7.03.2012

NYC Pictorial Play-by-Play

This last weekend, we escaped the heat and power outages of DC for a short getaway to the slightly less intense heat of New York City. We've lived in DC nearly 7 years, and despite NYC being a relatively short, decidedly cheap bus ride away, this was only our third time to the city and only our second time to spend more than 12 hours there.

On this trip, we met up with our friends Rebecca and Andrew, who recently wed and were passing through NYC on their way back from a month-long jaunt in Nepal (culture shock much?), and were led around a bit by my lovely college friend Josh and his boyfriend Peter.  This time around, I got the opportunity to visit a few shops that have long been on my NYC to do list and just generally wander the Lower East Side, where we stayed, and, to some very small extent, Williamsburg, where Josh lives.

So, now, a pictorial play-by-play.
Friday Evening

NYC 1a
NYC 1b
After arriving just before 10 and dropping our bags, we got a late dinner at The Meatball Shop. Then, we had late drinks at d.b.a.

Saturday

NYC 2
We navigated ourselves to Williamsburg via subway (which I have to admit was pretty intimidating even for someone who uses a public transit system daily - although at some point this weekend, I declared DC's metro system as a Tyco version of NYC's - rounder edges, simpler, brighter colors, etc.).

NYC 3
After meeting up with Josh, we stopped by Blue Bottle Coffee Company.  They take coffee incredibly seriously.  It felt almost somber, in fact.  I've got to admit, though, that the New Orleans iced coffee (slightly sweet with a little whole milk) was about the best iced coffee I've ever had).  Then bagels from The Bagel Store.

NYC 4NYC 5aNYC 5b
We took a toasty little walk down to the pier on the Williamsburg waterfront and grabbed popsicles at Smorgasburg food market at the Brooklyn Flea.

NYC 6aNYC 6b
Then, over to Soho for a stop off at Kate's Paperie.  Oh, if I could have gotten some of those beautiful papers home without destroying them!

NYC 7aNYC 7b
I was pretty excited to visit Purl Soho next.  The last thing I need is more fabric, so I just got a pre-cut half yard as a souvenir of sorts and geeked out a bit to the cashier about loving their blog, the Purl Bee.  I might have even said something stupid like seeing the projects from the blog there in the shop was like seeing a movie star on the street.  It's okay.  You can judge me for that.  I'm sure she was.  Or maybe she found it incredibly charming...

NYC 8aNYC 8b
Then a couple of stops for Japenese goods at Uniqlo and Muji. Uniqlo is like a cheaper, less trashy, Japanese American Apparel.  Muji is sort of a random assortment of plain goods - paper goods, kitchen wares, travel accessories, toiletries, some apparel.  I walked out with a sleeve of colored markers, a key chain notepad, and some cat shaped sticky notes.  Yeah, I don't know.

NYC 9
A brief stop at Loreley for some pints and pretzels.

NYC 10aNYC 10b
Next, we headed towards the place we were staying on the Lower East Side to pick up some cupcakes from Sugar Sweet Sunshine (I highly recommend the strawberry) to enjoy on our balcony.

NYC 10c
Seriously, look at this balcony.  It's unheard of, right?  Michael's friend from college and his girlfriend were out of town for the weekend and oh-so generously offered us their place.  And their private balcony is like, no joke, 400 square feet.  My mind was blown.

NYC 11aNYC 11b
In celebration of Michael's birthday, Michael and I stepped it up for a shmancy Italian dinner at A Voce on Madison.  Truly delicious.  Truly indulgent.  I basically ate myself into oblivion over the course of the two and a half hour dinner.

NYC 12
Back to the LES for a couple of cocktails at Salt Bar.  Super nice bartender who let me try every cava and prosecco they offered.  

NYC 13
And then a short taxi ride to Williamsburg for a nightcap with Josh and Peter at
Lucky Dog, which was blasting a pretty wide time swath of country music - I can only assume ironically.


Sunday

NYC 14aNYC 14bNYC 14cNYC 14d
The next morning, we got ourselves some coffee and ridiculously good donuts from The Doughnut Plant.  I had the blueberry cake doughnut, and Michael indulged in a carrot cake doughnut and an orange blossom yeast doughnut.  All of them were amazing.

NYC 15
We did a tour at the Tenement Museum, which was really, really great.

NYC 16
I couldn't leave NYC having only had one bagel, so I got myself a snack from Kossar's Bialys.

NYC 17aNYC 17bNYC 17c
Then, we drug our sweaty selves to midtown for the sole purpose of visiting Fishs Eddy, which did not disappoint me.

NYC 18aNYC 18bNYC 18c
Finally, before leaving, we grabbed lunch at Schiller's Liquor Bar by our friend's place.  Michael got a ridiculously good Pimms cup, and I ate what felt like the best cheeseburger and friends I've ever had. (What I actually ate were fries, but I'm leaving the typo because it makes me laugh too hard.)  I might have just been dehydrated though.

NYC 19
Then, Megabus dragged our sad, exhausted butts back to DC.

Just for fun, in case you're interested, I made a map of all the places we hit up:

The longer I live in DC and the more times that I visit NYC, the more convinced I become that I would actually love living there, which shocks even me to say (after all, college friends were dubious that I - arguably least independent of many of my college friends - could handle the move even to DC).   Anyway, if you're into it, spending time there (outside Times Square) makes you understand in a half a second why people that live there think it's the center of the universe.  Concentrated blocks upon blocks of stuff to do at all hours.  And if you're creative at all, the inspiration is sort of endless.  It's the kind of place that could easily suck you in and never let you go - for better or worse.

What about you?  Do you like NYC?  Do you have any favorite places you like to visit there?
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6 comments:

  1. looks like such a fun weekend! i'm the opposite- i don't think i could ever live in nyc, but i love to visit. i think i would miss the green space and trees. i mean, if i could live across from the park, then yeah, count me in.

    i'll have to bookmark this- my sister and i are taking my mom (for her first time!) in october.

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  2. So much fun! It looks like you had great company! When you said you stopped by shops you have always wanted to I said "Purl Soho!!" to myself! I think I would have done the exact same as you, completely geeked out. Your comparison of movie stars and projects is right on. It looks like a fun trip. I would love to visit, but I think it would have to be a girls trip event. Nate is not into it.

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  3. Wow! It looks like you hit a lot of cool places. I'll have to keep this post for reference.

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  4. So, was the tenement museum worth the money? My brother and I almost planned a trip there when I visited in May, but we decided against it. Timmy has taken up pescetarianism, so he always introduces me to new vegetarian and fish options when we eat. A good trip to Whole Foods' "salad" bar is always good. He lives on the upper west side, and out on the main drag near his apt., there are several felafel and hummus places - all delicious. One hummus bar that I recommend is Nanoosh (nanoosh.com). There's a French wine and chocolate bar that we visited before we sneaked under the street into a speak easy - Ayzan Wine and Chocolate Bar (www.ayzanyc.com). The olive pate is to die for! Looks like you had fun. I haven't spent much time in Soho, but Midtown and the upper west and east sides are full of things to do and eat!

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  5. We are going in August, and the Tenement Museum is at the top of my very short list of things to do so far. I'm glad to get another good report on it!

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  6. I feel like I just watched a show on food network about places to eat in NYC!! haha! You made me hungry...

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