The flight into La Guardia is good once again. Midwest Express comes through on time yet again. No checked bags as usual, so straight to the curb for me. A friend picks me up and we head back to the Hotel on Rivington. This time I got hooked up with an even better room. I spent a little time on the phone with the reservation agents at the hotel to explain my situation and find a better solution. I ended up splitting my stay up into 2 different rooms. The first 3 nights were in a standard King room which was much more open and very nice. Then, for the last 2 nights, I got moved into a “Unique King” room that was gigantic by my standards. Now, I have even more glass to see even more of the New York City skyline from the 18th floor. Of course we have to make use of the room service with a room like that, not to mention a night of take out from Katz Deli to round out the trip. Oh and the bathroom was gigantic! The shower was all tiled with 3 shower heads and a built in seat at one end. The shift manager, James, was very helpful in getting me a shower chair. Again it was just the plastic foot stool of a chair, but I never even used it. The whole staff at the hotel was very helpful and friendly.

For the first night back in the city it is Coyote Ugly, of course, one last body shot with Maria. Kim, the manager, sat and drank with us for a while. It is always good, wholesome, family fun there.

One night out of the week I was there, we all headed down to Brighton Beach to the Odessa Restaurant which was great. There was such a spread of food - all different Russian dishes and a pretty good lounge singer in the background. There were a few guys that were Georgian dancers that had a blast on the dance floor all night long. One of them, Michel, came over and introduced himself to me as I sat at my table on the edge of the dance floor. He was so nice and even dedicated a song to me and “people in my condition” which I took as a very kind gesture.

To get into the restaurant you have to jump one pretty large step and you enter in at the bar with the restrooms to the back. The food and dance is on the second floor where they have a chair style stair lift to get me up there. Not the best but it works just fine for me. The restrooms are only on the first floor and rather small. It was a tight fit even for me, but I made it just fine. All in all the night was a blast. A must see in New York!

Not a whole lot to report on this trip, just a lot of sitting around the hotel and sleeping. After a week’s worth of fun and sights all over the city, it is off to Europe from JFK Airport.