Drivin'

Just got back from a weekend in NYC visiting friends – it was so nice to have a change of pace, spend some time with old friends (and introduce them to Special K), and just generally chill out with a few beers and good company. The drive up was pretty easy (it was post-rush hour, which made life a lot happier), just a few snags in the usual places. I would *swear* to you that the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway) has been under construction for all of the eight years that I’ve been acquainted with it. And what’s more, it looks like the *same* construction, same orange and white barrels that some New Jersey drivers use for slalom practice, and the same road surface that feels like a rumble strip and doesn’t look as though it will really support the weight of the traffic carrying it over the boroughs. However, it always does and we rolled into Queens around 11:40. We rolled up to J&M’s apartment at 12:15, owing to the reality of attempting to find parking in that place at that hour. (One small thing in favor of the suburbs? Or, at least, the one where I live? Parking sans headaches. Of course, parking was also notoriously difficult in Madison, WI – the lovely city by the lakes that sometimes feels like a suburb. So really – it all depends.)

Saturday was a nice, leisurely day, the highlight of which was R.U.B. (which stands for Righteous Urban Barbecue. I would link to it, but since I’m not sure what will come up if I type “RUB New York City” into a search engine, I’ll leave the legwork to anyone who’s really that curious.). We all sat down and perused the menu, which mostly kept to the basics – a good sign at a barbecue place. After some hemming and hawing (and some tasty beer – the name of which eludes me at the moment), we decided to go with “A Taste of the Baron”, which should have been called “The Festival of Meat”. After we finished our appetizer of chili-cheese fries (I’m committed to watching my girlish figure, after all – it was the only thing besides the cole slaw and the sauce that contained vegetables), the waitress staggered over to our table, arms shaking slightly under the weight of a platter filled with the following: pulled pork, brisket, turkey, chicken, ham, pastrami, and a cup o’ slaw and cup o’ baked beans (which had huge chunks of salt pork in it). To say that it wasn’t a vegetarian paradise would be the understatement of the century, but it was just…so…good. J and I wussed out before Special K and M, they being far more dedicated than we. However, everyone got to try everything, and we managed to make a very respectable dent in the platter. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the city (one thing I very much love about cities is the walking and people watching), stopping for refreshments when we felt like it, and generally just having a mellow afternoon. We headed back out to J & M’s place, and relaxed with a movie and some awesome chicken dip (the recipe for which M just sent me…I can’t wait to try it!). Then we all confirmed that we are all old by passing out in front of the TV around 10 pm or so.

The next morning we went to a diner for breakfast, which was so very delicious. That’s the thing about the NY metro area that you don’t realize until you leave, or don’t appreciate until you’re there – diners are freaking awesome, and you don’t find real diners too far outside of NY. I don’t know why this is, and if anyone actually finds a good one in the DC area (Silver Diner, while tasty, doesn’t count – they try too hard, and the The Diner in Adams Morgan? Um, hardly – it’s too yuppified.), please, please, please let me know.

We sadly bid them adieu a little after waddling back to their apartment, post-brunch. The drive home was fine, we were accompanied by a friend of mine who needed a ride back to DC, so that was nice. Although, bad hostess that I am, I fell asleep for most of the ride. So many thanks to Special K for doing all of the driving on the way back.

Some friends are coming in this weekend for a trip we’ve been planning for a while, so that should be fun. My parents are all set to babysit (what with having had a wee bit of experience with little ones in their lifetime thus far), and I’m hoping the weather stays nice!

In the meantime, however, I’ve got a very long to-do list. Who wishes they were me???