My Weekend

Howdy all,

Hope your weekend went as well as mine did! We hit the city via train, in a sleet storm, and made our way up to the hotel. We caught an early dinner at Rosie O'Grady's (great food!) before heading to the theater. I actually ate meat at dinner (And paid for it later! Trust me, you don't want details!) they had an Irish Beef Stew that I couldn't resist. It was the best I've ever had but I was actually pretty good. I left half the beef in the bowl . . . not an easy task, mind you! We went to see "The Pirate Queen" and I was a little disappointed. Oh, it's a decent show, but it just wasn't what we expected. I was looking for lots of step dancing, Celtic music, and swords, ya know? Well, it had some of all that (and it was well done) but it was primarily a romance story. The music was more Andrew Lloyd Weber than Celtic. Still, it was a nice evening. After that, we caught a little after theter dessert and off to bed.

Saturday, we went to "Norma's" for breakfast. This is the top rated breakfast place in Manhattan. The food was amazing! The atmosphere and presentation were wonderful, and we really enjoyed it. I very much doubt we'll be going back though. In NYC parlance "Best" = "Most Expensive" and it sure as hell was! It was worth it for the experience, but tossing over $100 on eggs for three people is a little much for us. Still, I do recommend you do it at least once, just to have the experience. After that, we wandered down to 5th Ave, and got to watch the parade from just outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral (a beautiful church! We stop in just to see it whenever we're in the area, even though I'm a heathen! ) We had a great time. We even got to see Rudy Guilani up close. He came over to work the crowd where we were standing. His folks gave us some "RUDY" for president signs. We wandered up and down the Avenue all day, in and out of stores . . . watching a little more of the parade . . . get some Chai tea . . . a little more parade . . . etc. great day! We did dinner at "Planet Hollywood" as we usually do (The Wife LOVES their Cap'n Crunch breaded chicken breast!) and I was good about staying of the meat, much to my stomach's relief!

That night we went to see "Spamalot". Holy shit! How do I even describe this to you?

I can't.

It was the funniest damn thing I have EVER seen. I am a huge Monty Python fan (So is The Boy!) and I adore "The Holy Grail". I knew there was no way they could do that level of funny on the stage but I figured it would still be worth a few chuckles. The Wife (Who hates Python on general principle!) was taking one for the team by going to see this show. She kept a good face about it but I know she was dreading it and was only doing it for The Boy and I. This show blew us all away. I didn't stop laughing for a moment. I was so wrong . . . not only did they match "The Holy Grail" the beat it! They took that basic story line, incorporated some of Python's best stuff from "The Flying Circus" and their other films, then overlayed it with new material lampooning Broadway, themselves and anything else you can imagine. It was brilliant! How brilliant? I will let an exact quote from The Wife sum it up:

"That was good! I'd pay to go see that again!"

And that from a woman who leaves the room when I put on "The Flying Circus"!

We caught breakfast yesterday at a favorite spot of ours in the city, then hopped the train for home. Spent an hour taking care of some errands, then it was off to my brother's for a family gathering. I had a great time. I hung out with all my nieces and nephews (and The Boy!) in the dining room all day. They're all college age now and since I never really matured much beyond 18 or so myself, we had a great time. They seem to enjoy my twisted sense of humor for some reason and always save me a seat in their "area" when we have parties. Great bunch of kids! Of course, they lost me when trying to explaing the milion and one rules to the silly drinking games thay all play at school. We old folks just looked at each other and asked: "What the hell do you need games for? Pick up beer, place to lips, swallow vigorously . . . repeat!" Yup, we're good influences on those kids! :-)

Later!