Back From the Abyss: in a New York state of mind

After spending the weekend in NYC, this transplanted Bostonian and lifelong Stankee hater found he actually liked the Big Apple.

Incredible views like this one from the rooftop lounge atop our hotel was just one thing that made my trip more enjoyable than I'd expected

Before you all start to vilify me, it's not like I'm admitting that the powerful allure of iconic American landmarks like Times Square, Central Park and the Empire State Building converted this Boston born Sox Diehard into some kind of closeted wannabe New Yawker...

...but after the fam and I had such a fun, fast-paced and nearly profanity-free three days in the City That Doesn't Sleep, viewing many of the most famous structures and areas in the world while attending one of the best weddings in history, I was surprised to realize that I found the city whose sports teams have caused us Boston fans so much misery over the decades to be a...gulp...a...nice place to visit.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm about to hop aboard a jet airliner and trade in my blue cap with the red script "B" for a set of pinstripes or anything, but the actual city itself, as noisy, smelly, polluted and crowded as it is, is a great place to spend some time provided you have the right combination of factors in your favor such as hotel location, weather and a family member/ friend who lives in the city.

Thankfully my sister Melissa, she of the aforemen-tioned fantastic wedding (more coverage of that event will be posted on my other blog, TampaBayBostonian, sometime tomorrow) has lived in the city for years and she aided greatly in making sure we stayed at the right hotel (Shelburne Murray Hill- hip, contemporary, and favorably located yet relatively in-expensive), went to the right places that fit in with our short time frame (Empire St Bldg, Central Park) and steered clear of places that didn't (Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero.)

Check out where this store owner decided to place Mr. April's jersey-behind baby Matsui's!Classic!

In my efforts to avoid all the coverage of the two despised baseball teams in the region, which wasn't easy since they were playing another one of those silly Subway Series, as a result I didn't get to see much Red Sox action, either.

Saturday I went to the hotel bar to catch the Dice-K game on the plasma since it was on FOX, but the US Open was on instead, and when I asked if they would put the baseball game on, I got a curt "we're watching the golf" reply from a waiter. Alrighty then.

Sunday I saw none of the game since that was the day of the wedding, and yesterday I was "lucky" enough to catch a bit of the latest Schilling shellacking on the hotel TV before we went to dinner, and from what I saw (McCann's three-run homer, Schill with nothing), I'm glad I missed the rest.

So it looks like most of my prediction before I left came true-the Sox swept the Giants series-but thanks to Schilling my hopes of starting the long road trip off on a positive note did not come to fruition, and now it turns out he might be hurt. Great.

Oh well. At least the Sox still have the best record in baseball, and more importantly I survived my first foray into the devil's den with my sanity and senses intact.

I will try to get back up to speed with my Sox postings tomorrow, after I sleep off the effects of jet lag and late night jags, and I'm sure I will revisit this new found affinity I have for the city that harbors two of RSN's most loathed rivals.

The situation is so perplexing I may have to call in Dr. Melfi on this one; she's not doing anything these days.

Meeting legendary Letterman foil Rupert Gee was one of the many highlights of a great trip