On Friday morning, I was finally able to eschew the shackles of Starbucks and corporate pastry items and enjoy what I think might have been literally the world's greatest bagel from a bagel cart right at the corner of 15th and 8th Avenue outside of Ashley's apartment. It took me back to my days at the New York Philharmonic, except that then $2.25 for a bagel and a cup of coffee was sometimes an abominable amount and now I was super jazzed not to be paying twice that for half the amount of previously mentioned corporate pastries. Oh how things have changed, Manhattan.
Friday was my last day of conference sessions, and I got to see Daniel Glass speak during the CLE lunch keynote address. And actually, let's be more specific: I got to see Matt Pinfield interview Daniel Glass. (Daniel Glass is the founder of Glassnote Records, who are responsible for these guys. And also just recently signed this dude. And also I'm pretty sure don't have a single artist on their entire roster that I don't love. And also? I sure hope Daniel Glass is real. Because if he is, I have hope. I'm not even sure what for, but hope. HOPE. Lots of it.)
That afternoon I hit a day party and then headed back to Ashley's place to freshen up and put on my goin' out clothes before hitting some shows that night. As I promised them I would, I met up with the guys in the band whose set we'd missed Tuesday night to catch their final show of the week. After their set I headed to Piano's (with several of them in tow) to catch Memphis rapper Cities Aviv. Earlier in the day I'd tried to rally the Memphis contingent to come out and support him, but they got there a little after the set started and that place was worse than sardines. What would sardines say, if they wanted to tell you a place was really packed? That's how I would describe it. Whatever that is.
From Piano's we headed uptown to a random dive bar where I think the guys might have known the bartender, and where I'm 99 percent sure I was served a shot that was a disgusting combination of Slice and tequila. Yes. THIS STUFF. (Incidentally I recently learned that this might be "a thing." But apparently the thing is orange Kool-Aid and Patron. And while Slice may be a slight step up from Kool-Aid, this was definitely not Patron.)
That night I took (ballpark) five different cabs, elected not to eat at the cafe from When Harry Met Sally because I remembered at 3:45 a.m. that I don't like rye bread, had pizza around 4:15 a.m. and went to sleep around 6 a.m. when I remember hearing a garbage truck but not whether there was daylight yet. Some time in the definitely-not-brunch afternoon hours the next day, one of the guys in the band and I spent what can only be described as FOR-EV-ER walking around lower Manhattan in search of a place that would serve us breakfast foods. Eventually the situation became so dire that we decided that maybe we were actually dead, and this was eternal damnation -- our own specific version where we would be stuck, walking around Manhattan, searching for a place to have brunch at 4 in the afternoon FOR ALL ETERNITY.
Spoiler alert: I'm still alive. Also, we found brunch.
On my last night in New York, fittingly, I hooked back up with Emily (who'd been out of town for a few days) and we saw bands and danced and drank until 4 a.m., when she helped me load into a cab that took me to the airport for my 6 a.m. flight back to the South.
I came home exhausted, with my brain a mess of ideas and questions and what-ifs. I do love being in that city, y'all. But it's different on vacation. It's always different on vacation.
cheers,
elizabeth
Posts
