Road Trip Review Day 2: Hancock, New York City, Mystic

Our second day of the honeymoon was spent mostly in New York City after our wonderful breakfast at Hancock's friendly and cozy Circle E Diner. We had originally planned to catch a bus from New City into the Big Apple but realized that, given our plans, a direct trip into the city made much more sense. So we braved the New York drivers and found a parking garage with slightly-less-than-ridiculous rates. We decided to head to the city to see the Broadway play The Motherf**ker with the Hat starring Bobby Cannavale and Chris Rock (yes that Chris Rock). I saw Rock on one of Oprah's last episodes and really developed a great fondness for the man, his comedy, his wisdom, and his general outlook on life. I guess I'd been living in the dark because I really knew so little about him prior to this episode. Anyway he talked about the play on the show and I was intrigued. Mike's a bit of a theatre guy and a huge Chris Rock guy so he was also interested in seeing the foul-mouthed play. 

The show was held in the gorgeous Schoenfeld Theatre and was truly a joy to watch. Though the content was a bit more heavy than most Broadway patrons probably expect, it was extremely well-acted and, as always, came with some wonderful set design as well (I'm always pretty dazzled by the sets and their versatility!). The story is essentially one of two couples with a whole host of substance-abuse, communication, and relationship issues. Cannavale plays Jackie, a recovering addict in a volatile relationship with long-term cokehead girlfriend Veronica. Ralph D, portrayed by Chris Rock, is Jackie's AA sponsor who has his own load of problems with wife Victoria, though at first his life seems placid and smooth, especially in comparison to that of his sponsee. Jackie's cousin Julio rounds out this small cast and provides plenty of additional comic relief. It's definitely a heavy play but there are moments of levity all around (Rock isn't the only one with comedic timing in this bunch). I don't want to turn this post into a Broadway review so I'll end my commentary here, but it is definitely worth checking out if you're a theatre fan or an NYC dweller or visitor! And if you stick around after the show, you can meet the cast, including Mr. Rock, just like we did.

Following the play we ate at Mike's favorite, Five Napkin Burger. The restaurant has amazing burgers and spectacular food all around. Their burger selection isn't too vast but the burger menu items they offer have been absolutely perfected. Mike got a veggie burger that, to us both, may have even surpassed the real thing. I took a bit and almost forgot that it didn't contain a stitch of meat when I noticed the bright red color between the bun (which we think can be accounted to beets). We left full and satisfied and headed toward Connecticut. We ended the night in an affordable and luxurious (at least for our standards) Hampton Inn and Suites in Mystic, CT. The place offered a gym, an indoor pool, free hot breakfast, and white linens and towels (which plenty of motels fail to provide these days! I don't know why but black sheets and brown towels just sit funny with me). We felt like we were living in the lap of luxury for a mere $60 a night, so we enjoyed it for all it was worth. 

Excited about our stellar accommodations at Mystic's Hampton Inn!