I was in the Big Apple Sunday and returned Monday evening. I traveled to NYC for a web strategy meeting that included our new client services VP and our division president. Yep, as I say at the Lounge - we was kickin' it wit' all the muckety mucks! I won't bore all y'all with the details, but the meeting went very well. Took awhile, but looks like we're finally getting some support and recognition for our little ol' web services team, which consists of Jimmy Joe Pete and myself.
I met up with ol' Jimmy Joe and his Mrs. on Sunday after my flight got in. They had traveled up together Friday for some R&R in the big city and to check in on a cousin in Hoboken, NJ. They stayed at the
Hudson Hotel, which is across the street from the Time Warner Center (TWC), or as Lazy Acres calls it "The Emerald City." I stayed at the Hudson once and called it quits. I believe I even
posted previously that the rooms are entirely too small.
This time around, it was the
Essex House for me - only three blocks from the TWC on Central Park South and they had recently re-done all the rooms. I didn't have a view, but had a spacious king-size accommodations complete with a couch and a flat-screen TV. The room also had motion-activated lighting that would come on when you entered the room or got out of bed. Strangely enough, I noticed that one of the lights turned on in the middle of the night. I looked and found no visitor that I could see, must be a ghost or a small creature. But I saw neither of these. Oh well.
So Sunday afternoon, I met up with Jimmy Joe and his Mrs. and we popped into Mickey Mantle's joint a few doors down from the Essex House for a couple brews. From there we took a taxi to what we here at the Lounge consider the mecca of steakhouses...
Smith & Wollensky's. We love Morton's, Shelley's and many others, but I don't know why, S&W has something about it. We had some wine at the bar before sitting down to eat and... like I even have to tell you that we paired the dinner with the
2003 Clos Du Val - Cabernet Sauvignon, an absolute Lounge fav when it comes to steak!
I figured with the meeting and our big presentation, Jimmy Joe and I would have some dinner and call it a night so we're sharp the next day. Our meeting wasn't until 2pm, but when you're in the home of all things Time Warner, you want to be your best. For the record, not to say we were not at our best and we got kudos all around, but I did not expect to be forging on to the bar at the Hudson Hotel post dinner. However, the only good thing about the Hudson is hanging out in the various lounges located there. Having a cocktail and people watching are great entertainment! You'll find everything there from the shiny happy well-to-dos down to the weird & wacky.
As I said, the next day went very well - so well in fact that we're likely to make more regularly scheduled visits to the "Emerald City" in the near future. Hopefully Lago can join me the next time I take a bite out of the Big Apple.
