friday. mke-lga
after a long day at work we arrive the airport to find our flight is delayed in leaving due to fog in new york. the weather seemed to become a constant obstacle in our travels over the next few days.
flying into la guardia gave us some awesome views of the city as we were circling waiting to land.
we arrived about an hour and a half late due to the delay, but were in the city by about 9:15 thanks to a totally insane taxi driver. fast driving. hard breaking. sharp swerving. and it only cost $30 including tip.
our first taste of new york was sitting at 79th and 1st waiting for brian. as ever brian was to be our gracious host while we were staying in the city. to pass the time kai decided to start looking for the cash cab. alas. her search met a dead end. do you know how many cabs there are in nyc!
some food and then it was back to brian's. cigarettes. cigars. and an amazing view of the empire state building from the roof.
saturday. brown bagging milk in union square.
i love that you can walk in new york. sounds crazy. i know. but in milwaukee people look at you like you've got three heads when you tell them you actually like to walk. 10 mins from b's place and we're at cafe grumpy in chelsea. one of the first coffee shops i went to the first time i was in nyc. i love it for that. and because the coffee is really good. i hear that they're gonna be starting their own roasting operation soon. a sweet cappuccino. an iced americano. and some costa rica from the clover. all of them great and it was off to union square.
the saturday morning farmers market and craft fair. lots of really tasty local produce and some crazy people watching. one guy in particular was just kickin' it on a bench. talking to everybody walking past and drinking some weird bright purple booze from a brown paper bag.
we were in union square to meet up with my friend lizz and the stumptown crew. we were charged with assisting in the milk tasting for the new cafe. we had milk from four local dairies. and passed half gallons back and forth between us. trying to determine which was the best. we were also tasting baked goods from the city bakery. the pretzel croissant is amazing!
from union square it was up to the ace on 29th and broadway to look at the new cafe. and the new hotel. the ace nyc is just as good as the ace pdx. but bigger. much bigger.
the cafe is a construction site, but its gonna be so much fun when it opens.
more bakery sampling from a swank bakery on the upper east side. i couldn't tell if they didn't want a bunch of tattooed coffee kids sitting in their classy cafe, or if we didn't want to be sat in a posh cafe that didn't make us feel welcome. but whatever the reason, we took our swag to variety in williamsburg. one of stumptowns wholesale accounts and began an epic sampling. bakery. deserts. more milk, this time we were able to get one of the barista's to steam up some of those bad boys and make some cappuccinos.
after eating far too many baked goods we headed back into the city for some real food. again we found ourselves in union square. just chillin'. sitting on the steps. and talking shit.
chat n chew, just off the square was the perfect end to an awesome day. good food good friends good times.
sunday. a view from the bridge.
sunday was the day we decided to walk across the brooklyn bridge. headed for the other side of the east river and the brooklyn flea market. which is held under the bridge.
lots of cool stuff. jewlery. clothes. produce. great strawberries and cream popsicles. and sun. lots of sun.
also at the flea market was the first stumptown cafe in new york. a tent. some huge pots of boiling water on a gas burner. and a pour over station.
the confusion of the new york subway system. getting from the brooklyn bridge to williamsburg was interesting. two changes. three different lines. one hour later and we were in hipster central. north williamsburg.
some gumbo on a stoop with some new and old friends. laughing. joking. good times.
on our way back to the city kai and i got a call from brian, telling us he was doing a set at a comedy club just off time square. you see, brian has a day job to pay the bills. but also does stand-up. he seems to be doing pretty well. the weekend we were in town was supposed to be the only weekend he wasn't out doing a gig. but hey. somebody must have called in sick. and we finally got a chance to see him on stage. funny shit.
monday. can you dig it!
up early monday morning for brian to go to work. and kai and i were set loose on the streets on new york with backpacks and a flight to catch later that evening. some breakfast at the lyric diner. and then we headed off to coney island.
an hour on the F train and we were out of the insanity of 8 million people and into the relative peace of the atlantic ocean. the train ride made me think of the warriors. boppin' all night long to get back to coney... a cult classic.
the board walk. the cyclone. the wonder wheel. the ocean. old italian men fishing off the pier. and nathan's. the best hotdog ever. i don't know what they do to them. they look just like regular hotdogs. but they're amazing. i'd love to say i had one. but i couldn't stop and ended up eating three. kai said they also have a so so fish sandwich.
back on the F train. and back to williamsburg to hang out with amanda. williamsburg ranges from uber trendy hipster central. to old italian neighborhood. i think i prefer the old italian part. i'm just not enough of a hipster to fit in.
we decided to hit some of the neighborhoods coffee shops to pass our last few hours in new york.
el beit. a 49th parallel account. my cappuccino was kinda crappy. way too hot and sea foamy. kai had a good cortado. and the kenya i had from the clover was average. i really wanted to like the place. its a super cool little spot. but the major attitude from the guys behind the bar sealed the deal.
more walking around the hood. some thrift stores. and the beaner bar. "brooklyn's first euro-style mexican coffee shop".
what makes a euro style mexican coffee shop? i hear you cry. well. gaudy mexican decour. virgin mary's. day of the dead skulls. the whole 9 yards. a three cup pour over station. a three group ranchillio. intelligentsia coffee. a van's "off the wall" rubber welcome mat. and vegan tamales.
pretty good panama, el machete. so so cortado's. but the tamales were really good.
the sky suddenly filled with black clouds and the heavens opened. we were off to the airport. after some shady car services and major traffic we were back at la guardia.
another delayed flight. again because of the weather in new york. apparently the airports in nyc freak out over some rain. because after 20mins the rain had stopped but it took three hours to clear the back log of flights.
three extra hours in nyc isn't so bad. i guess
