You can't spell New York without "Fuck You"

Ms N and I took a trip to the City yesterday. We started with a little trip down to the Village for walking and such, then we picked up some cupcakes and went to her uncle's house in Brooklyn for barbecue chicken.

Note: Magnolia cupcakes are the best cupcakes in the entire world. There is a line to get into the store - it's worth the wait. Before you go in, it's easy to make fun of the fact that they have a guy manning the door. I mean, come on, he's a bouncer for a cupcake shop. But once you've eaten one of their products, you understand. It's confectionary crack.

After dinner with family and a dessert during which a knife fight almost broke out (those are addictive cupcakes), we went back into Manhatten for a nice, romantic walk through Battery Park and a ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

For those of you who don't know about it, the SIF runs from the southern tip of Manhatten out past Governor's Island, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, floating corpses of former people who ticked off the mafia, and the Verizano Bridge. Once you get to Staten Island, they give you a few minutes to get off the ferry and onto the next ferry back to Manhatten. The view approaching Manhatten is unbelievable. It's an amazing experience to share with your sweetie arm-in-arm.

Well, most nights. Last night we got hosed.

We arrived at the Manhatten terminal at 9:40 - just as a ferry was pulling out. The security guy at the gate said the next ferry was leaving at 10:30. Fortunately there were a lot of empty seats in the terminal, so we sat it out. The guy said that once we got to Staten Island we'd have about five minutes to get off the ferry and then go through the gate to get back on.

10:45 rolled around and they were finally ready to leave Manhatten. We got on the ferry out and, since it was late, decided to sit in a bench instead of taking in the full view. After all, the best view is coming in, not going out.

Of course, since there are always people who make the ride round-trip, they coordinate the ferries so that if one arrives late, the other waits.

Sorry. I had to throw in a joke there. This is New York. Our ferry arrived 15 minutes late. They held the return ferry 10 minutes late so it was loading up while we were pulling in. Just as we were stepping off our boat, the horn blew on the other one. It pulled out right as we got there. They claim that the horn is blown to alert other boats in the harbor that the ferry is pulling out. Bullfrog. That horn is there to say "fuck you, pendejos!" to all the people disembarking from the incoming ferry.

So, we grabbed $15 worth of snacks (I though ballparks were overpriced!) and hung out for an hour in the Staten Island terminal.

Keep in mind, it's now approaching midnight. I happen to think that the view of New York from the harbor is worth such a wait, so I wasn't worried at this point about the delay, even though I knew it would mean a crappy ride home - what, with the fighting off sleep and all. I was going to get that ride in with Ms N. It was worth the investment.

Oh, yeah, I forgot. I was in New York.

The midnight ferry is the short bus of the Staten Island Ferry System. It has no observation deck. If you want to see the city, you have to stand in a small section on the lower level in the very front, which was already jam packed by the time we found it. No view.

We finally left Manhatten around 1:00. Despite the best effort of two Red Bulls, I was still fighting off sleep by the time I got to my Turnpike exit.

Ms N, I had a wonderful time with you. I love you very, very much.

Managers of the Staten Island Ferry: no cupcakes for you. Bastards.