Rewinding through New York City

• Post By: Keegan Edwards
• Date: February 2, 2016
• Category: Travel

Saturday Evening

It’s as if New York was made to host a masked adventure, or the other way around. Either way, to be at ease in the presence of masked strangers, in the dark, at night, and alone, is in its very ethos, seemingly very New York. The concluding event of our NYC adventure would allow us to find ourselves both together and alone in an old staged hotel. We were each watching or yet participating in the other worldly trappings of Sleep No More at the McKittrick Hotel. In fanciful garb, her in a dress while I in a suit, we fit our surroundings as well as the poignant white mist that shrouded the darkened room in wonder. Yet, as with any tale, we held between us a secret so unraveling that we may have well been intruders in an elegant world. You see, while the story of New York is one of brilliance in imaginative production, it is also hauntingly real in its daily mandate for durability and realism. Thus, enter Subway.

Social norm teaches us to quite often pair a fancy dinner with a night of theater and music in New York, but, at least on one unseasonably warm night in January, this was not to be. So we shall acquiesce any semblance of resounding fanciful sentiment and settle into defining our own capacity for spontaneity as the defining positive characteristic in this evening. We clinked paper cups, dined with our fingers and made ourselves king and queen of a nearby Subway while prepping for our adventure.

It was a perfectly informal entrance into an event that by its very nature sought an altered formality.

 

Saturday Afternoon

As we continue to rewind the weekend, it was a day in Central Park that provided the literal and figurative leg stretch we sought. New York’s duality in existing as a cramped expanse is not short of amazing. So much for the mind, so little for the body and yet the posted notice of its existence is ultimately unattended to on at least a weekend’s shift.

And so, as the newly enchanted couples tend to do, we allowed ourselves the moments of captivated wonder invited upon those who dare to stroll through Central Park. It was with anticipation of an enjoyable night to come that provided both the anxious moments of speedy steps and the slower sighs inspired by the unexpected sights.

 

 

Friday

Casey would tell us later that the wife was Greek, but in the moment, the speaker phone sounded quite gruff. Perhaps it was just static. Either way, it was fortunate to be let into the apartment building by my brother’s Super. Plans are not meant to be made perfectly on a trip such as this, but one can be hopeful that they are least practical. Yet, arriving in Astoria with nowhere to go and no way to get there was provision for my younger brother’s moment of practicality in allowing us into his building through his reputation as tenant. The power of a relationship with a building Super in the city I suppose.

In Astoria, we dined at Burnside Biscuits. I with my fried chicken, Brittany with her salad. The afternoon passed into the evening as our showers gave way to getting dressed, gave way to our train ride to Union Square.

This was to be the evening of first acquaintance for Brittany and Casey. This evening had manifested in my head in a fashion not dissimilar from that which might be inspired by a sitcom. Friends, Seinfeld or How I Met Your Mother-esque. And whether such shows inspire our reality or the other way around I am not so sure. I know that the evening proceeded in the fashion of laughter, drinks and good food. The Brazen Fox provided the atmosphere. Brittany and I had a drink while we waited for Casey to finish a day’s work at Bank of America. In waiting, I even found a beer from Butter Nuts Brewery, near my hometown, a refreshing Pork Slap as it were. Brittany deferred to her usual vodka and water.

After Casey arrived, we enjoyed a moment at the bar before the three of us were seated up front, with a splendid window view of the NYC night life unfolding for the evening. We split oysters and avocado bread while drinking beer and liquor. Casey taking the convenience of Brittany’s momentary absence to convey how cool he thought she was, an obvious gesture of great meaning to me and later, to Brittany.

Brazen Fox proved to be an excellent gathering grounds as Brittany’s friends from Syracuse, Ryan & Rita joined us. Our group grew again when my bandmates and intramural teammates from my Fort Lauderdale days joined us for the evening.

While we basked in the joys of gathering friends, it was not complete without Wade. A friend from childhood who transcends that role to somehow become a piece of one’s own family. In spite of having a very busy schedule, including coaching college basketball, he still found a way to join us for a few drinks to meet Brittany.

In only the most fitting of fashions, I ended the evening in the way that most typifies New York. I found myself listening to Justin Beiber, happy, drunk, and asleep while in the back of an Uber on my way back to Queens with my brother and girlfriend.