bobmacliberty

While in NYC, we stayed at The Michelangelo Hotel, per @George C's recommendation (thanks George!). We had booked a Junior Suite but upgraded to a One Bedroom Grand Suite when we checked in for an additional $110 per night. We had prepaid for the JS so we were really getting a GS for just $110...right? I like this girl math thing. The room was HUGE (800 sq ft) with a separate bedroom, 2 full bathrooms, and a large living room. I think it was bigger than many NYC apartments. While it was definitely more space than we needed, I really liked having the living room for when we'd be in our room for a while. Service was fantastic from everyone, the bed was very comfortable, and the location was really good. The only negative was that it was slightly dated. There were some ripped carpet seams and lots of scratches in the wooden floors and outlets. While very noticeable when we first arrived, that all blended into the background after a day or so. Untitled video (11).mp4

Unless you just want to walk to the ferry that goes to Water Island and spend the day at Honeymoon Beach. This is one of our preferred St. Thomas activities.

I grew up in Williamsville (Williamsville East HS). That's where my unfortunate die hard Bills fandom got permanently injected into my veins. I've often wished that I could root for another team but alas, I'm stuck with them for better or worse. At least I'm not a Browns fan. They've suffered far worse.

We got back from our NYC trip Sunday night. Played golf and watched the Bills game yesterday, and am sitting at home now while it rains here. Finally caught up on this thread. We had a great trip. The Billy Joel concert was incredible. His energy and his voice at 74...just amazing. The Book of Mormon was hilarious. Definitely a lot of adult content. We did a few other fun things while there and of course had some great food. Weather was pretty good...mostly in the 40s and even peaking up in the 50s, with some wind. Temps dropped on Sunday and the wind picked up, delaying our flight out of LGA for an hour. I watched 4 straight planes trying to land on runway 22 before having to do a go around right before touching down. They ended up closing that runway and had everything both landing and taking off on runway 31. I think there were 12 planes waiting in front of us to take off and we spent an extra 30 minutes taxiing. I'll separately post some pics and videos of the weekend.

Absolutely true. My nephew, who was in his teens, was dealing with cancer while Hasek was playing for the Sabres. Hasek met with him several times at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo while he was there being treated. He even arranged for my nephew to do a ceremonial puck drop before a Sabres game. From everything I've heard, he's a tremendous guy in addition to being one of the greatest goalies ever. My nephew is doing great now and is a pediatric oncologist.

Dogs playing in snow. Doesn't get much better than that. Looks like they're having a great time!

Congratulations to your daughters! Very impressive achievements. I don't even like to drive that far. 😁

I saw this one the other day, for people who are more US centric. In cased it's not obvious, that's Alaska, California, and Texas.

Thanks for this! I don't think we'll extend our stay but a drink at one of these places may be in order.

Full disclosure...I had to stop watching after Josh's 3rd turnover...the fumble at the end of the 3rd quarter. I can't handle it. He's going to give me a heart attack this year. Our flight back from NYC is on Sunday at 3:49pm. I wasn't at all thinking about playoffs when I booked. 😁 Hopefully, Delta will have Live TV turned on while we are waiting to take off, so that we can see the end of the game on the plane. My favorite video of the week showing Bills Mafia taking over Fort Lauderdale. It's on Twitter/X so looks like you'll need to follow the link to watch: https://x.com/BarMD5/status/1743749931406348294

Would you mind also shoveling all of Manhattan? I'd like to have no snow when we get there on Wednesday please. Thanks. 😜 The long term forecast looks good for us right now...Thursday and Friday should be in the mid 40s and sunny. I'll take it!

Long term is a relative term when being exposed to loud noise. My wife has her watch set to notify her when noise levels are more than 90 dBA. Ship venues would almost always set off the notification. From the CDC:

If you're looking for more Dad jokes to add to your dada base, try this YouTube channel. He's also on Instagram here. I also follow this Instagram account for daily+ dad jokes

I'm with Jimbo on this one. We have several of their TVs and have had good luck with them. Refrigerators are a completely different story. Never again. Add us to the list of Maytag users when it comes to washers and dryers. Edit: I wish more Meile appliances were more broadly available in the US. Love our Meile vacuum cleaner.

I've never flown Southwest. After seeing several things posted here about them, I don't think I really want to. I'll stay with Delta, even if it means paying a little more.

As an Ohio State fan, I'm legally required to root against Michigan. 😁 UW has embraced the fact that everyone thinks of them as underdogs (which they've been for the last 2 games). That should work well for them again. Still, I think this is Michigan's year. UW coaches still better warn their players about using personal iPads. 😜

So sorry to hear that JC. RIP Wellie. He was a good boy.

We usually go to whatever beach has the floating bar. It occassionally moves. We've seen it at both South Beach and whatever the beach is to the left of Coco Beach Club. We'll swim/wade out there once, maybe twice for a drink. It also makes for some interesting people watching. Not a good idea though if you prefer a more natural view.

I DO have no where to go and all day to get there. That's the beauty of being retired. But I still walk quickly. It drives Micheline crazy because she has short legs.

Never heard of him, although that's not a surprise. I fully support John in his efforts, but still not adding TicTok to my phone.

The best way is as a shot after the Buffalo Bills score a touchdown. 😁 Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey is the official whiskey of the Buffalo Bills

Thank you so much for this. All 3 look like great options...just the kind of places that we're looking for.

See you there!

We're also seeing The Book of Mormon and will go up to Summit One Vanderbilt. Since that's right Near Bryant Park and Grand Central, we'll check those out for a bit as well. Maybe get a drink at the Campbell Bar upstairs in Grand Central. Unfortunately, I think the Bryant Park Winter Village will be gone by the time we get there. Another day will probably be the 9/11 Memorial. Not sure yet what else we'll do...better figure that out this week. We'll need to play it a little bit by ear depending on weather, but the long range forecast right now looks pretty good in the 40s/50s. We only have one dinner reservation so far at La Masseria on West 48th. Friends here highly recommend it. I've also received a recommendation for Patsy's and Becco. I have a few Italian friends. 😁 Joe Allen is also on our radar. We may go to Ellen's Stardust Diner for fun since it's very close to the hotel. Definitely a bagel sandwich someplace for breakfast, a slice or two of pizza, and a black and white cookie. Any recommendations for any of those 3 near Times Square would be welcomed. I'd also be interested in any dinner recommendations near MSG. The concert starts at 8:00 and we'd want to be done eating by 7:00 to give ourselves plenty of time. Nothing too fancy.

Another ugly win, but a win. It's always fun watching with a lot of other Mafia. We had about 60 yesterday. Huge game next weekend. A win over the Dolphins gives the Bills the AFC East title and the 2 seed in the conference. A loss and they could still miss the playoffs. Crazy.