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Day 4, 5, and 6.
I am writing all of this on the train back to Boston. New York was a blast. I saw a lot of awesome friends and met a few new awesome people.
Day 4
Friday, was pretty uneventful. I was working during the day until 6:00 or so and I spent some time walking around the West Village (see photo below of Waverly Place and Waverly Place).
My friend Shane came to town around 11:00 and I met up with him to crash with him at his hotel. We got something small to eat at an Irish place that was open late and then got it in our heads to wander around the Central Park area until 3:00 in the morning. Neither of us had anything to drink.
Here’s a photo of us cramming the hotel-provided cot into Shane’s already pretty small room:
Day 5
Saturday, we slept in until noon (probably because of the late night on Friday) and had breakfast at the hotel. At this point I explained my experiment to Shane.
Shane drinks very rarely - mostly when on vacation - so I was interested to get his perspective. He thought it was interesting and he didn’t offer his opinion one way or another as to whether he thought it was a bad idea. You can always count on Shane to just sort of roll with the punches.
He did observe that things hadn’t been very interesting yesterday and asked if I wanted to find something to drink today. I agreed that in the interest of science it was probably a good idea.
We decided to go to the Empire State Building and leave the drinking for later in the evening. The weather wasn’t so great on Saturday so we were turned away.
Both Shane and myself have an interest in card tricks, sleight of hand, and illusions, so we stopped by a store dealing in this called Fantasmo. We met a man named Magic who showed us a thing or two. After this, we headed to little Italy for some Italian food.
We finally made our way back towards Times Square where the hotel was and Shane declared that we needed dessert. TGI Friday’s seemed like a decent enough idea.
We both ordered an ice cream chocolate brownie dessert concoction and Shane suggested I try a strawberry daiquiri.
I called his manhood into question, as I’m told that those sorts of drinks are for girls only, but he countered that he was confident in himself and having something that doesn’t taste like gasoline can be refreshing sometimes.
Hard to argue with that. So Shane got a mojito and I got a strawberry daiquiri.
Doom:
I could barely taste the rum at all. It was like someone handed you a Slush Puppie with the vaguest hint of a secret ingredient but they aren’t telling what it was.
That seems extremely dangerous.
I decided that fruity drinks were bad news. This was quickly confirmed after I got a brain-freeze from taking a few sips too quickly.
I no longer question Shane’s choice. Real men like to get blasted like everyone else, and a fruit drink seems a great way to do this. It’s like fooling yourself into thinking you’re just having a nice dinner until you wake up the next day and don’t really want to even say the word strawberry. I think daiquiri is Cuban for “suicide”. Strawberry suicide doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, though.
I had a sip of Shane’s mojito, which tasted like a liquid sour patch kid. I don’t know why the Cubans seems to want to kill us all with sugary drinks but it seems like they’re doing an excellent job. Hats off to them!
Conclusion: If you immediately are reminded of candy or ice cream when you take a sip, you shouldn’t probably only have one.
I have to wonder if there’s a drink that one takes straight-up that doesn’t taste like WD-40. I shall continue to explore this.
Just like on Thursday, I got that dull ache in the back of my head after drinking the daiquiri. Does my noggin not like alcohol?
After finishing our desserts and drinks, we headed to the New York Comedy Club. Shane has a friend that knows the bartender, Rosa, so we were allowed inside early and treated like kings.
New York Comedy Club:
Rosa asked Shane what he wanted to drink and he asked if she had any flavored Vodka.
She grinned at him in what I thought was a sort of sadistic manner and started pulling items off the shelf behind her as she said “No, but you can have a margarita”.
Now, margarita’s are from Mexico and not Cuba, but it still sounded like bad news. Plus it has tequila and people have told me to avoid tequila more than even whiskey. Still, I was tempted. But I felt like I ate way too much ice cream and cake and my stomach wasn’t having any of it.
Rosa asked me what I wanted and I replied that a simple water would suffice. As she added items to the blender for the impending margaritas, she slid a bottle of water over to me and made a face at Shane as if to say “Is this kid for real?”
I think this was my first encounter with this. When getting the VIP treatment, is it impolite to decline a drink? Is it worse to decline a drink, or to accept it and not drink it or finish it? I’ll have to look into this more.
Drinking daiquiris will make you feel like this:
We spent the night there until 1AM or so and saw a lot of very funny comedians. I was hoping to work up the courage to try a margarita but my stomach was still angry at me for consuming the ~2000 calories of the ice cream and daiquiri. We thanked Rosa profusely for her hospitality and went on our way back to the hotel to get some sleep.
Day 6.
We slept in again, and decided that our main goal for the day was to go up Empire State Building. My train was leaving in the early evening, so we knew the day would be short. Most of the day was spent walking around the city.
I told Shane that if there was a bar at the top of the Observatory at the Empire State Building that I’d have to have a drink up there because it would be pretty cool. He agreed but was skeptical that they’d have a bar up there. He was unfortunately correct.
Here’s a photo of the Empire State Building lobby:
While in line for the observatory, we met the amazing Mark Zacharia - magician extraordinaire. He overheard Shane and I discussing card tricks and introduced himself. Mark was an extremely nice guy and he spent a lot of time in the line discussing various stuff with us. Shane and I later remarked on the odds of us ending up in the same line with such a man given the chain of events to put us in the line at that exact spot at that exact time. Pretty amazing. Maybe that’s magic in and of itself?
Mark had some great stories and tips and treated us as equals despite neither Shane nor myself being what either of us would even call an amateur. We parted ways after taking some notes on advice he suggested and then we both remarked that we’d be quite fortunate if all members of the magic community were this friendly and welcoming.
86th floor of the Empire State Building looking up to the spire:
After the Empire State Building we grabbed some food and headed back to the hotel to pick up my things and say farewell.
My trip to New York was truly excellent and I think it was a unique way to kick off the 30 days. I spent some time with friends I would otherwise not be able to see and got some good insight and advice on the world of bars and alcohol in a city that prides itself on both.
Now back to home in Boston, certainly no slouch in the drinking department as my Irish heritage will be quit to point out. What’s in store for the next 24 days?
I leave you with a photo of Times Square:
Frequently Asked Questions.
Are you going to drink every single day for 30 days?
God, no.
How do I contact you?
twitter: 30daysdrinking follow me and @ reply or direct message me.
email: christian [at symbol] 30daysofdrinking.com
Do your friends know about all this?
Yes. Some of them think it’s a terrible idea. Some of them think it’s a great idea.
You’ve never had anything to drink at all, ever, before this?
Nope
What will you do at the end of the 30 days?
I have no idea.
Do you have any vices at all? Smoking, drugs, etc?
I’d love to say women, but I’m not that suave. I have a weakness for cupcakes.
Are you single?
Yes.
How did you manage to go 30 years without drinking?
It never occurred to me. My friends have always been very accepting and low pressure. It was never forced on me.
Are you worried about becoming an alcoholic?
Sure, I think about it sometimes.
I’m thinking about doing the same thing. Do you have any advice for me?
Ask me again in 30 days.
Have a question or comment for me? Drop me a line and I’ll get back to you.
From the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building. 1,250 feet above the city. A drink here would be cool but alas, there is no bar.
Standing at the corner of Waverly Place and Waverly Place in the rain. I’m a lot more excited about this than I should be.
Day 3.
“Beer before liquor, never been sicker.
Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear”
This was the rhyme Heidi recited to me when I nervously asked if having whiskey as a first drink was a bad idea.
I arrived at Phil and Heidi’s place in the West Village at 9:30 or so. Phil and Heidi are old friends who lived in Seattle when I was there a few years ago. When Phil heard of my experiment he promptly contacted me offering his assistance.
Phil is a large, imposing man. The sort of guy you’d want sober in your corner when you’ve had too many drinks and bump into someone that takes offense. He’s from Connecticut so naturally we bonded over our East Coast heritage when we met in Seattle. It’s not easy finding a Patriots fan in Seattle.
Having been a bartender-on-the-fly for a few years, Phil decides to whip me up a mixed drink containing whiskey, of all things.
“So what are we making?” I ask as he starts mixing ingredients into a metal container.
“A variant on a whiskey ginger.”
I stop to consider.
“I was told to avoid whiskey”.
“Yeah, well, you know,” he laughs. “People will tell you lots of things.”
He pour the whiskey into the glass and looks at me.
“I would probably avoid people buying you shots of …well, anything.”
Duly noted.
I managed to get the ingredients out of Phil for a drink that he calls “a fancy whiskey ginger”. His concoction consists of:
Elder Flower liqueur
Whiskey - cheap local American single malt
Ginger beer
A dash of bitters
I especially enjoy the fact that I’m about drink something that contains “a dash of bitters”. It makes me feel like a sophisticated gentleman. Even though I’m about as sophisticated as a rock right now.
I take the drink and we move out onto the balcony which overlooks the West Village and has an amazing view of the Empire State Building, among other things. This is the kind of place I could see myself living. There’s a nice breeze coming off the water and I can hear sounds of people milling about below us.
The first sip is … interesting. I can take the ginger beer a lot, which is probably good. The whiskey is something I can only describe as harsh. It didn’t taste anything like I expected. I wasn’t sure how fast to drink it so I tried to keep an eye on Phil and drink mine slower than he’s drinking his. I figure he’s a bigger guy and has a better tolerance so I shouldn’t be downing my drink before him.
We start talking about boutique distilleries - a conversation brought on by the local whiskey in my drink - and how common locally made spirits are becoming. Phil surmised that he would be unlikely to find this particular whiskey again because of the sporadic nature of the boutique stuff he’s been buying.
After this, we moved onto the drinking age in America. A lot of people are surprised to find that my position on the subject is to lower the drinking age. We talked about Vermont and how they resisted raising the drinking age to 21 for so many years, and how kids in other countries with lower drinking ages don’t treat alcohol with the taboo sort of behavior we do here in America. The three of us posited that people would be more responsible adults if the drinking age was lower and they got it out of their system at a younger age.
I started to feel the drink effecting me a little bit. I got a dull throbbing in the back of my head which I hadn’t experienced before. I can only describe it as similar to a caffeine-withdrawal headache. My stomach started feeling odd - almost empty, which didn’t make sense as I just had dinner. I didn’t feel any different otherwise. When I got up to use the restroom I felt fine.
We finished our drinks and walked a few blocks to a new bar/restaurant called Joseph Leonard - a place named after the owner’s two grandfathers. It was small in a good way and we got seats at the bar pretty quickly. Everyone was friendly and even the owner came over to say hello.
I’m not sure how much of this is due to Phil being so gregarious and meeting people easily, but I felt like this was exactly what I’d been missing. I was hanging out in a bar in New York City flanked on either side by old friends and having conversation with the bartender, proprietor, and various other patrons. The ease with which we walked in and made new friends was impressive.
Heidi declared that I should try a white wine and they selected an Austrian wine off the menu called Schwarzbock Gruner Veltliner. That sure sounds exotic to me, so I agreed. The wine was a lot less harsh than the whiskey. After a few sips I felt like I could taste the fruit a bit when it hit my tongue. I did come to the conclusion that the alcohol taste was going to have to take some getting used to. I felt like I was swallowing something I shouldn’t be.
After about three quarters of a glass I got up to use the restroom and I could feel my balance was slightly off. It was almost as if my equilibrium was slower than normal, not reporting the changes in direction until a few moments after they’ve happened. I tried to look as casual as possible as I closed the door to the one-person restroom behind me and looked in the mirror.
I looked normal.
Was I drunk?
I thought about behind on a boat for a few hours in rough seas and then coming onto land. You feel like the boat is still moving below you and your body tries to compensate, which makes you feel a little odd walking around on dry land. This is very much what I was experiencing. I tried talking to myself a little bit and thinking of some hard things to see if my speech or mental capacities were limited but I felt completely fine.
In retrospect, I should have asked Phil and Heidi about it. I have no idea why I didn’t. Maybe I was just trying to fit in? I’ll have to keep an eye on this sort of thing in the future. Trying to fit in could get me into trouble if I’m not careful.
We stayed at Joseph Leonard for a little under two hours. Before I headed back to Brooklyn at 12:45ish.
Here’s a recap of the drinks of the night:
“Fancy” whiskey ginger at Phil’s
Glass of Austrian white wine
A taste of Heidi’s white wine
A taste of Phil’s white win
A drop of “the good stuff” - a single malt whiskey Phil ordered.
All in all I think it was a successful night. I made up for not doing much of anything for the first few days. On the train ride home I wondered if I’d feel terrible the next day. I was drinking a lot of water to offset the dehydration which is what most hangovers stem from. This morning I woke up feeling completely fine.
Tonight is Friday. What’s next in store for me?
