A Belle in the Big City

As I sit here recounting my trip, deciding what to write, only one thing comes to mind…..I LOVE NEW YORK CITY! Here’s a not at all quick rundown of “The Queen Belle Takes Manhattan”….

I arrived at Laguardia on Wednesday afternoon without a clear idea in my head of just how much an impact New York City was going to have on me. Sure I was excited, since I had thought about it most of my life and was certain I would enjoy myself, but I had no idea that it was going to be just what I needed to fix a few things inside of Shan. Yes, I am aware of how stupid that sounds, but hang in there and It will all make sense…..in theory.

I was met in baggage claim by @TruebieDoobyDoo, the first time we had ever been in the same room. What a great way to start a trip! After a cab ride from the airport and checking in at the hotel, we made our way to the subway station. It was there that my first NYC crush was discovered. Shan LOVES public transportation!!! It may be the nerdiest thing ever, but swiping my Metro card and moving through the turn-style was oddly empowering. I spent lots of time riding the 1 uptown and downtown before venturing over to the N R and the 6 to do the same. I feel like a downtown area subway stop aficionado now. Did I also mention I love downtown? More on that later.

Next stop, Time Square and to Sardi’s for dinner. Cliche’ you say? Maybe a little, but it’s a New York landmark and they give a mean discount to people in the industry so you never know who might show up. Like former Broadway stage managers and their out of town Twitter guests. *smirk*

In addition to seeing Grand Central Station, Bryant Park, the NYC Public Library, I also got my first ride on the 6 down to the East Village where we walked in the rain and had drinks at the B Bar. For those of you who don’t know what that is, click here.

I felt so at home and empowered in this very funky and artistic part of the city. My audoiphile’s heart skipped a beat to be standing near the former site of the Filmore East (obviously, I did not take this picture) which is now oddly enough a bank and an apartment building. *sigh* It’s counterpart in San Francisco where the Grateful Dead once played is now a car dealership….don’t get me started.

After walking through St. Mark’s and perusing Search and Destroy, we took our drowned rat selves back to Chelsea and @TruebieDoobyDoo made her way back home. I did make sure to barricade the door per @BillohBill‘s request.

After my whiz bang Wednesday evening, I was ready to hit the streets on Thursday morning. Of course, I had lost some of my whiz bang after a day of travel and walking the city streets and ended up loafing around in the room talking on the phone to @BubbaLives until 11:00. Every vacationer needs the occasional break.

I have never been more proud of myself than I was on Thursday, June 10th, 2010. I walked with a purpose, a renewed sense of happy that I can’t quite explain. I had found someplace that I could act like myself and no one gave a hoot! There was no looking over my shoulder for fear someone may see and judge me. Where I live, I am not widely liked or accepted for my funky-ness and lack of religious views, my lust for music and Vampires is generally looked upon as weird. Also, I refuse to dress like a dowdy house frau. Clearly, I do not, as I was wearing this on my trek: Man, the hoots look pretty good, too bad you can’t see that spiky bracelet @TruebieDoobyDoo kept calling the “S & M Bracelet”. Because you KNOW you’re curious, it looks like this. *grins* The Shan has a “fun” side for when she isn’t being embarrassed or generally demure. It is seldom seen, you have to be REALLY persuasive.*eyebrow waggle*

Now where was I….oh yes, my trek. I was in a traveling mood, so I repeated my Midtown excursion from the previous night and then headed down to the Village. I had a wonderful afternoon strolling around taking pictures of the greatest little buildings, having lunch and just sitting in Washington Square Park. I know I seldom speak of the man in my life, but this is the perfect time to do it. He would LOVE the Village. He’s a well-read, food and wine enthusiast, architect Chicagoan and it would appeal to everything in his quasi-pompous, creative man’s nature. I’ll have to bring him back as he has not been to NYC since 1982 while a member of the IIT sailing team. No, that is NOT like Devry…..but enough about Mr. Shan. *end gratuitous moment of insight*

I’m kind of a walker, I like to keep moving. Much like a shark, if I stop, I will die. Naturally I kept on walking, going north on Broadway to Union Square and continuing uptown to the Flatiron. Guess who wanted me to take a picture of that architectural marvel? My picture was not as good as this one.

Then it was back to the hotel to await the arrival of @sumerbreez, which took FOREVER! Ok, not really forever, but let’s just say I don’t think that shuttle bus from JFK could possibly have made any more stops. In the mean time, @TruebieDoobyDoo came into Penn Station having not been able to resist the song of the city.

Thursday was a night for ChinaTown and Little Italy. We shared a meal at a Dumpling House, found a stuffed monkey with panties on it’s head and made a few crass jokes about a vibrating chair pad. (What can I say? I was gearing up for @lucyspet to arrive.) There were two things running in my head that night. One: San Francisco’s ChinaTown kicks NYC’s ChinaTown’s ASS! Maybe because it is in fact closer to China. Two: I now understand why Billy Joel was a “Big Man on Mulberry Street”. Also, coconut gelato is quite good.

After an unexpected jaunt back through the East Village and a sample of something nasty ass called Bubble Tea, we made it back to Chelsea and to bed by 2:30 in the morning. Normal for me, not so normal for @sumerbreez.

Now where was I? Ah yes, Friday morning in the city. One would have thought I would sleep in after the 3 hour time change and 2 busy days I had already had. Not so. The eyes popped open at 7:30 am. For those of you who don’t know me that well, I’m a bit like a toddler, afraid that if I take my nap I will miss too much of the world around me.

I did however feel like total CRAP, but not nearly as crappy as my roommate @sumerbreez. We hemmed and hawed about getting up and showering, but finally got going thinking food would be the cure-all for her headache and general well being. I dragged her onto the subway and up to Times Square where she was woozy, but still convinced it would get better. We ordered our lunch at Brooklyn Diner, but poor @sumerbreez was not getting better. Long story short, leaving out ALL the graphic details, I tucked her back in bed with water and bananas, grabbed my ipod and headed out again. This trip was fast becoming the Belle version of Home Alone 2.

As @sumerbreez slept, I again slid into a seat on the 1 and headed downtown, this time ending up in TriBeCa. It was important that I see it for familial reasons. Many of you are unaware of this, but my family is originally from NYC. Weird that I had never been there, I know, but they moved upstate and then to Chicago in the 1930′s and didn’t much look back. Mr. Shan and Shan’s granny are heavily into genealogy. Through their research and travels, they discovered that my family emigrated from The Netherlands to New Amsterdam in 1630. My 9th Great Grandmother Anneke Weber Jans Bogardus(and you guys thought MY name was long!) owned a 62 acre farm on what is now TriBeCa. Now that I have bored the craptastic out of you, it’s time to move on.

I made my way down to the Trinity Church and quickly called home. My son’s only inquiry was, “What’s buried beneath Parkington Lane?” This not only made me laugh, but also reminded me of that Woody Woodpecker game show episode. “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?”

A quick stop at St. Paul’s Chapel and then it was time to visit Ground Zero. It may only look like a construction site at this point, but I stopped and stared at it remembering the day I saw the plane hit the second tower live on TV. There are deli’s and convenience stores there, office buildings and incredibly old churches, all of them so close I can only imagine the impact they felt both physically and emotionally. I was 2,200 miles away and felt it. Life moves on and the New York flame was not doused.

I was getting a little tired at this point and not surprisingly introspective, so I snapped a couple of quick pics of the Woolworth Building and the NYC Municipal Building before deciding  to grab a snack and make my way back to Midtown.

Riding up to 50th street was a nice relaxing trip and just what I needed to reboot. This was about to be the part of my trip when I took the most pictures, tweeted the most, and had a few interesting experiences. It started with the sexy veiny armed guy on the subway. I couldn’t help it, he was in a black polo shirt and smelled FANTASTIC! I instantly thought of The Moyer and got a second wind along with…well, never you mind. After I got up to street level, “Dixie” came on my ipod immediately followed by The Marvelettes “Don’t Mess with Bill”. It was on shuffle and wildly coincidental after seeing that guy. THUD!

Walking along, I stumbled upon a variety of interesting New York landmarks, among them the former Studio 54, The Ed Sullivan Theater, home to The Late Show with David Letterman, and Carnegie Hall.

When I hit 59th street, I tried not to go into Central Park. I wanted to wait until @sumerbreez and @lucyspet were with me since we had decided we would enjoy that together. I did my best, meaning I walked in the Artisan’s gate, wandered down one path and exited again through the Artist’s Gate where the Carriage rides start. Why these 2 gates have such similar names is beyond me, but that’s what the map said.

I stopped along the path near a long row of benches where a few random people were seated. They were from what seemed to me like all walks of life and only one of them appeared to be living on said bench. There was one gentleman fiddling with his iphone and drinking an iced coffee. He was not so discreetly looking at me while attempting to appear as though he was playing with his phone. Thanks for the ego boost pal, but next time you want it to look like you’re really into your phone, it would help if you kept your eyes on it a tad more, or take a picture, it lasts longer. What can I say, I was looking cute. *winks* (Check me out getting all cocky and confident. I blame that guy. Going back to normal now….)

I walked over to the Grand Army Plaza and up to the Scholar’s Gate and back again as I began my trek downtown via 5th avenue.

I was inspired to grab my phone and take a few pictures as my sd card was actually cooperating for a change. When I saw I had a few friends to tweet with, it was that much more fun. I even made sure to call Belle Rive and talk to @MeeMawBellefle so she would know I was safe. She had Tony Soprano asleep on her couch, so lord knows she was in good hands.

Here’s the part where I sit back and drink my Pepsi and let the pictures speak for them selves for a bit. READ: I’m getting lazy…..

I took those pics while tweeting @SteveNewlinJr. I am quite reticent to admit this, but I missed harassing the Rev while I was gone. A Fangba….Vampire Enthusiast such as myself shouldn’t like him so much.

When I walked over to the 50th street side of NBC Studios there was a throng of people and some guy getting out of a Town Car. They were screaming, I had no freaking clue who he was. So, like a middle-aged out of touch housewife…I asked. Apparently he was the UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson that’s playing B.A. in the new A-Team movie. I still had no clue who he was, but I’ll take their word for it. I took this picture and kept walking. *shrugs* Priorities….

It was coming up on 5:00 so I figured I better head back down to the hotel to await the arrival of @lucyspet and check on @sumerbreez. I headed back to the subway. *grins* Have I mentioned that I LOVE the subway!?!?

I found a barely awake, dehydrated and starving @sumerbreez in our room. She had a BAD day, but was feeling better. What a trooper! @lucyspet and I dragged her ass down to 22nd St for dinner at Restivo. @sumerbreez even had the energy to take this pic:

I will say this for the place, the pesto was AWESOME! The Kraft Parmesan in lieu of fresh…not so much. We called it an early night and crashed.

Saturday morning, awake and feeling good. I had a purpose again, showered quickly and headed uptown to meet @TruebieDoobyDoo at the Gershwin Theater.  I was early and had a bit of time to kill, so I made a trek a few blocks over to snap these pics:

At 11:30, we added our names to the theater lottery for matinée tickets to Wicked. A little piece of me sort of knew we would win, don’t ask me why, maybe because after everything I have dealt with in the last 18 months to 2 years of my life, I felt like it had damn well better happen! The Belles must have some righteous karma because at 12 noon on Saturday June 12th, @TruebieDoobyDoo and I won front row seats for the bargain price of $25 a piece. I cried. It was by far one of the most AMAZING moments in all of my life…..No offense to Mr. Shan and the little Shans, but HOT DAMN!

The curtain didn’t go up until 2 pm, so we had a little time to eat and see a couple of things. Little did we know this would become the craziest part of the day.

My only request for most of the trip had been to see the Chrysler Building. I am in love with it, have been since I was small. I think it is an amazingly beautiful piece of art deco architecture. I stood there in awe like Little Orphan Annie. No singing, @VampireBill….

Time was growing short, so we quickly grabbed food at Grand Central Station and hopped on the 7 to get back across town. We got stopped for almost 10 minutes. Not a big deal in the big scheme of things, that is unless when you get back to Times Square and attempt to hop on the uptown train, it is NOT RUNNING LOCAL! Oops! It was at this point, at 10 minutes to 2, that @TruebieDoobyDoo and I RAN 8 blocks from 42nd St to 50th St and just barely made it in time to sit in our seats as the house lights dimmed. I swear I almost had a heart attack. Running was so worth it though and I am dead set on taking Princess Belle to see it when it’s in Tucson in January 2011.

After the show, we took an extremely leisurely walk back to Chelsea, checking out the Hotel Edison, Shubert Alley and an antique shop with some sexual chotchkies and the cutest bracelet I have ever seen that was ridiculously over priced. It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine. The bracelet, not the sexual chotchkies.

While we were doing all of this, @lucyspet and @sumerbreez visited Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and @lucyspet‘s brother in New Jersey. Since that had them tied up until late at night, @TruebieDoobyDoo and I went back downtown to yep, you guessed it, the Village where we had dinner at Tea and Sympathy. I had the shepard’s pie and a great rhubarb crumble smothered in custard. We strolled around the neighborhood again checking out the various shops and restaurants along the way. I even got to see her old apartment. Kick ass location! After a drink at the hotel bar, @TruebieDoobyDoo headed back home and I went upstairs to get in some chat time with the bestie. I was experiencing @JessicaHamby withdrawal.

Sunday morning was a time for sleeping in, but not too late. Wouldn’t want to miss anything! @sumerbreez had missed out on the WTC and Trinity Church day, so we headed on down to check that out. We also saw the Wall Street Bull and she showed me what she and @lucyspet had seen in Battery Park.

I took this very lame picture of Ellis Island and Lady Liberty from the shore.

After making it back to the hotel, we shagged @lucyspet out of bed and the three of us had dinner at Il Bastardo. They had fresh Parmesan thank god and the bartender made us some very good vodka tonics.

And then it was time for *drumroll* THE TRUE BLOOD SEASON 3 PREMIERE!!!!! We were so graciously offered the TV and living room of one of Alcide’s Furbangers in Hoboken, NJ for the viewing of the show. I won’t really discuss that here since we have all talked like crazy about it already, but I will say….thank you Mr. Ball for that bare, hairy, dirty chest on Bill Compton. *purrrs*

Here was part of my trip that I was not really excited about. We jumped on the Path Train back to the city and when we got off at our stop, @TruebieDoobyDoo didn’t. I blew her a kiss goodbye as the train pulled away and cried my way back to the hotel. @sumerbreez said, “Don’t start that now” , but I couldn’t help it. The Belle Bond may just be thicker than blood.

Monday morning: The end of the line….The band-aid was ripped off much faster this time as @lucyspet and @sumerbreez were both taken away from me and back to their lives by 11 am, leaving me alone again in the city. We had a wonderful time, but I couldn’t help but curse my RL already and I wasn’t even knee deep in it again. Que Sera Sera….I knew I’d be back, it’s fated, like so many things are in my life, good and bad. Anyway, onward and uptown!

Since we never did get back to Central Park and I only had a little time left, I spent my day there, entering near Columbus Circle at the Merchant’s Gate where the Maine Monument stands. *points up to that last snazzy picture* Sadly for me, iphone guy was nowhere to be found, which was fine since I was wearing my glasses and looking a bit like a frumpy secretary. Not at ALL like this, a bit more like this.  I did however buy an awesome framed photograph of the Chrysler Building.

Anyhow, enough of my prattle, here are some pics I took in Central Park….

It was time to head back downtown to grab my things and head to the airport, but not before getting a chance to stop and reflect for a moment. I have always been a much bigger George Harrison fan than that of John Lennon, but there is absolutely no denying that music was forever changed the day John met Paul McCartney at St. Peter’s Church Hall fête.

And there you have it Ladies and GentleVamps, my story, for better or worse. I’m back in the desert now at Belle Headquarters, ready to entertain you and yours through season 3. Make no mistake about it New York, the Queen will be back!