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It marks the start of the season in which people decide to come in droves to the Great City of the East. To visit us. Or to have an excuse for a free place to stay while they enjoy the Fall in the City. It's still up in the air.
Kyle Dragan was the first to come visit us this year. Maybe it was in September, but it was close enough. In case you don't know Kyle, just know that he's a great friends of ours, and that he currently is owned by me at running. You see, one of the main reasons that Kyle decided to hang out with us the last weekend of September was because of the 5th Avenue Mile, a race that I ran last year. Needless to say, we raced head-to-head, and I championed victoriously. Kyle, we love you, but you're just less of a person now. It's science.
We hung out the rest of the weekend, hitting up street fairs and local establishments, with a high point arriving late Sunday evening, as Kyle was preparing to leave for the airport. The mighty Bengals of Cincinnati did battle with the lowly Steel-workers of Pittsburgh. And what a struggle it was! The Bengals came through as victors, slaying the perennial victors of the Super Bowl and giving hope to a hopeless franchise. The Bengals bar we were at went nuts, with jumping and cheering and glee. (My prediction of the Bengals going to the Super Bowl STILL STANDS!!!)
The next round of visitors were none other than the Mayhaus family! Coming up to spend the weekend, they provided me with a perfect opportunity to take a Friday off of work! Surprisingly enough with all of our visitors, we hadn't had any family members stay with us in Apartment Awesome as of yet, so this was our chance to shine, and let New York's restaurants' do most of the talking. We got pretty lucky on the weather for the weekend - as you can tell from some of these pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, what a fantastic group of people and park! It must be nice to live 3 blocks away from that place. After spending a good solid day walking around the Upper West Side (nicknamed the Upper "Best" Side - get it?), we enjoyed the delicious tastes, smells, and sounds of Little Italy for dinner. Dinner was delish per usual. The night previous we ate at our favorite sushi place, which turned out great once again. I feel like I should start name-dropping these restaurants that we've been taking people to eat, because I feel like we could make some sponsorship money. For example, we took my parents and sister to eat at: "Sushi Mambo NYC!! Come for the best sushi and most authentic Saki this side of the Mason Dixon line! If you're looking for fun, food, and folly, look no further than New York's premier sushi restaurant! Sushiiiiiiiiiiii Mambo!!!!" Something like that.
We had a great time. It's always great to see family, and was enjoyable to hang out and try to relax a bit. Our apartment isn't huge by any means, but we made it work and I think everyone was happy with the arrangements. We spent Sunday eating crepes, going to church and chilling out before the fam's flight took off back to the Nasty Nati, home of the 2010 Super Bowl champion Cincinnati Bengals. The conversation ran deep, overturning new ideas, and provided laughs, drama, and fun for all involved. A great weekend. And my dad decided to do the whole thing all over again 2 weeks later! We were that good that he couldn't wait but two weeks! This time was spent more relaxing in the apartment, eating at different restaurants, and watching the Cincinnati Bearcats and Cincinnati Bengals dominate their respected opponents. Once again, a great weekend.
Right smack dab in the middle of October, Christine and I joined thousands of others around the City for the annual New York Cares Day event. Our church group was stationed in the Boogie-Bronx at a middle school needing new painting inside and outside the school. What came of the event was arguably the greatest and straightest playground lines that have probably ever seen the light of day.
We had a great time - even though it was roughly 45 degrees and we were slouched on the ground all day so our legs, back, and overall 'beings' hurt - and it was an awesome way to spend a Saturday morning/afternoon that would have otherwise been spent sleeping in, eating breakfast, and watching college football. I mean, who'd want to do that? Certainly not me....
Just look at the master artwork by Christine, now to be enjoyed by hundreds, if not billions of middle-schoolers in the Bronx!!!!!
Look at that fantastic looking group!!!!!!!!
Also, look forward to a November recap! And book your weekend now at Hotel Mayhaus! Availability is running out fast, so if you want a trip booked, do it now!!!!
