This trip to NY made me feel like a traveling food critic. I spent more time and money on the foods I ate than anything else and it was well worth it.
Day One- May 9th, 2012. Mega Bus. Our schedule: Depart Durham, NC at 11am arrive DC 4pm; arrive NYC 9pm. The bus ride itself was quite pleasant actually. Impossible to sleep, unless you're the type that can sleep anywhere. This means of transportation ended up being the least expensive (compared to flying, train, driving and parking in a lot and renting a car).http://us.megabus.com/ Camilo's friend, Mark, what a sweetheart, met us at the Bus in NY and after a short walk to his apartment we had about enough energy to chat for a little then c.r.a.s.h. (But not after some birthday celebratory drinks.) This was our first time meeting Mark and it felt like we'd known him forever. He fell in right at home, farts and all. All in all a very great first night.
An Empire State of Mind
Day Two- May 10th, 2012. Birthday! :) There's only one way to wake up on your 28th bday. With a vanilla iced latte from Starbucks and a walk in a park. I've got this little tacky tradition for my birthday when possible. Dating back to my 21st birthday: The Hard Rock Cafe. So we head to Time Square for lunch, what Mark, calls "A Visual Vomit." [It's the Twisted Mac n cheese I go for.] It's delicious and consistent no matter what country I get it in. http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/cafe.aspx?LocationID=99&MIBEnumID=3 We got pretty pooped quickly from walking block after block. (and the guys didn't enjoy waiting for me to get through all four floors of Forever 21 in Times Square.) We decided to head back fairly early and order NY style pizza for delivery and watched Clue (1985).
Goofing off in Toys r Us
Day Three- May 11th, 2012. Museums. Start the day with Starbucks again, a nice tradition. Then we make our way to the Museum of Sex. This museum is not for the frigid. http://www.museumofsex.com/ When you walk in (which you may or may not see in my collage video) you are allowed to mount a bicycle, that has a flesh colored, silicone you-know-what attached to the end. The bicycle acts as a motor if-you-know-what-I-mean. After passing many racy souvenir options you enter the actual museum. I have to say, it is pretty informative. A lot of history about sex in film and art. Believe it or not the only thing I had a hard time seeing was the reproduction of animals. It's just gross to me. I flew through it like a bat out of hell.
Showing off my new hat
"I can't emphasize enough how nice it is to be with my friends outside of school. Getting to see your raw personalities and not just as students"
"Um...Um.. AHAHAHHA... The world is an interesting place in the eyes of the big city. "
Best cookies!
I visited Alice's Tea Cup on my last trip to NYC and had such a great time with my friend, Jen, having tea and pastries. This time around I bought a stationary set I've had my eye on and a monstrous sized chocolate chip cookie. http://alicesteacup.com/ We get the brilliant idea to eat lunch in Central Park, on the menu: Halal. Which was our favorite word until we tried it. It was AMAZING! HALAL FTW!
@ the MOMA
We visited the MOMA while there was a special no admission fee going on. We spent hours in there and I know I didn't get to see but about 70%. What I did get to see was Diego Rivera, Jackson Pollock, Claude Monet, and Frida's work. Along with many new artists I've never heard of. http://www.moma.org/ Exhausted we head 'home' to rest and talk of dinner plans.. Indian maybe? The only thing I looked up to say in Indian: "BATH-ROOM KID-HAR HAI " Which translates to "Where is the bathroom?" Indian never actually worked out, instead Mark and his roommate, Lois, took us on a tour of St. Marks. We started off at Crift's Dogs, which is a dive bar that serves only hotdogs with any topping you want. I got the Chihuahua (sour cream and avocado) It was Amazingly tasty! Next stop: Pomme Frits, Belgian fries, where you get any flavor mayo you want. We got garlic mayo and pesto mayo. By then I was pretty stuffed so I skipped out on fro-yo. Still a great night in the city.
Crift Dog in St. Marks
Pomme Frits on church steps
Day Four May 12th, 2012- Endless walking. We started the day off with brunch at Penelope's with Bella. Worth the hour and a half wait. http://www.penelopenyc.com/ It was great catching up on the theatre side of life, I've somehow avoided it for the last year at school (even with drama & D&P students all over the place).
Mimosas and Belinis
In honor of my 28th bday
Trying to get to the freedom tower was a nightmare. It was the weekend so the subway line wasn't running normally. We stood on a platform waiting to go to the Freedom Tower for close to an hour. We gave up and headed to The Theatre District to meet Bella and Chris to attempt to get Book of Mormon tickets. Didn't happen. So we visited the High Line instead. http://www.thehighline.org/ It was BEAUTIFUL!!! I had to fight not to see the whole thing through my lens.
Sunset under the High Line
Craving Mac-n-cheese we walked for hours trying to find a couple of places that only serve it. We finally found Mac Bar in Soho. Delicioso! http://www.macbar.net/
Primavera Mac-n-cheese
I feel a little guilty that I somewhat, briefly forgot that pinkberry existed. We were crossing the street around Central Park and a bus passed like the parting of the Red Sea slowly revealing the pink and green polka dotted awning. I reached over and grabbed Camilo's collar in excitement. We needed food-food, so we skipped out on the pb for the moment, but went back later. :) Reunited and it feels so good..." http://www.pinkberry.com/ Please visit this site, it's fun and you can find one near you. You won't regret it!
Pink Berry
Day Five May 13th, 2012- Mother's Day
First of all let me wish my mom(s) a happy Mother's Day! Today started off with a nice (no wait) brunch in Long Island City with my dear friend, Brandon Whited! We walked around and went to his favorite jewelry store which were giving away free charm necklaces! (mine is below).
We then took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry to get a better look at the Statue of Liberty. Besides some crazy guy trying to start a conversation, the Ferry ride was really exhilarating!
Staten Island Ferry
We are on this kick to not eat the same thing so we decide on Sushi! At Nobi Japanese Restaurant. Everything was very tasty!
Day Six May 14th, 2012- Rain. On our own today we decided to start the day with Pizza for breakfast. We are becoming naturals on the subway system.
We made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a beautiful sight but I wish it didn't rain, I was worried about my camera but I still got some fun footage.
Brooklyn Bridge
On the Brooklyn Bridge
Wall St. Bull
We finally made it to the Freedom Tower. There is a memorial with two pools in honor of the two towers. http://www.911memorial.org/ It is a pretty powerful memorial considering it happened in our lifetime.
Freedom Tower
South Pool Memorial
Surviving Tree
Trinity Church
We took advantage of being on our own today to watch The Avengers (2012) in the city! It is definitely the best movie of 2012. It was exciting and adventurous and hilarious! What a treat to watch it take place in NYC while we were there. I haven't seen Thor (2011) or Hulk (2003) but I will soon. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/
Best Movie of 2012!!
To kill some time for Mark to get home we googled best cheesesteaks in NY and go to Shorty's which is conveniently located very close to where we were staying. The subs were to die for. We placed a togo order the sh*t was good. :)
There is roof access in Mark's building we didn't have access to during the beginning of our trip, but we finally got up tonight. It was really beautiful, even with a little rain.
Rooftop 30th st.
Day Six May 15th, 2012. Austin's Birthday!
This morning at Starbucks the barista remembered my order! It was an awesome feeling! We took our tasty beverages to a Crepes place up the road. On the menu: Apple Crisp Crepes.
Birthday Crepes!
It was a very rainy day but we hiked uptown to B&H, a massive photo/video supply store. I spent a little more than I needed to. But it was totally worth it and I only bought things I really needed.
Take one on The Museum of the Moving Image. Brandon Whited told us about a museum of film in Long Island City. We decided to try and make it there around 4, the museum closes at 5. We didn't actually make it. :(
So, Grand Central Station it is! It's a lot smaller than I remember. And it seems a lot smaller than movies make it seem.
Magnolia Bakery is a bakery I've heard about and wanted to try so we knocked out two birds with one stone. We ordered the white chocolate macadamia nut cheesecake with a cup of coffee. It was tasty! http://www.magnoliabakery.com/home.php
Magnolia Bakery in Grand Central Station!
Now finally, dinner. I had the best meal I've had in New York tonight. Beccohttp://becco-nyc.com/ I googled "best pasta in NYC" and according to Yelp!, Becco was 2nd. It received 4/5 stars with a $$$ sign. It was worth every penny and then some. Around 7:45pm (which I would consider a dinner rush), on Restaurant Row in Hell's Kitchen, we walked right in and were sat immediately. The server quickly greeted us with glasses of water and a basket of bread. My friend ordered the Antipasto Misto appetizer which was a Smorgy's Borge of wonderfulness! Octopus, caprese, grilled zucchini and things I can't even identify! Once our salad plates were wiped clean the dinner plates were replaced and we were on to our entrees: Sinfonia di Paste (all-you-can-eat pasta).
Becco All You Can Eat Pasta
3 different types of pasta (chef's special of the day) Tonight was Ziti marinara with basil; Fettuccine Bolognese, and 'Nude' Dumplings in a green sauce stuffed with spinach and ricotta. There was absolutely no room for dessert this night but....
Mark, Camilo, Alice and Lois made us a home made brownie cake for our b-days! Notice the little camera on the right?! How sweet!
Day Seven May 16th, 2012. Last Day.
East River Ferry is our choice of transportation to get to Long Island City.
Me and Mark on the Ferry
LIC Boardwalk
We started our last day by going to the Museum of the Moving Image. http://www.movingimage.us/Costumes, portraits, prosthetics and interactive sections made for such a fun afternoon. Below is a stop motion animation I created. I wish I knew I had access to more frames or this would have been longer.
Sex and the City 2 (2010) Make up from set
Winona Ryder's prosthetic legs from The Black Swan (2010)
Star Wars figurines from the 60s, 70s, and 80s
Goofing off in the Egyptian style theatre
We learned so much at this museum. If only we could just touch everything like the Mole lights and cameras. I was happy to know that I could take photos and shoot video just without a flash.
On our way to Jackson Heights
Mark and Camilo found a Colombian burger joint in Jackson Heights that was mmm...mmm...mmm... delicious! I got a hot dog with crumbled potato chips that tasted like they were soaked in pineapple juice, with ham and cheese and some grilled peppers under melted provolone cheese. Yes, a heart attack ready to happen.
Day Eight May 17th, 2012- Homeward Bound In preparations to make the ride home less sad and unbearable we pick up Cheesesteaks from our favorite Sub joint, Shorty's. Then head to Pinkberry to get some gelatness heaven for the wait for the bus. This was a great idea.
Mega Bus is not comfortable to try to sleep on, lemme be the first to say. Our ride to DC was at 1:15 am this morning. If it weren't for the Au Bon Pain at the Bus station I may have punched a baby. Instead I watched the finale to Smash as a farewell to the Big Apple.
This was a great trip that ended too soon it feels. I made some great new friends, saw places I've never seen before, ate food I've never eaten before and made memories I'll never forget. What more can you ask for out of a trip?
One of the nights we realized we were in the city.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more summer adventures, maybe not as entertaining as NY but I'll try not to disappoint.
