Home Sweet Texas!

I'll fill you in on Saturdays events plus what I've done and have yet to do now that we're at home in Texas.

SATURDAY
We were renting an apartment for the week and Brad accidentally shorted us a night on our reservations. By the time he figured it out, the owner had already booked it for Saturday night. So we spent Friday night and Saturday morning packing. The USS Intrepid museum was about 3 1/2 blocks from the apartment so we got up a little early to roam around for an hour or so. That was a VERY impressive museum. Flight deck. The ins and outs of the decks of the ship. Multiple hands-on activities. And in 2009, they're re-opening the submarine.

We then took a taxi to the hotel we had for Saturday night. Checked in quickly then hopped on the subway to eat lunch with an old Aggie friend of mine. We stood in line in the 36 degree weather outside Carnegie deli for the famous pastrami and corned beef sandwiches. The boys got the famous ones, I got turkey. They were HUGE. A pound of meat, easily, stuffed between two pieces of bread that looked miniature next to the pile of protein. We had to order cheesecake, too...of course!

We then took a quick trip through Bloomingdale's before going back to the hotel to pick up our hockey tickets. We decided to walk to Madison Square Garden -- 60 blocks south and 6 blocks west. It was long. It was cold. But it was worth it. The city at night during Christmas really is beautiful.

We watched two periods of hockey before heading to McSorley's. One of the physicians I work with suggested this place and we had forgotten about it until said Aggie friend said it was his favorite place in NYC. It's a bar that was established in 1854. That's over 150 years!!! Lincoln, Poe and other famous people used to drink their ale here. They only serve two kinds of beer -- light and dark. Brad had a dark and because it was extremely crowded, we left early. The best story I was told about this place: There's a light fixture hanging above the bar that is covered in inches of dust. Hanging from it are several wishbones. Story goes that before WWI, soldiers visited McSorley's and hung their wishbones. Those that returned took theirs down...meaning those that are left represent the men that never came home. Visit www.mcsorleysnewyork.com for more history. You'll be glad you did!

Sunday was spent traveling back to Texas and stripping off coats as we did so. We spent last night opening gifts, hanging Christmas decorations and starting the laundry and cleaning process. Brad had to go back to work today but luckily, I have the next three days off to attempt to get this home of ours in decent shape!