Sunday, October 7: New York City

Today we went to a great little place called Blue Ribbon Bakery in the East Village (I think) for some brunch. They specialize in their breads, so the only viable option for me was their Challah French Toast with fresh berries. It was by far the best French toast I have ever had in my life. Jeff met us for brunch as well as Jason’s friends Sean, Matt and Andrew. They were all great, with the exception of Andrew whom I have decided is a douche bag. Having a conversation with this man was unbelievably difficult and had nothing good to add to the conversation. Granted, he was really tired and hungover but good lord, at least try to be part of the group. All of us gave him a thumbs down. Give him his walking papers Jason!

Sean, Matt and Jeff made up for Andrew’s lack of people skills and we had a great brunch. I gave Jeff the rest of my French toast and he declared me his “Favorite Hetero Girl.” Ah, thanks Jeff! After brunch, we had some time to kill and accompanied Sean on a tour of some open houses in the area. Wow, this place is crazy expensive for tiny little spaces. The boys later introduced me to something called Pinkberry, a frozen yogurt chain. The yogurt is much more tart, but was delicious with some fresh berries and chocolate chips. Good stuff.

After parting ways with the boys, Jason and I headed toward the projects to make sure that my car was still in one piece. All was well in the car department and I was at ease. Then, we embarked on a photo tour of Chelsea led my Jason’s friend, Jason. I ended up only taking about two pictures though, I didn’t want to get so wrapped up in taking a photo that I would miss out on all of the little details around me. I’m hoping to make some sketches later of some of the great things I encountered like the ornate ironwork among the old buildings and the birds playing in the bushes at the seminary gardens.

After the tour, we went back to the tour guide’s apartment for some fresh apple pie that he had made earlier in the morning. It was okay, but mine would put his to shame. Haha.

Jeff’s team made it all the way to the finals in the Superbowl before ultimately losing to New York. I told him that he was still a winner to me and we went to the wrap party in the warehouse district. The bartenders were ridiculously hot and I found myself just staring at how beautiful they were, they were clearly hired from a modeling agency. My favorite new friends of the night were Courtney from New York and Doug from San Diego, they kept me highly entertained. Tonight’s after party was taking place at a leather bar named The Eagle. Gay men dressed in provocative leather or walking around without their shirts, that was a sight to behold! One guy came up to me and asked if I was in heaven among all these men, as if I didn’t know it was a gay bar. What a dork! I let him scamper off without a response and resumed my favorite activity of people watching.

Believe it or not I managed to find a single straight man that was highly relieved to find a woman among all the madness. There were a handful of straight men participating in the Superbowl and Jesse from San Diego was one of them. Oh Jesse, imagine what we could’ve become had you only stuck around a little longer and abandoned your friends for me.

The night pressed on and the drunken debauchery continued. I made new friends and exchanged contact information with a few before Jason and I headed home for some sleep before my morning departure.

Number of straight boy’s number acquired, zero. Number of gay boys’ numbers acquired, two. Good old New York City. Next time I’ll venture more outside of Chelsea. I didn’t have nearly enough time in New York to see the sights, so I decided to come back again. Perhaps with my Jacksonville crew, Russ, Ken, V, Amy and Gil….hint hint. :D