Warning! This is going to be a big one.

I spent Thanksgiving in Manhattan, NY with the wife, an old friend and his lady. The following is a crude photographic representation of the trip. We aren't really picture people, so there were a lot of times where we should have been shooting photos, but we just didn't think about using the camera. Something we need to work on :/

Anyway, Tuesday is our official anniversary we drove out to Vegas and stayed the night at Caesars Palace.

We flew out on Wednesday and arrived in JFK around 8 and took a cab to Cross's place. We decided to head out to dinner around 11 and they chose a nice little place in Hell's Kitchen called 44 & X. The food and drink there was exceptional. We headed over to a Hookah Bar and shared a hookah and some beverages. After that we went to a bar and closed it, then headed to a bar where Cross knew the owner called Commonground and he let us in afterhours. We didn't leave there until 4:30 or so and the owner was pretty cool.

Thursday morning we headed out to go check out the city and headed up to Rockefeller center and goof off in the tourist areas.

After a bit of walking the wife's feet started to hurt, so we went into a place called Tonic Bar in the Times Square area and had a couple drinks.

We headed back to Cross's place where he had prepared the best Thanksgiving Feast I've ever eaten. He made Turkey, Stuffing, Dressing, Gravy, Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Cranberry Sauce w/Grand Marnier, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans with Sliced and Toasted Almonds and had 8 different wines to choose from in addition to his usual bar. Cross and his lady invited 8 or so of their friends over to celebrate and we all had a good time.

Friday morning we went down to Ground Zero to check out the Trade Center area.

We then headed down to Battery Park to get a view of the Statue of Liberty. While we were there we ran into a Squirrel that wanted treats and a bird that wanted to be my best friend.

We headed home to change and get cleaned up for the night. We headed down to a little bar called East Side Bar Company which had a speakeasy feel. They had some great drinks that I've added to my repertoire. Here is a pic of Cross and his lady enjoying themselves.

After that we headed out to a Sushi restaurant and an underground Sake bar, then we ran into the Dessert Truck and had some treats.

After the desert truck we headed over to The Bowery Hotel Bar. The place was nice enough, but the people there weren't not my kind of people, so we left after a couple drinks.

Saturday we headed down to Chinatown for some Dim Sum. Chinatown was alright, but they Then we took a look around Little Italy, Soho, Greenwich Village, and the Empire State building. Chinatown was extremely annoying since you can't take a step without someone trying to sell you a fake purse or watch, but everywhere else was pleasant.

For Dinner we headed over to Barbone. The food there was great and the service was excellent. The smoking laws in NYC are pretty restrictive, so we were surprised when the waitress came over after we were finished and said we could smoke if we liked. I pulled out a couple cigars and we ordered another bottle of wine and enjoyed ourselves a little longer. After that we headed back to Commonground and finished up the night there.

Here is a pic of me teaching Cross how to blow smoke rings at Barbone. By the end he pretty much had it down.

Sunday we went to JFK and flew back to Vegas where we met up with my in-laws and spent another night hanging out in Vegas. We contemplated staying another night, but decided we had stayed away from home long enough, so we headed back :(

Edited:

Here is a pic of the bird. It was windy and he landed next to me on the bench, rested his head on my leg, then hopped up on my leg and I started saying, "get the camera, get the camera" when the wife moved for the camera he hopped onto the table and started checking her out. After I finished smoking my cigar the bird flew over to the trash can where I tossed the butt, then flew back to the table where we were sitting. It was a cute, but creepy little bird.

Here is a pic of me smoking at Barbone.