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| Jam's at Farmer's Market |
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| VW at Tacombi |
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| NY from the Ocean |
The real charm of New York is its people & parks as a
friend of mine has been telling me on my recent journey here. It’s the
birthplace of the American dream so to speak there’s something from the
businessman to the hipster to the artist to the seeker that call this place
home. Anyone with a dream can call this place home. Well, as I conclude my
journey with my last full day of nonstop exploration. I’m honestly wiped to be
honest. I’ve just been cranking it out like the energizer bunny, which keep on
going & going. I got the inner strength guiding me. You do get to create
your reality, however in this town its temptation overload. I did have an
intention to see live music, but dinner with friends became more meaningful. I
wanted to check out all the “it” places as you could say from the many movies
& television programs that I have watched over my lifetime, but that was
not always in the cards. Going to the National History Museum to see the whale
exhibition was an intention, but I got lost in Central Park instead. So many
things to do, but not enough hours in the daytime. I had a list of restaurants
that I wanted to go to, but that was thrown out when my plans always got
changed.
You just never know what
to expect. Just embrace the moment & be present is the idea of the game
plan.
I started out my day by making it to Union Square. Your
probably thinking why am I off to there if it’s just home to NYU & the
famous chess players in the afternoon. I went to check out the weekly Farmer’s
Market. The Farmer’s Market was awesome! It was “small” for a Wednesday, but
they had awesome stuff. I sampled some wines from the Finger Lakes that were
quite tasty, the produce looked amazing! I was happy to find a double shot of
wheat grass that was locally grown in Brooklyn.
Ah, the goodness that it has for you. Got to love your
greens. I then made my way to Greenwich Village to check out Washington Square
Arch before heading over to
CO Bigelow Chemist
414 6th Avenue is the oldest apothecary in America.
Don’t worry it’s still a working pharmacy, but there is so much goodness
in it.
They do have their own
brand besides a number of other animal friendly & all natural products.
I did treat myself to some “real” Mexican tacos at
Tacombi at
267 Elizabeth Street in Nolita. WOW this place really reminded me of being back
in Baja. The colors & the fact that they have a VW Bus in the restaurant
cooking up your tacos it was the closet thing that I could get to an authentic
taco truck. The ceviche is excellent as well as the fish veracruzana tacos
& not to forget a yummy vegan taco of the week. I highly recommend this
place.
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| Katz |
As, my afternoon continued I did make it down to
Century 21, apparently a
New York trip wouldn’t be complete with going in for a look.
However, like the last time I was here,
I was very overwhelmed cos it’s very crowded no matter what time of day you go.
They do have deals for designer clothing for a reasonable cost.
I was in the downtown part actually to
make my way back over to Pier 11 to catch the ferry over to the Rockaways.
Seastreak is the name of the fast speed catamaran that only cost $2USD. Yes,
that’s right each way cost $2 USD & roundtrip is $4USD, much cheaper than
the East River Ferry.
It only cost
$2USD because Hurricane Sandy destroyed the railroad & it is subside by the
government as a way for public transportation. Normally it cost like $30USD.
Honestly, a friend of mine recommended it to me to catch superior views of the
city.
It’s nice to be on the ocean
cos there’s something calming & relaxing for the inner chi. I couldn’t
believe the deal I had. It only takes about an hour to get down & the views
are awesome of the city. It’s a great way to photograph the city from the ocean
for little money. Ah, just make sure you got one hand to steady yourself cos
your out in the open ocean & it might be a wee bit choppy.
It’s just my sailor two cents here, but
it’s very true. The Rockaways is at the southern point of Long Island & has
been a popular seaside resort since the 1830’s with bungalows for the resorts.
It’s a nice place to escape the city for a while.
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| Sunset Over Manhattan |
I concluded my day with a trip over to the East Village to
go to
Katz Delicatessen
on 205 East Houston Street.
Your
probably asking me why I venture over to place where “I’m having, what she’s
having” is all about. Actually they have the best potato latkes that I have
ever had.
Much better than what my
Polish grandmother used to make. During WW II, Katz became famous by their
slogan, "Send A Salami To Your Boy In The Army".
They hand you a ticket when you walk in & pay when you leave. It's very old school in here, with trays & the cafeteria flare to the place. It's decorated with photos of all the famous people who have eaten here. If your lucky, you can sit at the "When Harry Met Sally" table. The Lower East Side, was once known as
Skid Row due to the fact that it was once was the place you wanted to be
because you couldn’t go any lower. Today it’s an eclectic neighborhood that has
been cleaned up since it’s dodgy slums form the past with a terrible ghetto, but
though million of migrants & working class arrivals into the city they
tried hard to improve their lot here. With the rich history of immigrants in
the neighborhood, again I didn’t make it to the Tenement Museum. A friend of
mine that I was with last week told me to check it out cos it’s that good at
showing the history of the neighborhood.
Ah, another charming day out in about in the Big Apple.
There’s no telling what direction that I was going from time to time. There are
so many fun things to do that I didn’t know if I was coming or going. Another
good night in Brooklyn with my feet up relaxing with the company of a friend
& the telly. Again, I got
another busy day ahead of me.
