Suzy and I started out the day walking to DUMBO again, this time looking for Almondine Bakery. Sadly, even though their answering machine indicated that they would be open, there were in fact closed for vacation until September 3rd. So we went back to Jacques Torres again, where we sampled a tasty chocolate-filled donut. Fortified by that, we headed back home again before hopping on the subway.
We went to the Soho area of Manhattan to walk around and check out some shops, eventually making our way north to Washington Park (where we saw that famous archway, if only from a distance). We eventually got back on the subway and went to 23rd Street, looking for dinner.
We found what we were looking for at R.U.B., a barbecue joint. We started out with some tasty (though far too expensive it turned out) spiked lemonades while we looked over the menus. Suzy got a platter with pulled pork and ribs, while I tried the smoke brisket and sausage, both of us ordering the onion strings and BBQ baked beans for sides. The food was incredibly good, and there was a huge amount. We ended up taking enough pork and beef home to have a supper and a lunch with it.
We topped off the meal with deep-fried Oreos, which were okay, but (as is typical of restuarant desserts) they did not live up to the meal. That said, we'll definitely go back there, though we'll skip the pricey mixed drinks and the dessert -- and without those items, their prices are very reasonable, especially considering that we basically ended with with three meals worth of food!
Coney Island
After starting our long weekend off with nice quiet morning, Suzy and I decided to head for Coney Island in the afternoon.
We took the R Train subway for about 35 minutes, spotting the famous red metal parachute jump tower as we approached the shore. Once we got the Coney Island boardwalk, we were both immediately struck with just how, well, run down it all looked. It probably didn't help that we were there on a Friday afternoon, but there weren't a lot of people around, and a lot of the boardwalk-fronting shops and stalls were closed with metal shutters.
Still, we were there, it was a nice day, and the sun, sand, and surf were certainly cheering, even if the boardwalk seemed seedy. We grabbed a couple of hotdogs and fries from Nathan's, which were quite good, and then wandered into Astroland to look around. We walked past the ferris wheel and the kiddie rides and ended up in one of the midway arcades, where we played skeeball and some other other games, then traded our bounty of 117 tickets in for a "gold" plastic ring and a harmonica.
We walked out of the midway, and then out of Astroland, somewhat accidentally. It was a good mvoe though, as we happened across the Coney Island Sideshow, and for the bargain of $5 each, we went in to see the show. It was really fun, and definitely a one-of-a-kind experience. (Suzy remarked that she was glad we saw it, since she sort of feels like it will be gone soon, probably along with most fo the rest of the Coney Island experience, never to be seen again. She's probably right.)
There was: An MC who was a blockhead (shoved a drill in his nose -- we missed him nailing his head) and a juggler; a dreadlocked, tattoed girl who snapped pasta sticks out of a man's hand with a whip and ate fire; a snake charmer who danced with a 14-foot white boa; a sword-swallower / contortionist; and a "lobster boy" (a guy with only two fingers on each hand). With the exception of lobster boy (his act was mostly bad stand-up), it was all really cool, and occassionaly freaky. Definitely worth the admission.
After the sideshow, Suzy declared that we had to go on a ride to round out the experience. So we decided to go on the Cyclone, which is a wooden roller coaster first opened in 1927. It. Was. Insane. For the record, it was my first roller coaster ride. It may also be my last. Suzy said it was the scariest coaster she's ever been on. Despite all that, I'm glad we went, since it nicely rounded out our Coney Island day. (Granted, it rounded it out with white-knuckled terror, but I'm still glad.)
We took the R Train subway for about 35 minutes, spotting the famous red metal parachute jump tower as we approached the shore. Once we got the Coney Island boardwalk, we were both immediately struck with just how, well, run down it all looked. It probably didn't help that we were there on a Friday afternoon, but there weren't a lot of people around, and a lot of the boardwalk-fronting shops and stalls were closed with metal shutters.
Still, we were there, it was a nice day, and the sun, sand, and surf were certainly cheering, even if the boardwalk seemed seedy. We grabbed a couple of hotdogs and fries from Nathan's, which were quite good, and then wandered into Astroland to look around. We walked past the ferris wheel and the kiddie rides and ended up in one of the midway arcades, where we played skeeball and some other other games, then traded our bounty of 117 tickets in for a "gold" plastic ring and a harmonica.
We walked out of the midway, and then out of Astroland, somewhat accidentally. It was a good mvoe though, as we happened across the Coney Island Sideshow, and for the bargain of $5 each, we went in to see the show. It was really fun, and definitely a one-of-a-kind experience. (Suzy remarked that she was glad we saw it, since she sort of feels like it will be gone soon, probably along with most fo the rest of the Coney Island experience, never to be seen again. She's probably right.)
There was: An MC who was a blockhead (shoved a drill in his nose -- we missed him nailing his head) and a juggler; a dreadlocked, tattoed girl who snapped pasta sticks out of a man's hand with a whip and ate fire; a snake charmer who danced with a 14-foot white boa; a sword-swallower / contortionist; and a "lobster boy" (a guy with only two fingers on each hand). With the exception of lobster boy (his act was mostly bad stand-up), it was all really cool, and occassionaly freaky. Definitely worth the admission.
After the sideshow, Suzy declared that we had to go on a ride to round out the experience. So we decided to go on the Cyclone, which is a wooden roller coaster first opened in 1927. It. Was. Insane. For the record, it was my first roller coaster ride. It may also be my last. Suzy said it was the scariest coaster she's ever been on. Despite all that, I'm glad we went, since it nicely rounded out our Coney Island day. (Granted, it rounded it out with white-knuckled terror, but I'm still glad.)
Central Park, Nha Trang
After I started the day off with two hours at the laundromat (woo!), in the early afternoon, Suzy and I headed out for our big adventure of the day: Our first visit to Central Park!
We took the R train from Court & Montague, and traveled for about 30 minutes to the 5th Ave stop. As soon as we got out, we could see the trees towering over us, as well as the large, posh-looking apartment buildings that surround the park.
We walked in the park for about an hour, taking in sights like: some of the many ball fields; the 15-acre Sheep Meadow, which was full of sunbathers on towels and blankets; several carnival-like attractions for children with small rides; many face-painters and balloon-animal-makers; a little lake where people were rowing rowboats around, where we also saw some ducks and a swimming turtle; a large zoo (that we walked by but did not go into); and a huge number of people, a fair number of dogs, and lots of birds and squirrels.
Central park is really nice, and we'll be sure to go back again while the weather is still good, and bring our own blanket to lounge on. Maybe next time we'll get more than 1/4 of the way across it too...
After we got out of the park, we hopped back on the R, then got off at Union Square to go into the Virgin Megastore there so we could pick up the second season of The Wire. We also ended up getting the MST3K movie (I didn't know it was on DVD now!) and a copy of Watchmen for Suzy to read in advance of the movie.
We took the R again, getting off in Chinatown this time so we could go to Nha Trang, a Vietnamese restaurant, for some supper. We had two soups (basic chicken pho ga that was tasty, if plain, and a beef satee pho that was spicy and quite good) and a weird-but-good shrimp appetizer, along with a tasty porkchop dish on rice, and a soft shell crab dish that was really good. We took most of the two soups home with us after eating the rest.
It was fast, inexpensive, and really tasty. I didn't find the main dishes were quite as good those we've had from Lichee Nut in Brooklyn, but they were certainly good. The beef satee pho was my favourite though.
We took the R train from Court & Montague, and traveled for about 30 minutes to the 5th Ave stop. As soon as we got out, we could see the trees towering over us, as well as the large, posh-looking apartment buildings that surround the park.
We walked in the park for about an hour, taking in sights like: some of the many ball fields; the 15-acre Sheep Meadow, which was full of sunbathers on towels and blankets; several carnival-like attractions for children with small rides; many face-painters and balloon-animal-makers; a little lake where people were rowing rowboats around, where we also saw some ducks and a swimming turtle; a large zoo (that we walked by but did not go into); and a huge number of people, a fair number of dogs, and lots of birds and squirrels.
Central park is really nice, and we'll be sure to go back again while the weather is still good, and bring our own blanket to lounge on. Maybe next time we'll get more than 1/4 of the way across it too...
After we got out of the park, we hopped back on the R, then got off at Union Square to go into the Virgin Megastore there so we could pick up the second season of The Wire. We also ended up getting the MST3K movie (I didn't know it was on DVD now!) and a copy of Watchmen for Suzy to read in advance of the movie.
We took the R again, getting off in Chinatown this time so we could go to Nha Trang, a Vietnamese restaurant, for some supper. We had two soups (basic chicken pho ga that was tasty, if plain, and a beef satee pho that was spicy and quite good) and a weird-but-good shrimp appetizer, along with a tasty porkchop dish on rice, and a soft shell crab dish that was really good. We took most of the two soups home with us after eating the rest.
It was fast, inexpensive, and really tasty. I didn't find the main dishes were quite as good those we've had from Lichee Nut in Brooklyn, but they were certainly good. The beef satee pho was my favourite though.
Teresa's Restaurant, Jacques Torres, Saul
Today we started out by heading south on the #2 subway to the Prospect Park area, in order to find a weekend Weight Watchers meeting. We did our last lifetime check-ins just before we left Saint John, and there isn't much of August left, so we needed to find ourselves a WW scale.
We had no problems with the subway, but once we got to Grand Army Plaza, we did have some trouble finding the place. After a bit of walking in the wrong direction, a helpful doorman pointed us the right way. We got in, got weighed, and got out. Happily, both of us were well below the danger zone, even after the chaotic first couple of weeks in NYC when we ate out quite a few times. Woot!
We headed back to our neighbourhood, and after a bit of walking around, we went to a place called Teresa's Restaurant to get some breakfast. We ate outside, sitting at a little shaded table in the sidewalk cafe area. I enjoyed my breakfast of eggs, panfried hashbrowns, and Polish sausage, but Suzy's scrambled eggs were far from spectaclular, and we neither of us were very fond of the heavy, dry toast we got. We'll try somewhere else for breakfast next time we've got the urge.
After breakfast, we went for a walk into the DUMBO area (Down Under the Manhattan-Brooklyn Overpass) and ended up stopping in at Jacques Torres Chocolate. There we got a couple of cookies for later and a big ice cream sandwich for ... immediately. It was really good, though for my tastes it was a bit too chocolaty, with chocolate ice cream between two large, loaded chocolate chip cookies. They also have ones with strawberry ice cream, which I'll have to try sometime. Many years from now, once this one is out of my system. It was great, but huge, and the two of use couldn't quite finish it together.
We headed home, stopping outside a large dog park on the way to watch the critters run around and play. Once we got home, we basically crashed after our morning of walking combined with the sugar rush from Jacques Torres.
That night we went to Saul, a restaurant on Smith Street in Brooklyn. It was fantastic! They started us with a chilled cucumber soup, which was spicy (and, sorry Suzy, laced with tasty cilantro); it was quite good. For appetizers, Suzy had foie gras and I had hamachi, which is yellowtail sashimi; both were very good.
Suzy had the special, which was a trio of lamb: a small chop, a lamb sausage, and another tender cut (I can't remember what it was); they were very good, though the sausage didn't match the rest, really. I had a small steak, served with garlic "scented" (the new word for "flavoured" I suppose?) mashed potatoes and oyster mushrooms; it was incredibly good -- probably the best beef dish I've had.
Now, the really impressive thing about this restaurant was that the dessert actually matched up to the meal. Hurray! This hardly ever happens. Most places that do a fantastic meal often have mediocre desserts. Suzy had a mini chocolate cake with a small side of ice cream, which was very good, and I had the Baked Alaska, which is one of their signature dishes; it was really great -- coffee ice cream on a soft chocolate cookies base, with, of course, the merangue over top that was soft on the inside and just slightly crisp on the outside. Outstanding.
All-in-all, Saul was great, and is going to be somewhere we end up going again, for certain.
We had no problems with the subway, but once we got to Grand Army Plaza, we did have some trouble finding the place. After a bit of walking in the wrong direction, a helpful doorman pointed us the right way. We got in, got weighed, and got out. Happily, both of us were well below the danger zone, even after the chaotic first couple of weeks in NYC when we ate out quite a few times. Woot!
We headed back to our neighbourhood, and after a bit of walking around, we went to a place called Teresa's Restaurant to get some breakfast. We ate outside, sitting at a little shaded table in the sidewalk cafe area. I enjoyed my breakfast of eggs, panfried hashbrowns, and Polish sausage, but Suzy's scrambled eggs were far from spectaclular, and we neither of us were very fond of the heavy, dry toast we got. We'll try somewhere else for breakfast next time we've got the urge.
After breakfast, we went for a walk into the DUMBO area (Down Under the Manhattan-Brooklyn Overpass) and ended up stopping in at Jacques Torres Chocolate. There we got a couple of cookies for later and a big ice cream sandwich for ... immediately. It was really good, though for my tastes it was a bit too chocolaty, with chocolate ice cream between two large, loaded chocolate chip cookies. They also have ones with strawberry ice cream, which I'll have to try sometime. Many years from now, once this one is out of my system. It was great, but huge, and the two of use couldn't quite finish it together.
We headed home, stopping outside a large dog park on the way to watch the critters run around and play. Once we got home, we basically crashed after our morning of walking combined with the sugar rush from Jacques Torres.
That night we went to Saul, a restaurant on Smith Street in Brooklyn. It was fantastic! They started us with a chilled cucumber soup, which was spicy (and, sorry Suzy, laced with tasty cilantro); it was quite good. For appetizers, Suzy had foie gras and I had hamachi, which is yellowtail sashimi; both were very good.
Suzy had the special, which was a trio of lamb: a small chop, a lamb sausage, and another tender cut (I can't remember what it was); they were very good, though the sausage didn't match the rest, really. I had a small steak, served with garlic "scented" (the new word for "flavoured" I suppose?) mashed potatoes and oyster mushrooms; it was incredibly good -- probably the best beef dish I've had.
Now, the really impressive thing about this restaurant was that the dessert actually matched up to the meal. Hurray! This hardly ever happens. Most places that do a fantastic meal often have mediocre desserts. Suzy had a mini chocolate cake with a small side of ice cream, which was very good, and I had the Baked Alaska, which is one of their signature dishes; it was really great -- coffee ice cream on a soft chocolate cookies base, with, of course, the merangue over top that was soft on the inside and just slightly crisp on the outside. Outstanding.
All-in-all, Saul was great, and is going to be somewhere we end up going again, for certain.
Tropic Thunder
Just a quickie post to mention that we went to see Tropic Thunder at Cobble Hill Cinema, which is about nine or ten (short) blocks south of us. It's a cool little four or five screen movie theatre, with some nice, old-fashioned trappings. The non-stadium seating is almost weird though. Being so used to stadium seating, it seemed weird at first, but kind of nostalgic, to have all the seats basically on a flat floor, with the screen rising above us. It was a good movie experience, and we'll definitely see more shows there, especially with their $6.50 Tuesday and Thursday shows.
Tropic Thunder itself was quite funny. A good cast, with a lot of good gags. Definitely a ben Stiller style movie though, so be sure you like his comedy style. Stand-out performance: Tom Cruise. Awesome makeup and hilarious character work.
Tropic Thunder itself was quite funny. A good cast, with a lot of good gags. Definitely a ben Stiller style movie though, so be sure you like his comedy style. Stand-out performance: Tom Cruise. Awesome makeup and hilarious character work.
Shake Shack, Pineapple Express
Suzy and I ventured back to Madison Square Park, determined to brave the lineup so that we could sample the Shake Shack burgers.
Once we got there and hopped in the line, we were talking about the crazy line size and a guy infront of us turned and said "This is nothing. This is quiet for a weekend. It shouldn't even take us an hour to get our food."Suzy and I both laughed and I believe Suzy made some sort of comment about how ludicrous it was to wait to long for a burger.
We ended up talking to the guy, and his girlfriend who arrived a few minutes later, for most of the time we were in line. Not surprisingly, neither of them were from NYC, but they seemed to have been there for a few years at least, and recommended some other restaurants we should try.
Once we finally got the front of the line, we each ordered a burger and fries (cheese fries for me), and Suzy got a milkshake, while I got a lemonade. We found ourselves a table. We got our food about ten minutes later.
Summary: Meh. The burgers were certainly good, but nothing outstanding. Five Guys' burgers kick Shake Shack's butt. The fries were also not bad, but again, Five Guys' fries are so much better. All-in-all, I'm glad we tried the place out, but we'll just keep going to Five Guys for a burger fix and save ourselves an hour.
After the burgers, we hopped on the subway and headed for Times Square to hit the AMC theatre there so we could see a movie. We ended up watching Pineapple Express, which I really enjoyed. It wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny as some other Apatow/Seth Green movies, but both Green and Harry Osborne were really good in their roles. Plus, Gary Cole, so bonus. The theatre itself was nice, and huge. Something like 25 screens, over multiple floors. There weren't a lot of people there, given that it was a Sunday afternoon in the summer, so I'd imagine it would be a different experience if the place was packed on a Friday night.
Once we got there and hopped in the line, we were talking about the crazy line size and a guy infront of us turned and said "This is nothing. This is quiet for a weekend. It shouldn't even take us an hour to get our food."Suzy and I both laughed and I believe Suzy made some sort of comment about how ludicrous it was to wait to long for a burger.
We ended up talking to the guy, and his girlfriend who arrived a few minutes later, for most of the time we were in line. Not surprisingly, neither of them were from NYC, but they seemed to have been there for a few years at least, and recommended some other restaurants we should try.
Once we finally got the front of the line, we each ordered a burger and fries (cheese fries for me), and Suzy got a milkshake, while I got a lemonade. We found ourselves a table. We got our food about ten minutes later.
Summary: Meh. The burgers were certainly good, but nothing outstanding. Five Guys' burgers kick Shake Shack's butt. The fries were also not bad, but again, Five Guys' fries are so much better. All-in-all, I'm glad we tried the place out, but we'll just keep going to Five Guys for a burger fix and save ourselves an hour.
After the burgers, we hopped on the subway and headed for Times Square to hit the AMC theatre there so we could see a movie. We ended up watching Pineapple Express, which I really enjoyed. It wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny as some other Apatow/Seth Green movies, but both Green and Harry Osborne were really good in their roles. Plus, Gary Cole, so bonus. The theatre itself was nice, and huge. Something like 25 screens, over multiple floors. There weren't a lot of people there, given that it was a Sunday afternoon in the summer, so I'd imagine it would be a different experience if the place was packed on a Friday night.
Osage: August County, Flatiron Building
We started our day's adventures by taking the subway over to midtown near Broadway to visit the TKTS booth. Since we were seeking tickets for a non-musical, our line was small and moved quickly (though the whole place was pretty fast, it seemed).
We got matinee tickets for August: Osage County without any problems, and had about 45 minutes to grab a quick lunch and get into the theatre (which was nearby). We grabbed a couple of sandwiches from a Starbucks and eat them standing on the sidewalk outside, watching the throngs of tourists go by.
We hustled into the theatre and sat down. Again, much like the place where we saw Chicago, the firast thing that struck me was how small the theatre seemed compared to the Imperial. The second thing that struck me was how immense the set was! It basically half of the inside of a three-story house. The main area was at stage level, with a study, living room, and dining room, with no real walls between them, plus a kitchen in the back, and a porch off to one side. The mid level had a sort of sitting room and a rear exit to what looked like they would be bedrooms, and the top level was basically an attic bedroom. It was huge and incredible.
The play was phenomenal. Without a doubt the best thing I have ever seen on a stage. It was incredibly long, but I didn't feel like it wasted any of the time it took. Everyone in it was fantastic. I really enjoyed seeing Jim True-Frost, or "Prez" from The Wire, as Little Charles. I don't know why it's somehow cooler to see an actor that's known to me on stage, but it just is.
Once we got out of the theatre, we walked over to Times Square, practically fighting our way through the tourists -- yes, we've been in town two weeks and we're already natives, complaining about the damn tourists -- and popped in to the Virgin Megastore to scope out their extensive DVD selection. We ended up picking up a few cult horror movies for Suzy, and a copy of Clerks II for me (don't know why I never got that before).
We battled our way through the Times Square crowds again to get to the subway, which we took to Madison Square Park, down around 34th Street. We were crossing a street to the park from the subway stop when Suzy suddenly said "Look, it's the Flatiron building." And sure enough, it was. This was probably the single biggest "cool" moment spotting landmarks I've had yet; it was probably a combination of the fact that it's just a really neat, iconic bulding, and the fact that I wasn't expecting to see it.
We got over to the park and looked around for our destination: the Shake Shack. Supposedly a source of some of the best burgers in the city, the Shake Shack is also legendary for its big lines. The legends were true: there was a huge a line. We looked at the line, looked at each other, and opted to get back on the subway for Brooklyn so we could grab something simple for supper at a market near home. The Shake Shack would still be there tomorrow.
We got matinee tickets for August: Osage County without any problems, and had about 45 minutes to grab a quick lunch and get into the theatre (which was nearby). We grabbed a couple of sandwiches from a Starbucks and eat them standing on the sidewalk outside, watching the throngs of tourists go by.
We hustled into the theatre and sat down. Again, much like the place where we saw Chicago, the firast thing that struck me was how small the theatre seemed compared to the Imperial. The second thing that struck me was how immense the set was! It basically half of the inside of a three-story house. The main area was at stage level, with a study, living room, and dining room, with no real walls between them, plus a kitchen in the back, and a porch off to one side. The mid level had a sort of sitting room and a rear exit to what looked like they would be bedrooms, and the top level was basically an attic bedroom. It was huge and incredible.
The play was phenomenal. Without a doubt the best thing I have ever seen on a stage. It was incredibly long, but I didn't feel like it wasted any of the time it took. Everyone in it was fantastic. I really enjoyed seeing Jim True-Frost, or "Prez" from The Wire, as Little Charles. I don't know why it's somehow cooler to see an actor that's known to me on stage, but it just is.
Once we got out of the theatre, we walked over to Times Square, practically fighting our way through the tourists -- yes, we've been in town two weeks and we're already natives, complaining about the damn tourists -- and popped in to the Virgin Megastore to scope out their extensive DVD selection. We ended up picking up a few cult horror movies for Suzy, and a copy of Clerks II for me (don't know why I never got that before).
We battled our way through the Times Square crowds again to get to the subway, which we took to Madison Square Park, down around 34th Street. We were crossing a street to the park from the subway stop when Suzy suddenly said "Look, it's the Flatiron building." And sure enough, it was. This was probably the single biggest "cool" moment spotting landmarks I've had yet; it was probably a combination of the fact that it's just a really neat, iconic bulding, and the fact that I wasn't expecting to see it.
We got over to the park and looked around for our destination: the Shake Shack. Supposedly a source of some of the best burgers in the city, the Shake Shack is also legendary for its big lines. The legends were true: there was a huge a line. We looked at the line, looked at each other, and opted to get back on the subway for Brooklyn so we could grab something simple for supper at a market near home. The Shake Shack would still be there tomorrow.
Ikea, Lichee Nut
After my first two days commuting to work in Parsippany, I stayed at home this day so that I could go to the Brooklyn Social Security office, in order to apply for a SSN. The company needs me to get one, using my work visa and passport, in order for them to put me properly into the US pay and benefits system.
It only took about two hours, subway rides included, to go to the office, wait in line, and put the application through. Sadly, they apparently need to confirm my work visa (not sure why the card border security attached to my passport isn't proof enough, but whatever) so I didn't get a receipt with a new SSN right away. I'll have to wait for my info to show up in the mail at some point.
Anyhow, once my work day was over, Suzy and I headed to Borough Hall, the major subway hub near our place, and to wait for the Ikea bus. Yes, the Ikea bus. The new Ikea that recently opened in Brooklyn has a couple of buses that run constantly between Borough Hall and the store in Red Hook. Every 15 minutes, a bus arrives to whisk people away to an oasis of assemble-yourself furniture and storage gadgets.
We ended up just getting a few kitchen solutions to help us out with our lack of kitchen storage space: Some hanging wine glass racks, a magnetic knife rack, and some little metal buckets to hang on the wall that we ended up putting utensils in (yeah, our kitchen has no drawers -- weird).
Once we got back to Borough Hall, we wlaked over to Montague Street and stopped in at Lichee Nut, the Chinese retaurant we ordered from on the first night in town. We got take-out, and once again everthing was fantastic. Some of the best Chinese food I've had. That place is a keeper.
It only took about two hours, subway rides included, to go to the office, wait in line, and put the application through. Sadly, they apparently need to confirm my work visa (not sure why the card border security attached to my passport isn't proof enough, but whatever) so I didn't get a receipt with a new SSN right away. I'll have to wait for my info to show up in the mail at some point.
Anyhow, once my work day was over, Suzy and I headed to Borough Hall, the major subway hub near our place, and to wait for the Ikea bus. Yes, the Ikea bus. The new Ikea that recently opened in Brooklyn has a couple of buses that run constantly between Borough Hall and the store in Red Hook. Every 15 minutes, a bus arrives to whisk people away to an oasis of assemble-yourself furniture and storage gadgets.
We ended up just getting a few kitchen solutions to help us out with our lack of kitchen storage space: Some hanging wine glass racks, a magnetic knife rack, and some little metal buckets to hang on the wall that we ended up putting utensils in (yeah, our kitchen has no drawers -- weird).
Once we got back to Borough Hall, we wlaked over to Montague Street and stopped in at Lichee Nut, the Chinese retaurant we ordered from on the first night in town. We got take-out, and once again everthing was fantastic. Some of the best Chinese food I've had. That place is a keeper.
Day Two
We all slept in a bit on Monday morning, after a busy day on Sunday. Once we got going, it was afternoon before we got into Manhattan. We walked from the subway to Madison Avenue so that the ladies could check out some stores. On the way, gawked at soem buildings, especially the Empire State Building. We ended up stopping at a diner for lunch, but it was a rnadom choice so i can't remember what it was called. Too bad, since it was quite good. Everyone else had burgers, and I had a Reuben. Tasty!
Once we got to Madison Ave, Stew and I left the ladies to their shopping and headed for Midtown Comics, and wandered through there for a while checking stuff out. Stew picked a few things up, but I decided to pass -- I'm here for the long haul, so no reason to grab the first stuff I see, after all. We saw a bit of Time s Square after we left the shop too.
We walked back to meet up with Jenn and Suzy, and the four of us went to Macy's to look around. As Stew remarked, I now understand those old TV cliches like "Fourth floor: Men's Wear. Fifth Floor: Lingerie." etc. It's a huge store; it has nine floors of stuff, with (I believe) 4 floors of clothes for women. There is even a sort of annex in the basement where they have housewares, electronics, and more.
After Macy's, we hopped on the subway to Colombus Circle, as the restaurant where we had dinner reservations was located there. Once we checked on the restaurant location, he headed across the street to a large mall, where we once again broke into two groups. Stew and I checked out a Borders book store, a neat little shop that sold nothing but shaving supplies (badger hair brushes are the best, it seems) where I picked up a starter kit. It's actually quite good, and I find shaving much better with the stuff I got there, even using the same razors I always have...
We also checked out a cool Samsung demo "store". It was full of cellphones, TVs, and other Samsung prodcuts, even some prototypes. It was an interesting concept, but weird that they didn't seem to actually sell anything.
Once Stew and I met up with the ladies again, we headed over to the restaurant, which was located in Trump Tower. It's called Nougatine, and it's a sort of gourmet cafe attached to a parent restaurant (Jean Georges). I'll sum it up thusly: Good food, but not worth it. It was one of the most expensive places we've ever eaten, but it wasn't spectaular enough to live up to the cost. If it had been 2/3 to 1/2 the price, it would have been a great meal, but I ended up feeling ripped off. Oh well, it was a very nice time anyway, with great company.
After all the walking and lifting of furniture in over the past two days, we called it an early night after dinner and made the trip back to Brooklyn.
Once we got to Madison Ave, Stew and I left the ladies to their shopping and headed for Midtown Comics, and wandered through there for a while checking stuff out. Stew picked a few things up, but I decided to pass -- I'm here for the long haul, so no reason to grab the first stuff I see, after all. We saw a bit of Time s Square after we left the shop too.
We walked back to meet up with Jenn and Suzy, and the four of us went to Macy's to look around. As Stew remarked, I now understand those old TV cliches like "Fourth floor: Men's Wear. Fifth Floor: Lingerie." etc. It's a huge store; it has nine floors of stuff, with (I believe) 4 floors of clothes for women. There is even a sort of annex in the basement where they have housewares, electronics, and more.
After Macy's, we hopped on the subway to Colombus Circle, as the restaurant where we had dinner reservations was located there. Once we checked on the restaurant location, he headed across the street to a large mall, where we once again broke into two groups. Stew and I checked out a Borders book store, a neat little shop that sold nothing but shaving supplies (badger hair brushes are the best, it seems) where I picked up a starter kit. It's actually quite good, and I find shaving much better with the stuff I got there, even using the same razors I always have...
We also checked out a cool Samsung demo "store". It was full of cellphones, TVs, and other Samsung prodcuts, even some prototypes. It was an interesting concept, but weird that they didn't seem to actually sell anything.
Once Stew and I met up with the ladies again, we headed over to the restaurant, which was located in Trump Tower. It's called Nougatine, and it's a sort of gourmet cafe attached to a parent restaurant (Jean Georges). I'll sum it up thusly: Good food, but not worth it. It was one of the most expensive places we've ever eaten, but it wasn't spectaular enough to live up to the cost. If it had been 2/3 to 1/2 the price, it would have been a great meal, but I ended up feeling ripped off. Oh well, it was a very nice time anyway, with great company.
After all the walking and lifting of furniture in over the past two days, we called it an early night after dinner and made the trip back to Brooklyn.
Day One
We got up early-ish on this Sunday morning and headed out to a cafe on Montague that I forget the name of. It was pretty good, but not the best breakfast ever -- we probably won't go back there...
Once we got back to the apartment, we spent the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon unloading the U-Haul. It wasn't too bad, excpet for the few really big awkward items, like the couch and one of the bureaus. The biggest pain ended up being the box spring, of all things. It's very light, but unlike the mattress, it is entirely inflexible, and for a while we really thought that we weren't going to be able to get it up the last flight of stair at all. Finally, we unscrewed one of the support bracketts for the banisiter, pulled the banister aside and forced the box spring up.
Once we had everything in the apartment, Stew and I took the U-Haul back to the nearest depot while Suzy and Jenn cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, unpacked a few boxes, and went to the enarby Tru Value Hardware to get a new shower curtain rod.
Stew and I managed to get to the U-Haul depot without much trouble, and the truck return went smoothly, except that there turned out to be a parking ticket tucked into the hood that I hadn't noticed. It seems that you aren't supposed to leave a commercial vehicle on our street overnight. Oops. Oh well, it was worth the cost to have it parked across the street from our front door overnight for easy unloading in the morning. (Though you think that cop who moved his car might have mentioned it...)
Stew and I spent a good half-hour walking back to the apartment from the depot, and by the time we got back and got cleaned up, the four of us were running late for the dinner reservation we had made for an early supper before the show we were going to see that night.
Once we got into Manhattan, we went straight to the theatre to pick up the tickets we had ordered online, then went to the restaurant to see if we could still get in and out before the show.
At Ruby Foo's they had no trouble seating us right away, and we ended up having a nice Japanese meal there, including some good sushi. They were very quick for us too, and we had no trouble getting out of there well before showtime.
We walked down to the theatre and got in line for Chicago! Jenn was, understandably, quite excited as we shuffled toward the door. We got inside and the first thing that struck me about the theatre was how small it seemed! I guess I'm actually quite spoiled by the Imperial.
Our seats were good, only a few rows back, off to one side of the right aisle. Once the show began, I was surprised just how close we were -- the vast amounts of skin and toned muscles going back and forth across the stage was somewhat overwhelming at first. Those were some fit and sexy people, and they weren't wearing much...
Anyway, the show was great, all-around and we all really enjoyed ourselves.
Oh, and I should mention that Billy Flynn was played by none other than Luke Duke himself, Tom Wopat. He was quite good -- maybe not the greatest leading man ever in a musical, and perhaps a tad over-the-hill, but he's LUKE DUKE, so it was cool. Also, the guy who played Amos, Kevin Chamberlain (who is one of those "hey, I know that guy" character actors), was really good. His version of Mr. Cellophane was quite good too.
After the show, we met up with Stephen and Sandra, who were in town fort he weekend and at the show aas well, and the six of us went for a drink and abite to eat -- I don't remember the name of the place, but it was only a few blocks away from Broadway and it was a nice place.
After a few drinks and a lot of talking, S&S went back to their hotel, and the rest of us hopped back on the subway to Brooklyn. A long day, but a good one!
Once we got back to the apartment, we spent the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon unloading the U-Haul. It wasn't too bad, excpet for the few really big awkward items, like the couch and one of the bureaus. The biggest pain ended up being the box spring, of all things. It's very light, but unlike the mattress, it is entirely inflexible, and for a while we really thought that we weren't going to be able to get it up the last flight of stair at all. Finally, we unscrewed one of the support bracketts for the banisiter, pulled the banister aside and forced the box spring up.
Once we had everything in the apartment, Stew and I took the U-Haul back to the nearest depot while Suzy and Jenn cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, unpacked a few boxes, and went to the enarby Tru Value Hardware to get a new shower curtain rod.
Stew and I managed to get to the U-Haul depot without much trouble, and the truck return went smoothly, except that there turned out to be a parking ticket tucked into the hood that I hadn't noticed. It seems that you aren't supposed to leave a commercial vehicle on our street overnight. Oops. Oh well, it was worth the cost to have it parked across the street from our front door overnight for easy unloading in the morning. (Though you think that cop who moved his car might have mentioned it...)
Stew and I spent a good half-hour walking back to the apartment from the depot, and by the time we got back and got cleaned up, the four of us were running late for the dinner reservation we had made for an early supper before the show we were going to see that night.
Once we got into Manhattan, we went straight to the theatre to pick up the tickets we had ordered online, then went to the restaurant to see if we could still get in and out before the show.
At Ruby Foo's they had no trouble seating us right away, and we ended up having a nice Japanese meal there, including some good sushi. They were very quick for us too, and we had no trouble getting out of there well before showtime.
We walked down to the theatre and got in line for Chicago! Jenn was, understandably, quite excited as we shuffled toward the door. We got inside and the first thing that struck me about the theatre was how small it seemed! I guess I'm actually quite spoiled by the Imperial.
Our seats were good, only a few rows back, off to one side of the right aisle. Once the show began, I was surprised just how close we were -- the vast amounts of skin and toned muscles going back and forth across the stage was somewhat overwhelming at first. Those were some fit and sexy people, and they weren't wearing much...
Anyway, the show was great, all-around and we all really enjoyed ourselves.
Oh, and I should mention that Billy Flynn was played by none other than Luke Duke himself, Tom Wopat. He was quite good -- maybe not the greatest leading man ever in a musical, and perhaps a tad over-the-hill, but he's LUKE DUKE, so it was cool. Also, the guy who played Amos, Kevin Chamberlain (who is one of those "hey, I know that guy" character actors), was really good. His version of Mr. Cellophane was quite good too.
After the show, we met up with Stephen and Sandra, who were in town fort he weekend and at the show aas well, and the six of us went for a drink and abite to eat -- I don't remember the name of the place, but it was only a few blocks away from Broadway and it was a nice place.
After a few drinks and a lot of talking, S&S went back to their hotel, and the rest of us hopped back on the subway to Brooklyn. A long day, but a good one!
The Move
We left Saint John at around 7:30am AST, heading for the border at St. Stephen in a packed U-Haul, with two cats in their carriers. When we crossed the border, they x-rayed the truck, then we went into the office and signed a customs declaration form. We showed them our passports and visas, and then off we went, no fuss, no muss! Sweet.
We met Jenn and Stew at the Irving just before the Airliner, handed off the kitties, gassed up, and off we went.
The drive to Stamford CT, where Jenn and Stew were leaving their car, was mostly uneventful. We had a GPS unit I borrowed from Steve, plus Suzy and I had made the drive just a few weeks earlier when we went apartment hunting. The weather stayed mostly clear, and cats stayed quiet (I think their spirits had already been crushed after two days stuck in an unfamiliar laundry room). We made several stops along the way for gas and snacks, but made fairly good time, getting to Stamford at around 6pm EST, if I remember correctly.
Jenn and Stew parked their car in the large garage by Stamford Station, and we left them there to get the train into Grand Central, and Suzy, the kitties, and I reprogrammed the GPS for our new apartment and hit the road again.
It didn't take long for the driving to get pretty busy heading into the city. We weren't going into Manhattan at all, but even so, the traffic was nuts. It was getting dark and raining sporadically, but we were still doing okay until the GPS directed us onto a parkway.
See, parkways are special highways near NYC that are for passenger vehicles only. We didn not know this. We saw a coupe of saign indicating no commercial vehicles, but didn't think our U-Haul qualified. We were wrong apparently. A few minutes onto the parkway, and just after passing under a bridge that had only about five inches higher clearance than the truck, a guy drove alongside us and started honking like mad. He also yelled at us to "Get off the road! Get off!" Honk honk honk. Shout shout shout. So we got off the parkway.
He signalled us to pull over, and then jumped out of his car and ran back to shout some more. He wasn't angry, he was just really worked up. I guess our out-of-town stupidity was too much for him. He shouted that we were nuts, that we were lucky we didn't go under a low bridge and wreck the truck or decapitate ourselves, and that we were really lucky the cops didn't see us and ticket us into the poor house.
Anyway, he directed us to the right highway, at which point the GPS didn't try to kill us again, and we eventually (after more nervewracking driving through a thunderstorm and heavy traffic) made our way to our new neighbourhood. We picked up our keys, found a place to illegally park the truck, and took the cats up to the new apartment.
It was grossly hot and muggy inside, thanks to intense heat and post-thunderstorm moisture outside, but we were happy to be there. Jenn and Stew arrived shortly after us, fresh off the subway from Grand Central. Our first priority was to get the AC units we had into the apartment and turn them on. It improved immesely in there after that.
We lucked out and a police officer who lives nearby moved his car for us so that we could pull the U-Haul in and park it properly. We unloaded a few more things from the truck, but quickly began to flag; it was the end of a long day of driving, and it was so hot and sticky outside, plus the stairway in the building was also very hot.
We took a break and ordered some Chinese take-out froma place called Lichee Nut, thanks to the menu left on the fridge by the previous occupants (that menu, along with the free blinds in the main room, almost cancel out the terribly dirty state they left the place in...). It was absolutely fantastic food, and not just because we were exhausted and hungry.
Fortified by the food, Stew and I hauled the matresses and suitcases upstairs and we called it a night.
We met Jenn and Stew at the Irving just before the Airliner, handed off the kitties, gassed up, and off we went.
The drive to Stamford CT, where Jenn and Stew were leaving their car, was mostly uneventful. We had a GPS unit I borrowed from Steve, plus Suzy and I had made the drive just a few weeks earlier when we went apartment hunting. The weather stayed mostly clear, and cats stayed quiet (I think their spirits had already been crushed after two days stuck in an unfamiliar laundry room). We made several stops along the way for gas and snacks, but made fairly good time, getting to Stamford at around 6pm EST, if I remember correctly.
Jenn and Stew parked their car in the large garage by Stamford Station, and we left them there to get the train into Grand Central, and Suzy, the kitties, and I reprogrammed the GPS for our new apartment and hit the road again.
It didn't take long for the driving to get pretty busy heading into the city. We weren't going into Manhattan at all, but even so, the traffic was nuts. It was getting dark and raining sporadically, but we were still doing okay until the GPS directed us onto a parkway.
See, parkways are special highways near NYC that are for passenger vehicles only. We didn not know this. We saw a coupe of saign indicating no commercial vehicles, but didn't think our U-Haul qualified. We were wrong apparently. A few minutes onto the parkway, and just after passing under a bridge that had only about five inches higher clearance than the truck, a guy drove alongside us and started honking like mad. He also yelled at us to "Get off the road! Get off!" Honk honk honk. Shout shout shout. So we got off the parkway.
He signalled us to pull over, and then jumped out of his car and ran back to shout some more. He wasn't angry, he was just really worked up. I guess our out-of-town stupidity was too much for him. He shouted that we were nuts, that we were lucky we didn't go under a low bridge and wreck the truck or decapitate ourselves, and that we were really lucky the cops didn't see us and ticket us into the poor house.
Anyway, he directed us to the right highway, at which point the GPS didn't try to kill us again, and we eventually (after more nervewracking driving through a thunderstorm and heavy traffic) made our way to our new neighbourhood. We picked up our keys, found a place to illegally park the truck, and took the cats up to the new apartment.
It was grossly hot and muggy inside, thanks to intense heat and post-thunderstorm moisture outside, but we were happy to be there. Jenn and Stew arrived shortly after us, fresh off the subway from Grand Central. Our first priority was to get the AC units we had into the apartment and turn them on. It improved immesely in there after that.
We lucked out and a police officer who lives nearby moved his car for us so that we could pull the U-Haul in and park it properly. We unloaded a few more things from the truck, but quickly began to flag; it was the end of a long day of driving, and it was so hot and sticky outside, plus the stairway in the building was also very hot.
We took a break and ordered some Chinese take-out froma place called Lichee Nut, thanks to the menu left on the fridge by the previous occupants (that menu, along with the free blinds in the main room, almost cancel out the terribly dirty state they left the place in...). It was absolutely fantastic food, and not just because we were exhausted and hungry.
Fortified by the food, Stew and I hauled the matresses and suitcases upstairs and we called it a night.
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