New York, New York

            START spreadin' the news, I'm leaving today.  Well...not really, I left on the 3rd of January for New York City.  Bags packed, overcoats adorned, scarves tied, Alecia Goodwin and I boarded a Delta Commuter Jet bound for the frozen lands of Pennsylvania, home of our humble land-lord for a week, Bri Liebmann.  The trip was relatively uneventful, until we landed in Allentown, Pa.  After waiting 30 minutes for our luggage (and only receiving one bag, which held nothing but Alecia's pillow), we headed to the Delta counter where we were informed our luggage decided it didn't want to meet us in Allentown, but would rather fly to Chicago.  Not to worry said the Yankee-at-the-desk-who-couldn't-understand-a-word-we-said, our luggage would come in on a 5pm flight and be delivered to us within two hours.  Great!  8 o'clock rolls around and we still have no luggage.  After hours on the phone with Delta, we're told our luggage will be delivered to our house by midnight.  We celebrate with a midnight trip to Wal Mart, which is about the only thing to do in Allentown.  Midnight hits...no luggage.  

                    The next morning greets us with a phone call from Delta, our luggage is on its way.  Okay, so 7am today isn't 7pm yesterday, but that's okay, it'll be here within the hour...and Alecia can be reunited with her Chi Flat Iron.  8:30 rolls around...still no sign of our luggage-deliverer-in-shining-armor.  A phone call to the Delta Counter gets me on the phone with the same incompetent ticket agent from the day before.  "Well Mr. Horton, she's been held up, she hasn't left the airport yet but she should be leaving within the next hour, and it will take up to 4 hours to get to you from then."  After letting her know that wouldn't do and telling her just what I thought of their constant lies, she has the driver agree to go out of her way to drop off our luggage first.  It arrives by 10:30 via a butch-woman in a van.  I didn't tip her.

                    Then we hit Philadelphia for a day (well...not really...just went to the King of Prussia Mall...one of the largest in the USA...hoorah for capitalism).  After that, we drove to 'Jersey, threw our stuff down at the house we'd be staying at for a week, and headed for New York (after recieving directions for an HOUR from Ken Khouri, our host). "Go all the way, three lights, you can't turn left here."  How many times did we hear that, Alecia?  And how many times did Bri go repeat his directions so he'd know we understood?  "Yes Mr. Khouri, we know where your friggin' garage is...and we're not parking there." 

                    So...New York City for several days...detailed mostly in the pictures below.  You won't see our "Behind the scenes/on the set" tour of NBC because of copyright laws.  Suffice it to say, I stood on the SNL set and Conan O'Brian set...and in the band-section from Conan.  Jealous?  Eh...probably not.  The return trip was nice...until we landed in West Monroe.  What shows up?  The SAME bag that made it to Allentown, but where's the rest of our luggage?  Who knows...so we ended up waiting again to get our luggage...mine met me in Baton Rouge a day and a half later.  Friggin' Delta.

	Wall Street...narrower than I'd imagined	Alecia, Me, and Bri in Times Square...the first night in NYC
	Shot across Times Square...last night there...fighting Saturday night traffic. "Hey, we haven't gotten lost in the city once this week!"  (10 minutes later) "So, we missed the Lincoln Tunnel by 23 blocks, huh?"	Another shot of a New York street @ night...close to Times Square I think
	Me and Bri in a cab leaving the 21-Club for the New Amsterdam Theater for The Lion King	Alecia Goodwin and Bri Liebmann at our table, upstairs @ 21-Club.  $180 for the three of us...but it was worth it...
	Me at 21-Club...yeah I'm wearing suspenders...I was going for the Gordon Gekko look from Wall Street...haven't seen the movie?  Borrow my copy...almost makes me wanna be a stock trader...but then I remember I hate that kinda stuff	Me eating my roast pork, puree'd sweet potatoes, and sliced spice apples.
	Me eating my Crème Brulee with fresh fruit...best crème brulee I've ever had.  There's a lot of pics of me eating...I like food.	Alecia, Bri, and Me at 21-Club.  There's the infamous check on the table.  Yikes.
	Alecia and Me across the street from the New Amsterdam Theater.  We saw The Lion King, 2nd row, center stage...right behind the conductor.	Alecia and Bri outside the theater.  If you go to NYC, I recommend you attend The Lion King...get your tickets early and buy the best seats you can afford. Nice scarf Bri...is that merino wool?
	Me next to the big fountain in Central Park...NYC is great in the winter, all the snow, crisp breezes, only C-Parks kinda dull...	Alecia and Me in Central Park...if the picture weren't cropped you'd see the big "Do not walk on the grass" sign that we ignored...heh heh
	Alecia with her hands full in Central Park	Me outside The Rainbow Room at NBC
	Bri and Me on Bow Bridge...the famous Dakota is over my left shoulder	Me in Central Park...even in winter it was great...but I can only imagine what that walk is like mid-Spring
	Me leaving the Met...which was awesome.  I was a foot away from Degas, Monet, Manet, Seraut, and the rest...	Me at Rockefeller Plaza...smaller than it looks on TV.  Guess its true what they say, camera adds 10 pounds.
	Trump owns this one, and this one, and this one...me in Central Park...the Plaza (which Trump does actually own...) is almost dead center	Us outside of NBC studios in Rockefeller Center.  We got a private tour...but couldn't take pics on the sets b/c of copyright laws.  D*** lawyers.
	Alecia and Me overlooking the fountain from the pic above...	Bri and Alecia outside of Serendipity
	Alecia and Me on the Brooklyn Bridge.  We walked 1/2-way across...why walk all the way?  Brooklyn's overrated	The gang in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge.  The Empire State Building is in the horizon.
	Alecia was always slowing us down...(and Bri was always getting confused)...here we stop at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge for a shoestring break...	Bri and Me on the Brooklyn
	Us on our way to Philly and the King of Prussia Mall	Me paying a toll!  Woo hoo!  I hate tolls.  They're the devil.  We spent about $50 in tolls alone.  Parking was another $80 or so...
	Alecia and Bri outside the Empire State Building...yeah...you knew that...	Al playing with all the buttons in the elevator.  The plus side of going at night when its foggy...no waiting in line...
	The downside of going at night...uhm...its night.  Alecia, Bri, and Me at the top...where it was about 38 degrees with a windchill of -231.	View from the Empire State Building...the fog passed eventually...Chrysler Building is on the extreme right.
	Another view from the top	Me exiting the Empire State Bldg.  Wow...I look like a New Yorker!  Only when I opened my mouth...everyone got confused and kept asking me and Alecia to repeat ourselves.  New Yorkers don't speak Southern...
	Me and Alecia in Grand Central Terminal...it was snowing out that night...	The main wall in the foyer at the ESBldg.
	Me and Alecia on the Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty is in the background.  Alecia could spend $130 on a pair of 7-Jeans but couldn't spend $8 to actually GO to the Statue...this was as close as she and Bri would let me get...GRRRR.  So we rode the freebie ferry and stood outside taking mean cross-winds just to get a view...	Me eating one of many hotdogs.  This brand is the best...a Sabrett...which is a sign from God that hotdogs and me are soul mates.
	Me on the phone with Delta...the smile was for the camera...the rest of the time I was pissed off and hollering.  This was the first night in the Khouri's massive but antiquated Pocono Manor mansion.	Alecia and Me on Bow Bridge in Central Park
	Alecia and Bri @ Ground Zero.  You could actually look through the hole in the ground and see the Subway going by.	Me @ Ground Zero...just being there reinforces your severe disdain of anyone against the US.
	These beams and that piece of steel melted over it were found in the rubble and put on display...	New York City...I think this was from the Brooklyn Bridge...or maybe not...eh...I dunno I wasn't working the camera
	At Trinity Church...one of the oldest in the US (seen prominently in National Treasure)...eh, I cut myself outta this one.	Part of Strawberry Fields...the memorial to fallen Beatle John Lennon.  I had to explain who he was to Bri and Al...come on guys...THE BEATLES?