My First New York Street Fair

Today at work we had a booth set up at a street fair on Broadway. Mattie, my coworker, was born and raised in Manhattan and took me for a little walk on a quick break and gave me some NYC Street Fair pointers. Basically its like a midway, but there aren't rides, just vendors. They sell a variety of things; some on the hand-crafted side, others tacky. Mattie says all street fairs are exactly the same but that doesn't take away from how great they are. Street fairs also have fair food. New Yorkers love different fair food than I love. For one thing they all eat grilled corn on the cob. I'm not saying I don't love corn on the cob! Who doesn't!? But for every vendor of any kind in that fair, there was a second booth selling ears of grilled corn. Most of the people walking by were eating grilled corn. Mattie was very effusive about how great corn on the cob is and how exciting it is to have at street fairs and then bought an ear. I guess us southerners are just used to having corn on the cob all summer. It was kind of weird to me for sure. Mattie also got something from a pickle stand that was, allegedly, a 'New Pickle', but was in fact a cucumber with vinegar on it. Mattie said 'new pickles' are her favorite kind of pickle. Also New Yorkers are very excited about Zeppole, which is another kind of fried dough, but, as Mattie put it, so much more than fried dough. They have funnel cake and crepes too, but nobody was nearly as excited about that as zeppole. I heard about them all day. I had a corn dog. I wasn't feeling very adventurous. My mistake, as it wasn't nearly as good as Nathan's and I felt kinda gross after. The sun was very hot and the fair was crowded. I spent the rest of the day teaching little kids that wandered by the booth how to make a tissue paper flower.

Also today I noticed that New Yorkers all call those inflatable jumping structures 'Bouncy Houses' while I grew up calling them 'Moon Bounce'. I thought this was a regionalism but I'm not sure now. What do you call them?

One thing they didn't have at the street fair were fly swatters. I sure could use one! Its hot tonight and I have my windows open. There's a fly buzzing around my room. Earlier tonight I had my fire escape window open, with the curtain closed and someone went up the fire escape! That's not really allowed and I'm very curious as to what that person was up to. Shortly after I closed and locked the window whoever it was came back down. Weird! I have my hammer though.

WONDER WHEEL!!!

The day finally arrived! Yesterday I got to ride the Wonder Wheel. It was no disappointment.

Laura, Rachel and I took the Q to Coney Island yesterday afternoon. The weather was beautiful and sunny and breezy when we stepped off the train. We headed straight for the Wonder Wheel. I have been waiting SO long to ride the most famous Ferris Wheel in the world. The Wonder Wheel has two kinds of cars on it: the white ones are stationary, as it were, and will give you a standard ferris wheel ride. The red and blue cars run along a track and rock and swing, like beads on a bicycle wheels spokes. Of course we got moving cars. It was so fun. The ride was so pleasant and the moving car was exciting but not scary. I am over the moon for that ride.

Laura and Rachel on their way in!

I have my ticket!

Fun!

View from the Wonder Wheel

Afterward we headed to Nathan's for lunch and then to the Cyclone, Coney Island's other famous ride. The Cyclone is a 100 year old wooden coaster, but you wouldn't know it from the ride. It was 20 times smoother than the wooden coasters at Kings Dominion, and a more thrilling ride to boot. When you get to the end you don't have to get off if you want a second ride, you just hand them cash so we rode twice and both times were great fun.

Next we headed to the boardwalk for some cold beers. We walked along the boardwalk with our beer in cups and stopped to watch 'People Loving Music Loving People' which seemed promising at first as it was public dancing on the boardwalk, but upon closer inspection, was creepy middle-aged people dancing to techno in broad daylight. Then we went down to the shoreline so Rachel could put her toes in the ocean.

Toward late afternoon we decided to try and find a bar that had a television in it so we could watch the Kentucky Derby. None of the places on the boardwalk had tvs (there's no need at all, you must experience the people watching at Coney Island someday) so we headed inland a couple blocks trying to find a neighborhood place to watch. We didn't find any bars but we did see an off-track betting shop. I was nervous at first but Laura once worked at a betting shop in England and lead us in. What a terrific idea! What better place to cheer for your horse than the place where people REALLY care about the results. We all picked horses to win and stood among the various gamblers watching the beginnings of the race. I tried to sing My Old Kentucky Home but only know some parts, even though its my favorite part of the whole tradition. Then they were off and we were cheering and it was a lot of fun. None of us picked Super Saver so it was for the best that we hadn't bet in the heat of the moment there in the betting shop.

Now the sun had set and the ocean breezes were getting to be a bit much. We headed to a gift shop and all bought Brooklyn sweatshirts for the rest of the evening. We headed back to the boardwalk to check out some Coney Island microbrews at Beer Island. We sat in the outdoor sandbar at Beer Island drinking our Coney Island Lagers and enjoying the juke box until it was dark and all the lights of Coney Island were twinkling. We decided to head to 773 for the rest of the evening.

Reppin Brooklyn

I can't wait to go back and do it again. I'm so glad I live close by. I love Coney Island very much.

VIP at the Dodgers - Mets Game

Wow, I didn't mean to go a quite so long with no posting. I've been working a lot lately and let my blog slip. Sorry. Luckily the adventures continue so you shouldn't be too disappointed with what I have to tell you about today.



Laura has a lot of cousins all very close in age. Her family has an Irish branch, a German branch and a Ukrainian branch and they seem to be all over the place. Anyway, one of Laura's second cousins is James Loney who plays first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I'll give you a moment to click the wikipedia link and go and see Laura's legitimately famous cousin's wiki page. Cool, isn't it? So this week the Dodgers played the Mets in a three-game series at the new Citi Field. Because most of the Ukrainian branch of Laura's family lives in the New York area, James' agent provided them with an executive sky box at the game! Laura's cousins contacted her parents and let them know that she was invited to come as well and I got to tag along! It was totally cool.

James in the dugout before the start of the second game

The weather was terrible for baseball. It was really cold and windy. The box had outdoor seats that had overhead outdoor heaters but they were kind of ineffective with the high winds. Luckily there was also an indoor lounge with sofas and big screen TVs. We weren't too fancy so we we went downstairs to get our hot dogs (Nathan's! Mmm!) and beers. I also got a Mets hat, even though we were there to see the Dodgers technically, because I love the Mets.

We were actually there during a double header because the previous days game had been a rain-out. We watched the last couple of innings of the first game and saw the Mets win 4-0. The second game was only a little better, with the Mets winning 10-5. The most exciting part for us was when James was up to bat in the 4th inning. The bases were loaded and there was a full count and the ump called him out on what was clearly a ball! Everybody in our box was on their feet anyway and we were all angry but then James was thrown out of the game for arguing the call! The umpire thought he was throwing his batting glove at him but James told us later he was just throwing his glove so the bat boy could pick it up.

Yep. That's right. He told us later, because we totally got to meet him after the game!!!!!!

Laura and me waiting in the Family Lounge

After the game we went down to the family lounge and waited a while with some people who were from other branches of James' family. We waited and waited and after a while he came in and we all got to meet him for just a moment before he got on the bus with his team. They had another game against the Mets the next day. He was tall and handsome and really gracious and told us about getting thrown out of the game and what a bad call it was. He brought a couple of signed balls for Laura's cousin who was having a benefit auction and he posed for pictures with us and then he had to go. It was totally cool. Did I mention how cool it was?

Heres's us and a Major League Baseball Player

Lower Manhattan and Staten Island Ferry

Yesterday I got to leave work at about 1pm. My friend Laura DeWitt texted me and we decided to meet for lunch/happy hour at Buffalo Wild Wings in the Atlantic Terminal. It was a beautiful day and this sounded like a terrific idea. When we were finishing up our wings Laura asked what I had planned for the rest of my afternoon and if I'd like to do anything in particular. I asked what was something good and New Yorky we could do. Laura suggested we take a ride on the Staten Island Ferry which is free and takes you past the Statue of Liberty. I was very excited because I've never seen the Statue of Liberty except from a distance from the Manhattan Bridge on the subway.

We went back to our apartments and changed clothes and then met again on the train. I'm so glad Laura lives in my area now! First she took me on a little tour of lower Manhattan. She showed me her old TriBeCa apartment, and took my by City Hall and the two courthouses where they film the scenes on the steps for episodes of Law and Order.

City Hall

U.S. Court of Appeals

United States Courthouse

Next we walked to the Ground Zero area. I had never seen Ground Zero and I also wanted to go to Trinity Church because I've recently seen a documentary that said that Alexander Hamilton was buried there. You can't really see anything in Ground Zero because its all high chain-link fences covered in plastic. You can only see cranes coming up from it. The crowds were also very thick because it was about the time when people were leaving work. Directly across the street from Ground Zero is Trinity Church's St Paul's Chapel. I wasn't sure this was the church I was looking for but we walked around to the entrance to see if we could get into the church yard and look for Hamilton. Instead we found that the inside of the chapel was a memorial to the September 11 rescue efforts. It was very moving and I really enjoyed the exhibit. Laura and I walked down the block a bit and found Trinity Church, which was closed. We walked a round and looked through the fence and I was able to see Alexander Hamilton's marker anyway.

Next we walked to the ferry, past Battery Park which was very pretty and green. The ferry was not too crowded and there were two open bays where you could take photos, if you are on the poor-man's tour like we were. Most of the other people near the bays were tourists speaking various European languages. I was happy to be riding the boat on such a pretty day and took tons of pictures of the Statue of Liberty at sunset!

Laura got one of me being me

Statue of Liberty

As our day drew to a close and we headed home I felt really achy and overly tired. I figured it must have been the mojito I had at BW3s but before I went to sleep last night I noticed I was feverish. This morning I woke up at dawn with a fever of 102!! I feel terrible but even worse, today was the big day we were going to finally go and ride the Wonder Wheel! I can't believe my bad luck. A weekend day off and the weather is beautiful and I'm sick!! I've taken ibuprofen and Tylenol and my fever is only down to 100. I hope that I can perk up enough to go to work tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

Fine Dining and Fine Company

Hey, remember my friend Rachel who attends Culinary school here in NYC? Well, she pretty much rocks. The other night she invited me to dinner at Blue Hill in Greenwich Village. Blue Hill is a restaurant, located in an old speakeasy, that specializes in serving fine cuisine made with all local ingredients. The restaurant has its own farm where many of the ingredients are produced. Rachel is especially interested in the local food concept so she made a reservation as a culinary student in the hopes that she might have a chance to speak with the chef. Anyway I was lucky enough to get to go along because some other foolish soul cancelled on Rachel last-minute.

Blue Hill is by far the fanciest place I've ever eaten. The dining room was appointed in leather and mirrors, with a large vase of blossoming cherry branches in the center. It wasn't very large and seating was banquette style.

I enjoyed every minute of our meal. Rachel was such good company and we discussed the flavors, preparations, ingredients and presentations of each course. I learned a lot and really savoured the whole experience.

So the food. The menu was overwhelming so I told Rachel she could order for me. After ordering food just began to come to our table. First they brought us bread which was shaped like a bread stick and served in a glass cylinder, wider than a water glass. The bread came with three little dishes on a slab; one with fresh butter, one with carrot salt and the third with arugula salt. You pinched the salt and sprinkled it onto the butter. Rachel could taste the arugula but I thought both just tasted like salt and the butter was so good I didn't bother with them after a taste.

Next we got our first 'amuse bouche'. Amuse bouche is meant to be a taste of something, that you can eat in one bite, that experiments with texture and flavor and surprises the palate. Also it helps use up things you have too much of in the kitchen. Our first was 'asparagus burgers' which consisted of an asparagus relish or spread between two pieces of brioche which is a very sweet dense bread (kind of doughnutty to me). The burgers were no bigger than a golf ball and we were served one each on a slab of slate. Delicious and they were complimentary.

Next we were served some sort of meat slices that were really fatty and melted in your mouth. One slice for each of us, about the size of your palm. It was great but not as good as that asparagus burger thing! Next we were each served four bites of Grilled Spanish Mackerel with dandelion greens and ramps. This is on the appetizer menu but we didn't order it. I am pretty sure we were getting special treatment because of Rachel's culinary student reservation. The fish was delicious. The sauce had anise in it, and I picked up the flavor immediately to Rachel's surprise. Then I got really tickled with myself for knowing and recognizing a spice. Finally we received the appetizer we had actually ordered: This Morning's Pullet Egg which was a poached egg atop ramps with spec, which is a kind of cured meat, and brioche. It was delicious and rich and wonderful. This is the kind of restaurant you see on television where they served the dishes in the middle of a huge empty plate, on top of a smear of sauce, all stacked up and fancy. It always looks so tiny and unsatisfying and silly on television but the tastes are so rich and there are so many interesting things yet to taste, you don't want more than a few bites of any one thing. I understand the small portions now, though not so much the huge plate.

For our entrees the waitress recommended the Pig and the Chicken. Rachel had the Pig and ordered the chicken for me. Rachel's came with a piece of sweet potato that was cooked in miso and peanut butter. It was decadent. I am going to have to find a recipe that combines sweet potatoes and peanut butter because that is a flavor combination made in heaven! The chicken was served with a sauce of mushrooms and raisins. The breast meat was poached in buttermilk and it was out of this world, especially texture-wise. The thigh was fried crispy and delicious. I loved it!

When we got our dessert menus I noticed that cheese is considered a dessert. Rachel says that is common in France. We both noticed that one of the cheese plates comes with a Grayson cheese from Galax, Virginia!! We weren't up for an entire cheese plate but we asked for a small piece of the Grayson because we are from Virginia. It turned out to be stinky and very strongly flavored, not in a way I enjoyed. Oh well, can't win them all! Then we ordered the coffee cream which was a layered ice cream dessert served in a green glass jar. It was so creamy and delicious. While we were eating this the hostess came and invited us to the kitchen to meet the chef. The kitchen was BUSY and very small. The chef was young and listened intently to Rachel describing her culinary school career and interests while I felt completely in the way of all those cooks and waitstaff bustling all around me. Our trip to the restaurant paid of for Rachel though: She got the chef's contact information and an invitation to work as a shadow in the kitchen, watching and learning in a real restaurant and helping with some prep work! Yay!

When we got back to our table we had been served a fancy chocolate plate that had passion fruit truffles, cocoa covered almonds and coconut crusted, house-made marshmallows. The truffles were so strongly chocolate, and so tart at the same time, that both of us made faces while we ate them. They weren't bad, but you'd only ever need one bite of it. I finished the whole dining experience with the coconut marshmallow, which was the perfect punctuation to the entire affair. Delicious and perfect. Getting the bill was an entirely different feeling. Lets just say Rachel let me keep the ticket as a souvenir, especially since cellular phones and photo flashes aren't tolerated in the dining room. Too bad because I would have taken a photo of every last dish we got!

The meal was so satisfying and the whole experience was so rich and fun that I went to sleep that night smiling, and woke up happy the next morning.

Thank you Rachel!!

Moving to Brooklyn

No, not me. I already live here.

Laura DeWitt is in the process of moving from Queens to Brooklyn. I have been helping her and let me tell you, things haven't been easy! I agreed to meet her Tuesday to clean the apartment with her but when we got there we found that the electricity wasn't on. Besides being dark, the apartment had construction dirt everywhere. The walls were covered with a thick coat of dust and there were drops and smears of caulk and plaster in the brand new tub, kitchen sink, on the new tile and on the floors and windows. We cleaned a little in what light was left but then gave up and ate the cupcakes I brought.

Then yesterday I was going to meet her at 3 but before I left the house the bank called to tell me my atm card had been compromised and the only way I could get to my money was to go into the bank and withdraw some cash. Finally I got over to Laura's apartment but the power STILL was not on and it was already getting dark. By now she was getting REALLY frustrated and was playing phone tag with everyone on earth. I told her I was available all day today and to call me and I could even be at her apartment to let the electricians in.

This morning she texted me to let me know she had taken the day off work. She has movers scheduled for tomorrow and needed to have the apartment ready, with clean floors and power, for her things to be put in it and for her to stay there. I got there first and went to the dollar store and bought a sponge mop and a big bottle of Mr. Clean. I was determined to get that coating of dust off the walls before nightfall, power or no. Laura arrived and soon after the super and electricians came in. I mopped the floors and walls of the bathroom and then cleaned the kitchen cabinets. All the cabinets and fixtures in the apartment are brand new and very nice but everything is covered in this plaster dust and caulk. Its awful and it stinks for Laura that they didn't clean the thing before renting it to her. After the electricians left we realized that they had fixed the power, for ONE of the light fixtures and ONE of the outlets. So we could see what were doing, in the hallway and we could plug in the stereo. And that's it. The electricians never came back while we were there but we did get very much of the apartment cleaned and Laura had to head home to pack.

She is off to a rough start, but I hope Laura loves her new apartment in my same borough. From now on she'll only be TWO subway stops AWAY! I'm very excited.

County Kids in the Big City

Last night after work Laura wanted me to go with her to a party in the Meatpacking District to celebrate her friend India's birthday. We both know India from college, but I also knew her from growing up in Shenandoah County. She grew up in Woodstock, but our moms had water aerobics classes together when we were kids. Anyway India lives in Brooklyn now too and she and her friends were out on the town in Manhattan to celebrate. By the time Laura and I got to Manhattan on the slow weekend subway service, they had ditched the bar where they had been and were heading to one of India's friends apartments nearby. We joined them on their way there and had a good time chatting and eating cookies. The company was very pleasant and the conversation good but the funniest part of the whole thing for me is that most of the people we met last night were from Woodstock. Most of them remember my mom as a fifth grade teacher or they knew my friends Sarah and Emily and we all had a good time talking about the County Fair. At first they were a little reserved about the fair. Some of them hadn't been for years and don't have the same deep-seated fondness as I do but after discussing the various wonders of the Shenandoah County Fair they all agreed that it was pretty magical and some even affirmed a desire to go back this year. I tried to drum up interest for an all-county happy hour sometime but the crowd seemed kind of lukewarm about the idea.