As you may be aware, I was lucky enough to be nominated for a Division Reuben Award, and have just returned from an exciting trip to New York and New Jersey, USA. I was accompanied by my lovely wife, Ash. The children stayed with our parents, making this the best holiday we've had in years! I've split the trip up into three distinct parts. The first was five days in New York City, sightseeing. The second, The National Cartoonists Society's 64th Reuben Awards in Jersey City, New Jersey; and the third was our last day in Manhattan - a visit to the MAD Magazine office.

I can only imagine that looking at our holiday snaps is as exciting as, er... looking at someone's holiday snaps... so I'll keep them to a minimum. We managed to see most of the neighbourhoods, but only feel we scratched the surface. This is one amazing city. Being from Sydney, we thought we would be ready for it, but we weren't. The energy is intoxicating, and we were swept up with the city. While we didn't buy the t-shirt, we definitely *heart* NY.

Some highlights of our trip include:

Comedy club at Greenwich Village ~ Saw some excellent comedy. They know how to deal with hecklers there!

Kat's Delicatessan ~ We stumbled upon this accidentally, only to learn that it was where they filmed the famous restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally. (We needed a better guide book, I think.) Insanely crowded, and great deli food.

Lunch at the Society of Illustrators ~ Met up with illustrator and NCS board member Adrian Sinnott and his daughter, Dotti for a bite of lunch, only to find we were being joined by the legendary Stan Goldberg (Marvel & Archie artist and much more)! What fantastic guys. It was a great way to wile away a few hours and be surrounded by amazing artwork.

Coney Island ~ It was the Monday of the Memorial Long Weekend, and we were pretty much the only white people in this crazy, sweaty, jostling place. We caught the subway for over an hour through Brooklyn, and were ejected into this famous run-down amusement park, beach and boardwalk.

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That's it for the sightseeing. Next is Part Two...