new york city

After a few fun filled days in Westchester for work I was off to NYC on Sunday afternoon for a few days to relax between conferences. Sunday was St. Patrick's Day and all day long I wanted to be back in Cork and enjoying the day there with trad music and a pint of beamish. I had a wonderful St. Patrick's there in 2009 right before I left. I lived in Ireland for 2 years total - 19 months between 2007-2009 and then 4 months in 2005. But I was looking forward to going out with Suz and Meg this year!

So I took the train from Westchester and met Suz, Megan and other one of their friends Beth in midtown. They had been to a few other places before I met up with them, and the weirdest part was at this bar - The Perfect Pint we ran into 2 other girls we graduated high school from. What are the odds out of how many Irish bars in NYC for the 3 of us to run into 2 other girls from HS. We chatted for a few minutes and then escaped to another table - I haven't seen these girls in 10 years since we graduated.

Meg & Suz. I've known them both since 2nd grade and Suz was the first person I met when we moved to Green.

Meg was reserved - I was broken... Our table had a broken sign on it and we thought it was funny.

Suz, Meg and I

 So after we enjoyed a few pints and catching up around 9 we decided to head home. As the 3 of them had to work the next morning and well I was exhausted after the conference. But on the way home for stopped for a real Irish treat - a Shamrock Shake! It was delish! Suz and I just hung out chatting and finding a new gem of a show to watch. Myrtle Mannor on TLC. It is a "reality" show shot last summer at a trailer park in Myrtle Beach, SC. Absolutely hilarious!

So Monday morning I was off exploring the city. So my goal of the day was to visit some National Park Sites. There are a ton in NYC but a lot of them are closed on Mondays... Boo! But I did go to General Grant's Tomb up in Riverside Park! It was cold and gross out - but still fun. I did have a few NYC firsts - rode the bus system, lost my metro card I had just put money on and saw it snow and went all over Manhattan from

 125th to the Lower East Side. I also wanted to try to go to St. Paul's Church but it was up so far north - aka out of the city and I got a late start due to work taking longer in the morning than I expected. But I also did head to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum which I had been to before in 2009 with students and they are affiliated with the NPS system but not an official but they do have a park stamp. So I got it and walked around the area and while in the bookshop at the museum got all excited looking at the different books on Irish and Immigration History. I miss studying it so much! 

Grant's Tomb - I took better pictures on my real camera but don't have the cord and my work computer doesn't have the memory card slot. 

Julia Grant and Ulysses Grant's tombs and the awesome mural of Lee & Grant at Appomattox

And then after my adventures of going all over Manhattan I went and got a much deserved mani/pedi and then I met up with Suz for a great dinner and it was snowing like crazy and sticking! Here was a view from dinner - we went to this cute pub type place and with the candles and snow falling it looked so quaint in the middle of NYC! 

So Tuesday was my fun travel day. To go from NYC to Albany I had a layover in Dulles. So for 2 sunny hours I was back home in Virginia while I went from snowy NYC to an even snowier Albany where it was snowing when I landed yesterday evening. Love the crazy of a travel day - luckily no delays!

And now it is time to kick off another conference!