After 3,000 miles of driving from NY to Texas and then back again, it was pretty awesome to finally arrive back in the big city. I know Ally da Pup sure was excited! Once we got settled in and had a good nights sleep I was able to do one of my favorite pastimes when I’m there, people watch. Everywhere you go there are thousands of people walking around, going about their business, running errands, etc. and a lot of them sure dress funny! I finally decided that walking around the streets is sort of like visiting a multi-ethnic Wal-Mart but on a much larger scale. And a lot grittier. I love that virtually everything you need on a daily basis is within walking distance. And then there’s the restaurants, many of them open 24/7.

I think I put on 5 pounds as we ate our way across the city, LOL We made return visits to two of my favorites, the Carnegie Deli (photos at link) which is just a stones throw from Carnegie Hall and an awesome dinner at the Hacienda de Argentine (photos at link) restaurant on the east side. The sandwiches at the Carnegie Deli are legendary with the meat piled on at least three inches thick, the thin slices of bread seem like mere afterthoughts. The Argentine restaurant has the best empanadas I’ve ever tasted and the atmosphere is just amazing. The decor reminds you of a medieval hunting lodge perhaps or maybe the dining room of an ancient castle.

One night we went to this really cool, upscale mexican restaurant called Mama Mexico (photos at link) where we met and had dinner with Julie! She was very cool and fun to talk to. This was my first time meeting her but her and Lisa have met on several occassions before then. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but we had a great time chatting! I’m glad we finally met! Once we left there, we walked her back to Grand Central near her subway station and we also caught the subway home. This is the street where the enormous steam explosion occurred the very next morning! I think that constitutes a close call!

I finally got to see the American Museum of Natural History which was pretty damn awesome! I snapped a few photos of the dinosaur skeletons, here are two of my favorites!

There was also a great video show called Cosmic Collisions in the planetarium narrated by Robert Redford. The visuals were stunning, displayed on a huge globe shaped ceiling like theatre that seated hundreds inside of a gigantic sphere.

On one night we accidentally witnessed the grand opening of Justin Timberlakes new restauarant as we walked pass.There were celebrities arriving in limos and walking down a red carpet before entering the place with tons of paparazzi snapping photos like madmen. Complete with screaming female fans and search lights. Just like a Hollywood premier, LOL Here’s a shot I took myself as I walked by.

Does anyone know who that is? I was lucky to get that photo because there were so many people in front of me, the crowd parted just as I passed. I think it may be Jessica Biel but I’m not sure. Anyone?

Here’s what the place looked like the next morning after everything was taken away. Yeah, that’s a hardware store on the left and a convenience grocery on the right, the restaurant features southern cooking and Memphis style barbecue. Not so exciting now. LOL

Anyway, those are the highlights, all in all a great and fun trip thanks to the lovely Lisa! We always have a lot of fun together! Have a great weekend everyone!! Woohoo!!

I’m back home in New Orleans again and it sucks to be here! After driving around half the country and getting to hang out in Manhattan, N.O. seems so bland and unattractive. Bleah! Lisa just put up a new post about the trip that covers a lot of the details from Texas to New York so I’ll just touch on a few highlights. With photos!

The first leg back was through Arkansas, nothing to see here, so no photos! Memphis and Graceland are a different story though. I’ve never been a fan of Elvis in any way shape or form so I wasn’t all that thrilled about going. I mean come’on, anyone willing to sing a duet with Frank Sinatra is totally uncool in my book. That ain’t rock and roll! That’s too much like Pat Boone singing heavy metal cover songs. Yeah, that bad.

I actually enjoyed the tour quite a bit although the Graceland mansion was a lot smaller than I imagined. Out of respect for Elvis memory, they don’t let you tour the upstairs rooms! That’s total BS, the tour has all the charm of a carnival of tackyness yet they draw the line there. Whatever! We laughed the hardest at Elvis’ extremely tacky decor and this one item in particular. A white fur covered bed with a stereo system built into the overhead canopy. You have to wonder how many women took a ride on this thing! LOL Lisa seemed to think it was really cool though! I wish I had one of those myself!

Lying on the bed appeared to be a selection of Elvis’ sequined pajamas, even when he was asleep he was tacky!

The best part about the mansion tour was the trophy building out back on the grounds. It had tons of memorabilia on display, including gold and platinum records with plaques, many of his custom made outfits, old original movie posters from his many flicks and dozens of tv monitors running continous looped clips from his many tv performances thru the years. That was pretty impressive.

That night we went to the Rendezvous Restauarant for some Memphis style ribs that were finger licking good! The place was packed with people!

Then we walked down the alley to check out the world famous Peabody Hotel where they have a group of ducks that come down the elevator from the roof top and take a red carpet march to the lobby fountain twice a day. We were there too late for the duck walk but the lobby was insanely beautiful and very impressive! I found this photo below on the web that’s much nicer than the one I took. Look closely and you can see the ducks swimming in the fountain.

The next morning we drove up thru Nashville and on to Kentucky where we thoroughly enjoyed the mountain scenery. I didn’t take any photos here. Later on though in northern West Virginia we drove thru a mountain pass that had a very unusual rock formation that I just had to get photos. It doesn’t look all that impressive this small, so click on the image to get a larger view with the crescent moon shaped rock layers. Very striking in person, the scale of the pass that was cut thru the rock face is huge, it makes you feel so tiny when you look up at it.

Well that’s all for today kids, I have more to share in the next post that will be all about the New York part of the trip with more photos! Including meeting Evil Julie and a close encounter with Justin Timberlake! Hope you guys are having a great weekend!

We were so tired when we got in last night, I think we both just collapsed into comas. Ally da Pup was certainly elated to see NY again, she sure perked up when we got into familiar territory. Right after we we crossed the George Washington Bridge she sensed we were close to home and got very excited. She had a very miserable trip, she does not like riding in a car at all and seemed to be mad at us the entire trip. LOL Poor dog, probably believes the entire purpose of the trip was for no other reason than to torture her senseless.

I’ll just have time to post a few highlights and of course meeting fellow blogging buddies is on the top of the list. Meeting Jules at La Madeleine Cafe and Bakery for breakfast was very cool and fun. It was great finally meeting her after reading her blog for so long. We didn’t have nearly enough time to hang out! She is very sweet and funny, and a lot quieter than I expected, though I think she was a bit nervous. Unfortunately, I was still half asleep when we met, so I know I wasn’t very talkative, however, she and Lisa got along famously and I mostly let them do the talking while I absorbed as much caffeine and food as I could.

Anyone that reads Jules regularly knows how irreverent and fun she can be on her blog so you’ll have to read her post to find out what I mean. She did unzip her pants for us though! Woohoo! Of course you’ll have to read her take on that! A very nice post! Hugs Jules!

We drove across Arkansas (nothing to see here except porn shops and 18 wheelers LOL) to Memphis where we were able to snag some awesome barbecue at the Rendevous, a ribs joint made more famous in a John Grisham novel, The Firm, take a short tour of the Graceland Mansion (70’s tack fest LOL) and browse the incredibly beautiful lobby of the famous Peabody Hotel in downtown. That’s the place famous for the ducks marching to the fountain in the center of the lobby twice a day. Unfortuately we missed the duck march but still enjoyed the visit.

Moving on we passed thru Nashville again and on up thru Kentucky where we marveled at the beauty of the Blue Grass Parkway scenery. West Virginia was next, another beautiful state, where we met up with the one and only Nanner Peach. Nanner and I met once before when she made a trip thru New Orleans back in March 2005 and we had a blast day tripping around the French Quarter. This time we went out to eat dinner with her and her son Nate at one of her favorite restaurants. OMG, we were stuffed and the food was very good. Nate is fun and lively and a good looking young man, takes after his mom!

After dinner we all went over to Nanner’s newly refurbished home. It’s looking great and is coming along nicely, the repairs look nearly complete! If you read her blog, you know her home was nearly completely destroyed in a fire in which most of her cats died. Very, very sad. Nanner is very soft spoken and smiles a lot and has always been one of my favorite blogging friends. I think she has met more fellow bloggers than anybody, we were mentally going over her list and I’m sure we counted more than 20 people!

Now that we’re back in NY and had a good night’s sleep we’re up and about planning what we’ll be doing in Manhattan for the next few days before I fly back to N.O. on Thursday. We’re trying to plan a meeting with Evil Julie, even though I’ve been here a few times before, we haven’t gotten together yet. That should be a lot of fun! We’re also planning a trip to the Museum of Natural History in Central Park, I’ve always wanted to go there. I’m a big fan of natural and human history and I’m really looking forward to it.

That’s all for now! You’ll also want to read Lisa’s update on the trip right here. Although I do have a few photos to post, I’m going to wait till I get back to N.O. and write another post about that stuff!

Does killing time damage eternity? And just how much time can you kill before the damage is permanent?

Would the universe exist if there was no one here to see it?

People believe that without a God we would have no purpose for being. I wonder if God would have a purpose if there were no beings.

Does God have a sense of humor? If he does, I’ll bet he’s into slapstick, how else could you explain the Three Stooges?

Anyway, finally it looks like something is on the verge of happening with getting the house repaired from the Katrina damage. Count it folks, that’s almost exactly 2 years since the hurricane and the house is still a shambles. Engineering people have come out and given the official okey-dokey and most of the paperwork has been signed off. It’s going to be interesting to see this 2 story brick home being raised 3 feet off the ground.

They claim that we can actually live in the house while it’s being done. Oh yeah, you know that’s going to be fun without any plumbing LOL Since it’s all under the foundation, it has to be disconnected during the raising. Hence, the FEMA trailer out front that has a shower and working fixtures… They claim the whole process will take less than 6 weeks, we shall see! I’ll definitely have photos!

I’ll be leaving in a few days to meet up with the lovely Lisa again for the return journey to NYC, more fun on the highway! I’m looking forward to it! This time I’ll be spending more time in Manhattan which is always fun. I love dining out there, we already have plans to revisit the Argentine restaurant we found. Unfortunately, my waistline is taking a serious beating! Gah!! I’ll definitely be on a serious diet when I get back, LOL.

Hope you guys are having a fun weekend!!