New York City - Part Four - Great Walks

One of the things we noticed about New York City during the week we were there is that, in general, New Yorkers are pretty physically fit.  We saw the same thing in Chicago.  People tend to walk a lot.  And since you can walk a lot faster than gridlocked vehicles, walking makes sense.

 

They walk in parks.  They walk to and from the subway.  They walk to the grocery stores and restaurants.  They walk their dogs.  That’s another thing.  Everyone who lived in one of the stone row houses (sans a front or back yard) seemed to have a dog.  And the dogs were height/weight proportional, too.

Here are a few walks that we found to be just great.

Central Park and The City from the Roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

 Central Park.  Certainly the most popular place to walk and jog in New York, Central Park is frickin’ big.  Six miles long and a half-mile wide.  We could have easily spent a week getting lost in Central Park.  I wouldn’t call the park particularly scenic (remember, we’re spoiled with some majestic National Parks here in the Northwest) but the fact that is there as an island of green in Manhattan really is pretty amazing.  Some of the things in the park worth a visit are:  Strawberry Fields, a quiet garden walk near The Dakota, where John Lennon was shot…..The Great Lawn, site of many memorable free concerts over the years including one we just missed out on (Stevie Wonder and John Mayer)……The Loeb Boathouse and Restaurant….Bethesda Fountain.

 

Bethesda Fountain on a Beautiful Day

Brooklyn Bridge.  You’re guaranteed to have lots of company on the pedestrian walkway that’s above the vehicle traffic on the bridge.  Lots of walkers, runners and cyclists make the half-hour (or so) trek across the famous structure every day.  We took the subway under the East River to Brooklyn and fueled up on some tasty NY pizza before walking around the neighborhood for a bit and hitting the bridge.  Just as walking across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco should be on anyone’s list who enjoys exercise, the same can be said about the Brooklyn Bridge.  Only this is better because it’s more user friendly and there’s usually no fog.

The Pedestrian Path Atop the Brooklyn Bridge

The High Line.  This is a real gem.  Not too many years ago, New York officials had the idea of taking an abandoned elevated rail line, sprucing it up into an aerial greenway, and making a great walking experience in the process.  The walk is about a mile long and runs along the west-central Manhattan near Chelsea Market at its southern terminus.  It’s a pleasant and relaxing walk with great views and art to be appreciated along the way.
 

Strolling Along the Old Rail Line

Building Art:  Great Scene from the High Line

Hudson River Greenway.  We were told by our upper west side hosts to check out this long path a few blocks from where we were staying.  It’s essentially a green and somewhat wooded narrow strip of land that runs along the east side of the Hudson River.  Not nearly as popular and crowded as Central Park, it’s a relatively nice and quiet area to walk a dog, bike or jog.

The (Relatively) Quiet Hudson River Greenway

As is typical of my travel series posts, I’ll conclude with food, drink and some final thoughts next time.

New York City - Part Three - Sites & Destinations

A week is really not enough time to spend in New York City to get a good sense of what it might be like to live there.  I suppose that’s true of most places that are worth visiting.  I went through some of our daily notes that we took and came up with a list of 10 places that we can endorse as being worthy of your valuable vacation time.  Well, actually nine that are worthy and one that was just memorable for perhaps all of the wrong reasons.  No, you won’t see the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty here, as they’ve gotten enough guidebook press over the years.  No scenic walks either.   That will be the topic of the next blog post.

So here we go, in no particular order:

1. Top of the Rock:  We heard this is the best view of the city, hands down.  We also heard it’s even better after dark but we’re morning people and were there at around 10:30am.  Well worth the experience, even if you just want to take a couple of pictures and hang out for a few minutes.  We didn’t have time to parlay this with the NBC studio tour but it was a great thought.
 

The Stellar View of Central Park and the City

2. Eataly:  Chef Mario Batali is of of the major backers of this huge “all things Italian” building.  Delis, restaurants, stores and so on.  Can you really choose among 40 brands of olive oil and 30 brands of pasta?  I would say at the very least, yes.  We didn’t eat or buy anything there but it was an amazing walk-through and is some serious foodie sensory overload.

The Olive Oil Aisle at Eataly

3.  Wall Street/Trinity Church:  These two things really have little to do with one another, other than the fact that they’re within a couple of blocks of one another, and Wall Street brokers are likely to drop into the church to pray after the latest financial meltdown.  The narrow Wall Street makes the buildings appear dark and somewhat evil.  The church and its beautiful stained glass is a welcome sight.

Visiting Our 401K at The NY Stock Exchange

4. Greenwich Village:  While this part of town is clearly not what I’ve read that it was like in the sixties and seventies, I’d still recommend it as a place to visit with some parks, shops and old taverns (such as McSorley’s Old Ale House).  Bob Dylan’s place at 161 West Fourth Street is still there, although nothing tells you that it was Dylan’s residence.  In fact, it exists today as just another garden variety sex shop.
 

One of the Narrow Streets of Greenwich Village

Mr. Zimmerman's Former Residence

5. Ground Zero:  We didn’t actually take the formal tour here but just walked around the perimeter and imagined what it must have been like to have been there on what started as a beautiful sunny weekday morning.
 

The New One World Trade Center:  Opening in 2014

6. Grand Central Terminal:  New York City has changed and updated this busy train and subway station, making it into a destination in and of itself.  The main floor is spacious and beautiful, with more than a tip of the hat to what it must have looked like 80 years ago.  The lighting and architecture are worth noting.  And if you’re hungry or want to go shopping there’s plenty of that, too.
 

Grand Central Terminal

7. Chelsea Market:  This two-block-long indoor market has just about everything.  Gifts, an oyster bar, spices from all over the world, boutique clothing, fancy cheeses…..etc.  And doesn’t it just figure that The Food Network headquarters are one floor above the market?
 

Inside Chelsea Market

 

More Chelsea Market:  Spices from Around the Globe

 8. Little Italy:  This part of town is slowly being consumed by Chinatown, but the several square block area that’s there is worth a visit with its restaurants, stores and general scenery.  And there’s even a Christmas store to satisfy BowlingWidow’s requirement of buying a tree ornament in every city we visit.

 

Little Italy's Restaurants:  Busy on a Nice Evening

9.  Chinatown:  The above mentioned Chinatown is the place that for us was memorable but not pleasant.  From the moment we got off the subway we were urged by folks who were very eager for us to check out their store, their produce, and I’m sure in some cases their stolen property.  We’ve been to Chinatowns in other cities and comparatively this one is at the bottom.  Almost no open space, and the stores and restaurants looked like they are on the verge of being condemned.  We couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

 

A Chinatown Street Corner

10. Columbia University:  I want to end on a positive note and with a place that we didn’t expect to make this list.  But if you have a couple of hours to spare, it’s worth taking a subway or a cab to 116^th Street and walking around the Columbia University neighborhood.  There are even a few hills here, something not often seen in most of Manhattan.  St. Paul’s Chapel is a nice visit, but most importantly how can you not like a university whose mascot is Roaree the Lion.

 

Inside St. Paul's Chapel

Next up:  I’ll review some great New York City walks.

New York City - Part Two - Times Square and Broadway

When I was growing up, I used to watch the New Year’s Eve TV show on ABC TV from Times Square.  Dick Clark would introduce a few musical guests.  Cameras would pan, showing the huge, bundled up crowd milling about the buildings that seemed to have a million multi-colored lights attached to them.  The giant ball would slide down a building to the beat of a countdown and it would be time to hang up a new calendar.  That’s how I remember Times Square.

Times Square:  The Center of the Universe?

We’d heard that Times Square had been cleaned up considerably since some very dark days in the 1970s and 1980s, so were anxious to see it.  Sure it was clean but I think I’d prefer to remember it the way I did growing up.  It seems to be the center of the universe in NYC.  Well, a lot of subway cars and buses converge there anyway.  And while we weren’t physically assaulted we were assaulted figuratively by hustlers trying to sell us everything from bus tours to Rolex watches (REAL Rolex watches, we were assured).

The Theater District in Late Afternoon

 It’s filled with every chain restaurant you can find anywhere else in America, only with red and green lights and two more floors of seating area.  Applebee’s, Bubba Gump Shrimp, TGIFs, McDonalds.  They were all there and ready to sell you the same hamburger you’d get in Dayton, Ohio (for 50% more of course).  Give us a clean, independent hole-in-the-wall with decent food over this any day of the week.  For us, travel is about garnering new experiences as much as anything else.  Perhaps Times Square itself should be the attraction.  But it just didn’t register with us.

Renee and Kent and 30 Rock Plaza Before Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

 There were a couple of events in and around Times Square and Broadway (The Broadway District is next to Times Square) which were well worth it.  One afternoon we met some friends, who also happened to be vacationing in the city at the time, for a taping of The Jimmy Fallon Show at Rockefeller Center, where NBC is located.  This is a great value since it’s one of the few things in New York that is absolutely free (unless you consider waiting in line to have a cash value).  Everyone says it, and it’s absolutely true:  TV studios seem waaaaay smaller in person than on TV.  Fallon was funny, the guests were ho-hum (Rebel Wilson, hallelujah artist Joel Osteen and musical guest Lorde, who is 16 going on 40 years old).  I’d have snapped a picture in there but doing so and getting caught would have landed us a year on Rikers Island.

BowlingJoe (red shirt) and BowlingWidow in the Jimmy Fallon Audience

On another day we hit Broadway and went to a matinee showing of “Once", a very entertaining musical set in Dublin featuring lots of great Irish music and a pleasingly simple story.  The music was written by Glen Hansard who also starred in the film version (which we have to see now).  Something unique about this production is the fact that the stage itself became a bar for the audience to partake in before the show and during intermission.  I wondered why more people weren’t taking advantage of this until I got on stage myself and discovered that an average 12 ounce beer would set you back thirteen bucks.  I get that this is New York, but really???  One more tip:  seek out the discount kiosks called TKTS the day before or the day of a show for huge savings.  We landed 11^th row center seats for around $75 each.  Not bad at all.

"Once" at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater on Broadway

Next post:  Sites and Destinations.  Now come on….can’t I narrow that down.  I mean, everything is a site or a destination, right?  Here's a preview of one in the picture below:  The Original Soup Man walk-up restaurant on 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan.  It provided the original inspiration for "The Soup Nazi" episode of Seinfeld.

New York City - Part One - The Museums

The skies were smooth and the late September weather was great as BowlingWidow and I coasted into JFK airport for our first ever trip to New York City.  After some initial confusion we hooked up with a cab company to set up the 45 minute ride into the city.  Other than some talk about our destination and cab fare, nary a word was spoken between us and the driver.  I wasn’t expecting to be on the Cash Cab or anything like that, but I thought New York cabbies were a bit more talkative than this one and the others which we encountered.

Our "Home" on the Upper West Side (2nd Floor...Open Windows)

We were in NYC for a full week, staying at a comfortable studio townhouse in the upper west side of Manhattan called (appropriately enough) The West Townhouse.  It was part of the endless brownstone row housing built in around 1890 that are abundant in the upper west side neighborhoods.  Our unit even came with a kitchen, giving us the ability to buy bagels, cream cheese and orange juice for the week and enjoy them at our leisure before hitting the streets and the subway.
 

Having a Kitchen Area Was a Nice Feature

For this blog post series, I’ve just made the executive decision to chunk the trip up into the following set of words and pictures:

Museums (that’ll be in this one)

Broadway and Times Square

Sites and Destinations

Walks

Food, Drink, and Concluding Thoughts

Let’s jump right into Museums…..

We regretted not visiting any museums when we were in Chicago, so wanted to make sure we went to the key ones in NYC.  We had plenty to choose from, and would have gone to all of them if we had a month to spend in the city.  That would have included places like The Frick Collection, The Guggenheim and the Jewish Museum of NewYork.  And then there’s the New York Public Library which we never got to.  Here’s what we did see:

The American Museum of Natural History.  This place has an amazing number of exhibits and buildings.  The planetarium show that we went to about the universe was interesting and well done.  There’s nothing like seeing one of these shows to help you walk out of the theater feeling really insignificant about your place in the solar system.  If you like exceptionally well done stuffed animals and dinosaur bones from all over the world, this is the place for you.   And it’s not just Natural History as the name indicates.  Artifacts and creations by cultures such as American Indian tribes are in abundance as well.

Well Made Stuffed Animals:  One of the Many Displays at the Natural History Museum

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  At 2 million square feet, this is the largest museum of its kind in the country.  There’s no way one could get through this entire collection in a day unless you subscribe to the “speed theory” of art appreciation.  So we picked and chose.  They don’t just have paintings and sculptures here.  Sure they have Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Monet, and Picasso but their collection of musical instruments and armor, for example, is world class.

One of the Many Rooms at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Knights in Shining Armor at the Met

Museum of Modern Art.  Smaller than the Met and located in mid-town Manhattan, modern art here appears to be defined as “from 1900 to present”.  Mainly paintings, some of the more famous works here include “The Starry Night” (Van Gogh), and works by Jackson Pollock, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol.  I’ll admit it….some of the more recent modern art acquisitions look like something I might be able to make at home in a couple of hours, although I’m sure that’s not true.  I guess we just don’t “get” art as many do.

Andy Warhol's Soup Cans in the Pantry at the MoMA

The Cloisters.  This is a small collection associated with the Met, and is a short cab ride away on the north part of Manhattan Island.  It’s essentially an exhibit of art and architecture from Medieval England.  Made possible by an endowment  grant by  John D. Rockefeller Jr., this can easily be experienced in a couple of hours.  It’ll probably take you longer to get to and from here depending on where you’re staying in the city.
    

Courtyard Garden at The Cloisters

Next up:  Broadway and Times Square

The Hits Just Keep On Coming

I don’t attend many concerts these days, and the ones that I do attend are usually in small settings with no more than a couple of hundred people in the audience.   That’s because I find that the odds are drastically reduced that I’ll find myself seated next to some obnoxious drunk who spent big money to show up and make a fool of him (or her) self while ruining the experience for those who are unlucky enough to be within a 30 foot radius of him (or her).  Also, ticket prices tend to be a bit lower at smaller venues which don’t usually host “name” artists or bands.

Leftynemesis and Interiors Maven at the Concert

BowlingWidow and I deviated a bit from that plan last weekend.  Along with our friends Leftynemesis and Interiors Maven we ventured a few miles north to the Tulalip Amphitheater to listen to the bands America and The Doobie Brothers.  Two bands that fit squarely within our demographic wheelhouse.  They may not have been the best bands of the 1970s, but are certainly among the most familiar as they were constantly on the radio.  America had 17 songs that made the US Top 100.  The Doobies clocked in with a remarkable 26.

I didn’t have high expectations for this show, but both bands actually delivered the goods and seemed to have a great time doing it.  If America ever gets tired of singing “Ventura Highway” or The Doobie Brothers are bored out of their minds doing “China Grove”, it didn’t show.  And between the two bands they clocked in at more than three hours (which included a half hour break to change the stage), making the $65 ticket stretch a bit further than usual.

The Doobie Brothers Rockin' the Amphitheatre

Finally, two more things about the night:  first, the horse still has no name.  And second, indeed right on schedule the annoying drunk guy was in our row a mere few seats away.

Welcome Back Hatch Chiles…It’s Been Way Too Long

Mid-August is a favorite time of the year for me.  It’s peak season for fresh fruits and vegetables that show up at grocery stores and farmers markets.  There’s fresh lettuce in abundance and the corn is starting to get good and sweet.

 That’s all fine and good, but what really gets this chile head going is the fact that it’s Hatch chile pepper season.  Pepper purists will tell you that there’s no such thing as a Hatch pepper and I suppose that technically they’re correct.  Hatch is a region in the state of New Mexico at which Anaheim chiles are grown.

Freshly Picked Hatch Chile Peppers

 I don’t know the science behind it, but the blistering hot days and cool nights at the elevation in which they’re grown result in a mighty flavorful product.  Twice the flavor (not necessarily hotness though) of your garden variety Anaheim if you ask me.

The Whole Foods near us is roasting them in their parking lot for the next few weekends, and as soon as we heard about it, BowlingWidow and I rushed down to have them roast five pounds for us.  The smell on the car ride home was heavenly.
 

Hatch Peppers in the Roaster

 After cooling, they were peeled and sealed into freezer bags in ¾ pound increments.  I can’t imagine getting through a winter without having pork chile verde stew at least a couple of times using these gems.  Not to mention enchiladas, quesadillas, and the countless other Hatch recipes that can be found in books or online.
 

Hatch Peppers "Sweating" in a Bag Prior to Peeling

Now if only I can learn how to stuff a chile relleno properly like they do in good Mexican restaurants……

Walking (and Eating) Through Vancouver BC

Every year or two, BowlingWidow and I like to hop on Amtrak and take a short trip north or south.  Typically that means either Portland, Oregon or Vancouver BC.  Both are great cities to visit.  This year, as in 4^th of July’s past, we chose Canada.  We didn’t have a real agenda and wanted to check out a couple of places we haven’t been before as well as some old favorites.

  

Vancouver:  Looking West Toward Stanley Park

One of those new places is North Vancouver.  It’s just a 10 minute SeaBus ride away from the downtown waterfront and the fare is included in the daily SkyTrain passes we bought.  North Vancouver is fairly easy to experience in just a few hours as most of the shops and restaurants are located on Lonsdale Street.  We had lunch at a Greek restaurant called Anatoli Souvlaki on lower Lonsdale near the ferry terminal, and can recommend it as a good place to eat.  My wife particularly liked her Greek Salad and Spanakopita.  We also happened upon a decent brewpub, Sailor Hagar’s, a few blocks off of Lonsdale.  It was surprisingly good, as Canadian brewpubs are very hit and miss (usually miss) when compared to what we have in the Northwest.  One more word about North Vancouver:  elevation.  Be prepared to walk up a long hill if you’re touring the area on foot.
      

Looking At The City from North Vancouver

Speaking of food (and when am I not?) we found a really cool Jewish bakery and deli, Solly’s, in the Broadway neighborhood, south of town.  We liked their bagel (with a generous amount of cream cheese) and coffee special so much that we went there twice for breakfast.  And at around six bucks for two of us it was a bargain.
      

Solly's Bagels:  A Must Visit...Twice For Us!

Since we’ve got Greek and Jewish cuisine fairly well covered here, let’s move on to the other two ethnic styles we had, in no particular order.  After a pint at the Yaletown Brewing Company (not surprisingly in the trendy new Yaletown neighborhood) we walked next door to an unassuming restaurant we nearly walked past called L’Antipasto.  This is a good Italian restaurant with prices that aren’t through the roof.  I recommend the Ravioli alla Filly, which is ravioli stuffed with lobster and crab served with a fresh tomato sauce.  BowlingWidow made a meal out of a couple of the fine tapas they have on the menu.

The City Turned Granville Street Into a Latino Fest for a Day!

    
In past years, to cover Asian cuisine, we’ve bypassed Chinatown and headed straight to the suburb of Richmond, 10 miles south of the city.  Usually we go for dim sum and have had good luck, but wanted to try something different and went to a noodle house, Neptune Wonton Noodle, in the Golden Village Shopping Center.  And get something different we did.

My noodle bowl with beef was no doubt a favorite of the regulars but to our palates, the spices and sauces were a bit too fish flavored.  BowlingWidow figured she'd be safe by ordering what was essentially a bowl of chicken noodle soup, but the chicken parts, only partly cooked and complete with bones and fat was a bit much for her to handle.  Next time in Vancouver I think we'll be back to dim sum.

A Nice Evening at The Alibi Room

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a stellar ale house we found a short block east of the Gastown District.  It's called The Alibi Room and is a must visit for any beer aficionado who shows up in Vancouver.  There are around 50 interesting beers on draft, most from Canada and the US West Coast.  If you want to eat there, you can do so successfully but with a limited menu.

I'll close with a few fun photos from the trip.

At The Train Station in Everett:  Don't Worry, No Humping Took Place

 

Ketchup Chips:  A Major Canadian Food Group

Vancouver May Not Be As Sanitary As Thought Upon Further Investigation

 

High Fiber Cereal in a Vancouver Grocery Store