A few years ago now, I made a list of things I hadn't done. The second item on that list was "left the country".
Well, today is my 30-and-one-half birthday, and next week I leave Australia's territorial waters for the first time. I'm spending 3 days on a junket in Austin, Texas for SXSW. Then I fly to JFK airport, New York — the city I've spent ten thousand words describing in various essays — and check into the Chelsea Hotel (yes, that one) on March 10th for ten nights.
On St Paddy's Day, I'll be drinking and singing in Boston.
But the rest of it? I haven't really planned anything. Being a free software advocate, I thought I might try open-sourcing my New York itinerary. Where should I go? What should I do?
I know this blog doesn't have a huge readership anymore, so this exercise might be a flop. But if you could, help me fill in the blanks. I probably need to finalise this by Saturday.
The plan so far:
Mar 10: Texas to NYC.
Mar 11:
Mar 12:
Mar 13:
Mar 14:
Mar 15:
Mar 16:
Mar 17: Lucky Star bus to Boston, 7am, St Paddy's Day (drinking venue suggestions welcomed)
Mar 18: Return to New York, 8am, and sleep
Mar 19:
Mar 20:
Mar 21: NYC to MEL.
Notes:
Joseph | 25 Feb 2008 | 7 comments
Topographic view
The qualifier
Two weeks with the apple and the lone star (illustrated).
Tue 26 Feb 2008, 3:33am Ianca
If you need somebody to drink with in NYC, my brother from another mother is out there, and I don't think you'll find a dull moment in the conversation that ensue with Carlitos Way.... lemme know
Tue 26 Feb 2008, 9:28am Virginia Murdoch
Gospel in Harlem on a Sunday morning; pretending to be Jewish and eating knishes on the LES; the Met followed by something from Zabar's (consumed in the Park); Shake Shack; the WTC site; the Tenement museum; MOMA; pretending to be Dylan (Bob or Thomas) in the West Village; various Shrines to Apple; John's (Bleecker Street?); Grimaldi's (Old Fulton, Brooklyn); something at the Bowery Ballroom and/or The Apollo; the Empire State Building; the Strand bookstore; all the public squares and gardens you stumble across; everything else.
Tue 26 Feb 2008, 10:48am Elizabeth Jones
Definitely MOMA - it will blow your mind - and the MOMA shop across the road has some very nifty things in it. Staten Island Ferry at night - all it costs is a subway token, from memory. Ground Zero (and the church beside it). Walk along the Hudson. Line up for half-price tickets to Broadway plays and musicals at the TKTS stand. Take big walks through Central Park - it really is huge. Empire State Building isn't that cheap, but it's worth it for the view. Ice-skate at the Rockefeller Center. Go to the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory - yummmmm. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge - it's free! Wander around Park Slope in Brooklyn and see if you can run into Paul Auster or Siri Hustvedt (and get their autographs for me if you do!) Visit the really skinny house in Greenwich Village (Bedford St, I think) where some famous people have lived. If you feel like doing a tour that's actually good, have a look at http://www.bigonion.com/ I did three of their tours and really enjoyed them. (Recommend the Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour!) Just wander through lots of neighborhoods - I did it for three and a half weeks and wasn't bored for a moment. Have a great time, Joseph!
Tue 26 Feb 2008, 11:05am Vincent
Catch a taping of the Daily Show/Colbert Report
Tue 26 Feb 2008, 9:03pm Andrew
Top of the Rock. Run around Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park. The Circle Line. Catch the train out to Montauk. Get on Todd P's mailing list and pay out hipsters on their own turf: www.toddpnyc.com/
(more to come)
Tue 26 Feb 2008, 11:57pm Joseph
I knew I could count on you guys.
Wed 27 Feb 2008, 12:36pm Virginia
Unfortunately Siri and Paul will be at fucking Readings when we're in Brooklyn. Bah.