I Hate Green Beans: November 2007

As I said in my earlier post, New York City was amazing. My friend Katie and I had been planning our trip for months, and were excited about a few particular parts of our agenda:

1. Flying first class on Katie's miles
2. Center orchestra tickets for Wicked
3. Thanksgiving Day parade and watching the balloons blow up the night before
4. Serendipity's

You all probably know that Broadway was blacked out while we visited. I was so disappointed and knew they would resolve the situation before we got there. Not so much.

And then I was given the bad news that Serendipity's had failed their health inspection. Not once...but TWICE. They were closed down.

Seriously?

At least there was first class.

Arriving at the Continental counter in the fancy "elite" line was as great as I thought it would be. I was dressed for the occasion and was excited to experience how the other half lived. You know...the ones who get a big chair, pre-flight cocktail and a personal TV. I checked in with an air of confidence that could only mean I had done this before. Secretly, I wished to pull out my camera and take a picture with me holding my ticket.

After checking my bag, the Continental lady handed me my boarding pass and I just happened to glance at the ticket.

Seat 18 F

Hmm. That's a big first class.

Then I saw a huge ECONOMY written by my seat assignment. Economy? ECONOMY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I look at Katie and she immediately whips out her cell phone to "discuss" the issue with the travel agent. To make a long story short...there was a miscommunication. Nice.

I tried to shake it off and tell myself that you don't know what you are missing if you've never experienced it before. I convinced myself that it probably would have turned me into a flying snob and it was best for me to be with my own common folk.

But it still pierced my heart when the flight attendant called for the first class passengers to board.

To top it off, our flight was delayed two hours.

We shuffle through the first class cabin, rolling our eyes at the "select 20." Katie almost stole a banana. She was really suffering. We make our way to 18 F and are excited to see that my favorite movie of 2007 is playing! Hairspray was the in-flight entertainment! That's somewhat of a pick-me-up, right?

I open my "Sexiest Man" edition of People magazine, stopping on DAVE ANNABLE and wondering why I didn't know who this gorgeous hunk was, when it hit me.

My stomach gurgled. I think you know what I mean. Let's just say there was a bathroom "situation" and I was back in my seat just in time to watch Hairspray.

Or I should say listen to Hairspray.

You see, 18 F just happens to be that seat that is directly below the little fold down miniature monitor. It looked as if the movie was a film negative. ANNOYING! And I'm just too blind to watch the miniature TV four rows up. Back to my sexy People.

We land in New York City about two and half hours later than planned. We hustled to get our baggage and taxi to check into our hotel. We rushed to Times Square and headed down to where the balloons were being blown up. If we hurried, we could get there to see them! Unfortunately, it was about a million blocks away. We opted to ride in a rickshaw. You know, the little cart that the guy attaches to his bicycle? He hauled BUTT to get us there. And speaking of butts...if you ever want to achieve a nice shapely one, I suggest you get in the rickshaw business.

What? It's right there in your face! You can't NOT notice it...

As I was saying, he hauled butt. Just in time for us to see the cops shutting down the street. It was five minutes after 10:00 p.m.

To recap:

1. First class? Denied.
2. Wicked? Nope.
3. Balloons? Hopes deflated.
4. Serendipity's? I'll pass on the cockroaches, thank you.

So what do you do when your first day in NYC is not going as planned?

You dine on the City's finest at midnight...pizza and cheesecake.

More NYC adventures to come!