NYC, the way after

Since this isn't a race report really, I'll start with some highlights of the way after of the VC100 and 50.

We always travel to NYC after big races.  Although this wasn't a 100 for George, it was a big event so we went per our usual ritual. 

Since we (I) had slept less the an hour in 24 hours, we got to NYC and got right out after checking in.  We headed where ever and found ourselves in the middle of an Italian Street Festival.  It semi-blew our minds.  From Italian we then rambled along the outskirts of China Town and Canal Street.  Along the way, we ate a $1.00 slice of pizza from 2 Brothers Pizza. Always fresh, always hot, always tasty.  We decided we would head back to the hotel, take a nap and head out later.  Being so exhausted, we slept until 3.  

Since we were in the city that never sleeps, we headed to a favorite restaurant, Empanada Mama's.  It's open 24 hours and difficult to get into during ''normal hours''.  This was AWESOME.  We rambled through NYC, Times Square like we owned it.  People were around, but hardly any.  We witnessed our first NYC rat, scampering past us in Times Square.  At the restaurant, George got a breakfast offering, I got full on empanadas, guac, plantains,  and a side of yellow rice.  While there, we had front row seats to some drunken after bar peeps who kept having fist fights.  It was our entertainment. It did make me a little nervous.  They were at outside seats, so luckily we were inside.  We also had espressos, so we were powered to keep going. 

At some point George headed back, I went off exploring, shopping and visiting GMA.  The days blended, and we walked tons.  While heading down from walking over the Brooklyn Bridge one of the days, NYC PD were heading up, someone was up there threatening to jump. I've heard tons of jokes over the years about such things, but this really saddened me.  The pedestrian path was then shut down, helicopters were overhead and the street traffic was outrageous as sirens abound.  We randomly walked into City Hall to use the bathroom.  Who knew there would be a line for marriage licenses and people waiting to be married.  It was so cool, I even shed a few tears as couples of all kinds were getting married.  I imagined this may be where they shot, Carrie and Mr. Big getting married. I more than totally loved this random experience.  Other highlights involved a trip to Chinatown in search of dumplings, fittingly dubbed, ''The DumplingTour.'' We found the best dumplings, being hand rolled by an older women, priced at an unimaginable 5 for $1.00, they were delish.  No celeb spotting, (except GMA celebs and guests) but walked through the hustle and bustle of the President's trip and motorcade throughout town that day.  I wanted to hang around the excitement, but we didn't.  We walked a ton of side streets and found tons of cool things. I was randomly selected to be interviewed by Billy on the Street.  It all happened so quick. I had no idea what was happening and answered the question about Katy Perry's cat's name wrong. I may be on an episode because I had to sign a release for it to be aired.  We randomly booked another night's stay, George has found that hotel prices drop drastically ''the day of.''  As with all things, our time ended and we headed home on Wed.  Along the trip, I found I LOVE DD Pumpkin Spice Coffee!  Yum, home delivery to Waterboro, ME please.

All and all, tons of fun after ''The Main Event''.  OK, I'll write about my actual experience in Virgil, NY and TMR race sightings of both the 100 and 50 later on.  I need to go for a run now!.

Keep Dreaming!