, all through the city... and then... nothing.

We managed to find our way to Ninja New York for dinner. Again, whoever recommended this gets a cookie, and a gold star. I haven't been to a theme restaurant in recent memory and this one was a blast. You go down an elevator and the ninja that scares the shit out of you as the door opens invites you to take the easy path, or the "ninja path" to your table. The "ninja path" involved going up a few stairs and then down a few stairs in the dark. Again, same ninja scaring the same shit out of Kelly as she rounded a corner.

The dinner was amazing. We sat in a little room, made to look all feudal dungeon-chic with sliding doors and all. We decided to split one of the prix fixe menus and then add on whatever else looked good.

So we had, in no particular order:
Duck
Flounder
Shrimp Tempura Roll
Sushi Soup (which attempted to kill Kelly with spiciness)
Chocolate Mousse
Lamb on fire
Apple Cream
A Four Elements Roll
Tempura Prawns
and lots and lots of dry ice... for effect.

I have to say, I love:

We went back to the tiny hotel and all promptly passed out. We are hard core party girls. Seriously.

The next morning saw us up bright and early (because we had gotten so much good sleep, seriously) and out to breakfast at a cafe down the street. The food was tasty and they had a juice bar so I experimented with tomato & beet juice. It tasted like REALLY fresh tomatoes. Yum!

The bus trip home was quiet and speedy. I whiled away an hour of it on the phone with Jes. I kept saying how amazed I am with technology. I was speeding along the highway and he was on the other side of the world, yet we jabbered away like it was cool. Thank GOODNESS for technology - it has helped keep me sane this Fall.