West Coast to East Coast: Manhattan Sunday

Prue and I had left Sunday open to whatever activities took our fancy at the time. We had a little sleep in, and then headed to the upper west side, and then had a delightful (that's right, "delightful") stroll through central park, where we emerged at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We were both starving, so decided on just a quick tour of the museum before finding breakfast- we HAD to see the Egyptian Hall and get some great photos of us getting all cultured and shit.

After an hour or so here, we got our "Gossip Girl" on and took to the streets of the upper east side to find love, revenge, friendship, enemies... Whatever the morning could serve up. Turns out our morning wasn't near as eventful as an episode of that show, but nonetheless we found a neat little cafe with bottomless coffee and syrup aplenty for my French toast.

After breakfast we kept walking down Park Avenue admiring all of the beautiful apartment buildings, and I dazed off imagining myself as a successful broadway writer living in a 2 bedroom walk up. One day, maybe. My list of favorite prospective careers is long, and getting longer every year.

A subway ride later (the $29 unlimited weekly pass was definitely a worthwhile investment!), we were back in midtown. I stopped off by the Eugene Oneill theatre to pick up my ticket for that afternoon's matinee of The Book of Mormon, and then in times square Prue picked up a last minute ticket to an afternoon show for herself - Chicago.

3:00pm came and I was sitting in my seat at the theatre ready to be amazed by the genius that is Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators of South Park), via their massive broadway show, The Book of Mormon. I went in knowing the soundtrack inside out, so while there were no surprises musically (the performers were all outstanding though!), seeing the show in its entirety was an experience I'll never forget. I don't think I've ever seen a musical, or any other piece of media for that matter, that manages to blend historical and social commentary, humor, vulgarity and humanity so seamlessly and sweetly as this show did.

If the afternoon couldn't get any better after seeing this phenomenal show, outside the theatre I got the chance to meet pretty much the entire cast, and get all their signatures on my program and playbill, as well as getting photos with a bunch of them. Definitely the icing on the cake and an amazing way to end my week in new York.

After reuniting with Prue at the hotel, and blasting her ear drums about all of my Book of Mormon excitement and stories, we jumped on the subway again and headed to Chelsea for another dinner. We found a neat little organic restaurant and clinked champagne glasses while sharing pizza. :)

What an incredible week in this city. So glad i get to be back here next Friday night, AS WELL AS in September for a few nights before i leave for home. Off to Boston tomorrow for four nights. Can't wait for this. :)