NYC July 2011 – Day One: The Eagles Have Landed

I think I need to move to NYC.  Like, yesterday.  After spending five solid days there, we still hardly scratched that wonderfully messy and hectic surface of the city.  And, I tell you, we nearly killed ourselves trying to squeeze in as much eating, drinking, and shopping as possible, as well as just general city-viewing.  Not sightseeing per se, but rather hanging out and watching the world go by...  a world hopped up on caffeine, decked in skinny red cords, and constantly checking its iPhone ;)

As always, the camera got a major workout, and I'm currently sorting through 500+ images.  Over the next few weeks, I hope to get everything posted.  While my review of the Denver trip spewed itself forth in one ginormous entry, I'll try and be kind to your braincells and break the NYC trip into a few smaller ones.  This is a blog after all, not the fourth Harry Potter book (Hmm, is the last book longer?  I wouldn't know...  I haven't made it past the fourth one.  Pathetic, I know!).

So today, I present to you Day One of the trip.  I think our daily pattern will become evident pretty quickly:  walk, eat, drink, walk, shop, drink, walk, drink, eat and then drink again, then faceplant in bed.

Enjoy!

NYC July 2011 – Day One:  The Eagles Have Landed

Last year, some dear friends of ours moved from the Minne-apple to the Big Apple.  We’d been promising to visit them, and by the time summer rolled around, we figured we’d better make good on our word.  With our last real vacation (weddings, family visits, etc do not count) dating back to last April, we were sorely overdue and antsy to get outta Dodge.  Also, it’s New York City.  Can’t really argue with an offer from friends to show us around and hang out in one of the most exciting, interesting and energetic places on Planet Earth.  Additionally, our pals operate a lot like us:  drink, eat, drink, repeat.  NYC is an excellent place to exercise that routine.

Oh yeah, and the shopping ain’t too shabby, either J

We booked a flight, found a hotel and said a little prayer to our livers.

Our last trip to Denver commenced with a stop at Surdyk’s Flights, located in the MSP airport, for a pre-flight cocktail.  Deciding this isn’t such a bad thing to ritualize, we popped in again before departing for NYC.  I ordered my first of many, many margaritas that would be consumed over the next few days.

Here’s a shot of the place (again).

The dudes on our right noticed my husband’s t-shirt sporting Mt. Kilimanjaro and asked if we’d been there (Tanzania yes, the actual mountain no), which sparked a pleasant little conversation where they shared some NYC brunch favorites.  Bellying up to the bar often provides good opportunities like this, as long as you’re feeling sociable.

Love that they enclose the tab in a passport cover:

Our lovely cocktail enabler:

On this trip, I also discovered that ordering a margarita on a plane isn’t such a horrid idea.  Plane wine (red wine, anyway) is pretty ick, so I decided to try something new.  While it won’t win any drink awards, this can easily replace my old mile-high go-to.

We touched down at LGA and hopped into a cab.  Weather turned out to be absolutely gorgeous (as it did most of the trip).  I can’t tell you how fun it is to arrive at a new destination, whether by cab, subway or someone’s car.  We did fairly well traffic-wise, and as we sped along on the Queens Midtown Expressway, it was great to see the city looming ever larger as we approached.  Fun to watch industry, cars and snippets of buildings pass by, framed by, well, more cars.

I booked our hotel on the Lower East Side, so we could be close to our friends, who live in the East Village.  Not only would it make it easier for us to meet up each day, it was regarded as an excellent spot for just enjoying the city and what it had to offer as if you lived there.  We weren’t interested much in touristy things (we’ve both been here before).  Besides the priority of seeing our friends, the trip pretty much revolved around food, booze and some shopping.

Ultimately, I chose the Thompson LES.  Perfect location, and a nice compromise between my more upscale preferences and my husband’s comfort with more modest accommodations.  Plus, we got a discounted rate.  Still, I had no idea what to expect when we arrived.  All I’d read about from online reviews were the loud-a$$ bar on the 7th floor (good luck if you got stuck in a room anywhere near that), a staff that people either called helpful or aloof, and the handsome, nice doormen.

Upon arriving and throughout our 4-night stay overall, I found the staff to be quite pleasant, the doormen to indeed be both handsome and nice, and our room turned out to be great!  We were placed on the 16^th floor, far above the hub-bub of the bar (and on the opposite facing side of the hotel).  Not only that, we got a corner room with floor-to-ceiling windows.  Score!  Waking up everyday to see the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan is definitely not a bad thing.  Of course, people asked if our room was the size of a postage stamp.  Well, duh.  But it was clean, nicely appointed, had fabulous views, was quiet, and really we were only there to sleep, so I could care less about its square footage.  It’s Manhattan, after all.

Here are some pics of the room.  As you can see, we were a little giddy about the view:

Yeah, we got a little camera crazy, which didn't let up for the entire trip.  I like how the last photo shows that skeleton of a high-rise...  it's giving me flashbacks of architecture school and being surrounded by piles of foamcore, chipboard and little sticks of balsawood.


After dropping off our stuff, we immediately proceeded to start wandering around, in hopes of finding someplace to refuel.  Nestled in our temporary homebase of the Lower East Side, we found Inoteca.  Snagging an outdoor table on a busy corner, we took in our new environs while enjoying some food and drink:

My husband commented on Facebook that if this corner were a reality TV show, he’d watch it all the time.  I agree.  Of course, you could probably make that case for a lot of the city.  Not sure what to think of the color-happy family below:

The little tailoring shop sure did a brisk business:

One of the more interesting things we noticed while at Inoteca was that we hung out there long enough to see the same people coming and going.  There were numerous occasions when one of us would say, "I just saw that old guy/lady on a bike/dude in the jorts...  like 10 minutes ago!"  It was oddly comforting, as if we could fool ourselves into thinking this was our neighborhood by tagging strangers as familiar.


We lazed a few fine hours at the corner table until L, our dear friend/host/enabler of all things boozable, edible and shoppable, arrived.  We then set off down the sticky, busy streets (hey, I say that lovingly) to dinner at Casa Mezcal, just a few blocks away.

Did I say I like margaritas?  Did I also mention they’re even better with mezcal?  Man, I love that stuff.  It brings such a nice smoky flavor to the drink.  My little heart just soared when I read the glowing sign above the bar:  Mezcaleria.  Someone cue the voices at the beginning of the Simpsons, right meow:

Both food and drink were superb here.  We got right down to business and ordered some beverages.  One of the best mezcal margaritas I have ever had:

This tasty appetizer boasted a crunchy bottom layer of...  grasshoppers!  Mmm, tangy:

A fabulously large chile relleno:

Loved this place.  I was hoping we'd make a return trip before the vacation was over but, alas, too many places for imbibing and just not enough time.  Couldn't find a proper website with a menu, otherwise I would have shared it with you.


After dinner, we tried to hit Barrio Chino, but as they were already circulating a waiting list, we ventured over to Mary, Queen of Scots.  There, amid the plaid booths, we met up with SC and his very nice friend who was visiting from Japan.  She didn’t speak much English (and our Japanese was severely lacking, minus SC), but it was a fun evening anyway.  

Another margarita, and then L went home (schoolnight for her), SC put his friend in a cab, and our remaining trio decided to head back to our hotel and scope the infamous, “private” 7^th floor bar.

Unless our hotel’s guests were really only comprised of a bunch of twenty-somethings in club attire, the bar is hardly private.  The music was a bit erratic, and it reminded me more of a grown-up frat party or a mildly cheesy Minneapolis club than something I thought I’d find in the LES.  Still, the bar provided some fabulous views of the city, including the Empire State Building, which seems to sneak in regularly in my photos.

Want to hear the madness?  It's got Nirvana... (which comes close to describing the view and summer night in general, maybe minus some of those darn party kids ;)

We enjoyed one more drink, surveyed the cityscape below, and with our first day (OK, half-day) under our belt, it was time for bed.






Images:  my own