Friday, we headed to NYC.  I drove in around Lunch time, and Michelle met her friend Donna in Bethpage and made it in about an hour later.  We spend the day at the Met.  I had a chance to see the modern art section, something I usually skip.   However, thanks to my Paris experiences, I now have an appreciation for the Picasso's, the Matisse's, the Chagall's and the Dali's.  I didn't get a chance to make it to the second floor where I believe they have a DaVinci, but it was fun none the less.  

When Michelle and Donna arrived, we headed over to the Egyptian section, always a fun experience walking in and our of the tombs.   I decided to make a little theme photo shoot, and took pictures of cats and hybrid cats infused into the Egyptian culture.  That made it more fun since I probably seen that exhibit at least 5 times. 

We also had a chance to see the period rooms, always a good place to take Met first timers.  I think Michelle really loved the  seventeenth century French style decor.    After a quick tour through some of the armor, we headed to the gift shop and made it out about 5.   

Next I headed down to Times Square to meet Penny.   I recognized her immediately as she breezed by me in front of Toys R Us.  We talked for a couple of hours.  It was so wonderful to see her again.   She is a resident at a hospital in Mineola and lives in a studio apartment  in NYC in Murray Hill.  She of course hopes to one day work in the city when her residency is completed.   She decided to go into radiology, good field choice from what she explained.  Some day she may actually have much more free time than with some of the other practices.   She told me that Jeff is a Lawyer now and hoping to get into the D.A's office.  Her mom is still teaching skating and dad is still practicing law at his firm.    We talked for about 2 and a half hours before Donna and Michelle made it back. 

Dinner at Blu Fin.   At first I was hesitant about having dinner in the heart of Times Square.   As you would expect, its very much a touristy spot.   However I was pleasantly surprised the food was much better than I would have expected  for that location.  I had the halibut which was just a teeny bit overcooked but good. 

After dinner, Penny bid us farewell to get some sleep for her early morning call.  Michelle, Donna and I headed downtown to the meat packing district.  Apparently, the new hot spot in NYC.    We cabbed it down to 14th and 9th and sure enough it was crowded, clubs and people everywhere.    We headed for the Budda Bar, some place Donna heard about.   We didn't think we had much of a chance of getting in, but luckily the large party in front of us opted out, and once first it line, it wasn't very difficult to convince the door man to let us in.

The club it self was well decorated, and pretty posh.  We had a table right on the perimeter of what was a walk way that morphed into a dance floor as the night wore on.   We danced and drank, but I was the designated driver and planned to make it back to my hotel in Hauppague for a good nights sleep, so I kept it light. 

After a not so long trek to L.I, I made it to bed in my comfy hotel room by 6:30 AM.   Yikes not much sleep that night.

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