I heart new york cuz it's easy

I went to a tasty delicious Indiana restaurant tonight called "Mantra". A good friend of mine had her birthday party there. It was an intimate dinner party of 8. I was oh- about 2 hours late.

Why?

Because this restaurant- lovely as it was- was in New Jersey.

NEW JERSEY!!!!

I drove out there with crap directions from crap google maps, to a made up fake address from the crap restaurant web page. I swear to Jesus (as He was probably watching me and laughing as I drove around for 2 hours) that I drove nearly to the border of Canada and back. Eventually I just gave up following my "directions" and drove around aimlessly- thinking "oh this road looks like it might lead to a restaurant called "Mantra"- I'll just turn here."

And of course it didn't. And I'd eventually turn again at a junction that looked "familiar" (keeping in mind of course that I've never actually been to Jersey- so nothing could possibly under any circumstances look familiar unless perhaps I retained some memories of my previous life as a sewer raw who lived in new jersey and entertained young children by fulfilling a dream of working in a kitchen as a sous chef).

Finding nothing I recognized, I called my friend for help. She asked if I'd crossed the Washington bridge because they were 10 minutes away from it. I'd crossed it. About 1.5 hours earlier. Crossed it and almost looped back to it again. (The bridge was like a beacon beckoning me home with whispers of love "Sarah you don't want to be in New Jersey... lookit me- the bridge- I'm here. It's so easy for you to cross and come back home to the safe easy streets of New York City...") Since I was so close to said bridge it was easy to find her with the right directions.

I'm glad I persevered... I didn't let Jersey win. I found the restaurant, joined my friends for dinner. Had a good time before hauling ass back to the city. And at least the traffic was on my side (funny enough- not a lot of people heading INTO Jersey for a Saturday night).
And lest my friends think I didn't have a good time- I really did. It was good food and great company... well worth the journey.

I think next time I'll recommend a place in the city. : )