Saturday:
Bus rides are always tiring, so we leisurely got up the next morning and then went to one of Meg's favorite bagels shops in the Upper East Side called Bagel Express. I order a poppy sesame challah bagel with scallion cream cheese dip and it was very good! I'm not a big bagel person, not because I don't like them but because I just don't buy them much, but they always taste awesome-especially different flavors of bagels and cream cheese. Next we stopped in a thrift store to buy some sunglasses for me because I needed a new (cheap) pair. I ended up getting some bright red ones for $3!
Then it was time to take the train to Brooklyn, specifically the Carroll Gardens area to visit first Other Half Brewing. This brewery was very small but we were able to get flights of all 11 of the beers they had on tap! They were very ipa/hop heavy which I loved! Next up, we grabbed lunch at Baba's Pierogies! A Slovakian place that I found while researching food places in this neighborhood of Brooklyn. It was a newer place and so tasty! I ordered the jalapeño cheese and potato pierogies - pan fried, and then we shared the kielbasy sliders. After living in Pittsburgh, I realized how much I love pieogies and I miss them so this was delicious and the PERFECT lunch for a day of beer tasting.
Next went to Threes Brewing in Gowanus, where we ended up catching a "Saison day/fest"! There was a saison home brew competition going on upstairs and we were able to vote on our favorites. Then we tried a few beers downstairs (some not Threes beers and a few that were theirs) and hung out in the coolest back patio/tents, it was huge! Our goal of the weekend was to get Ian to 500 unique check-ins on the Untapd app and we were so close, so after Threes we headed to Lavender Lake. They didn't have a great beer list, but a nice place with a big patio out back that was practically empty (it had gotten a little chilly). Ian had his 500th unique check-in and all was a success!
Then we headed back into Manhattan and to the Lower East Side where there is a higher concentration of speakeasies. We grabbed supper at a Mexican place called El Diablito Taqueria and I had a huarache with chorizo (a huarache is a corn flatbread with bean puree, lettuce, crema fresca and filling) which was very good! My first experience of having a huarache and I liked it.
Next we put our name on the list at Death and Co. There were 3 tables in front of us, so we decided to check out another speakeasy that was nearish called Angel's Share that is through a secret door in a Japanese restaurant called Village Yokocho. Honestly the restaurant food smelled amazing so I would definitely recommend putting your name on the list at Angel's Share and then just eating at the Japanese restaurant. At first it seemed like it would be a long wait just like Death and Co, but lots of people left about 10 minutes after we got there and we only had to wait 20 minutes max. The drinks were crazy weird and definitely had some Asian flare to a few of them. Because there were a couple that I wanted to try, I got two - expensive but I'm assuming I'll never be back. I got the Bastani Flip and something I can't remember the name of. They were very interesting and the one I can't remember it's name I probably wouldn't get again purely because the alcohol in it is a Japanese rice wine-like liquor called shochu and has a very distinct flavor that I think I only like in moderation. The Bastani Flip was a whole bunch of weird things, but pretty good: saffron-infused solbeso, tequila, egg yolk, vanilla cream, pistachio orgeat, and rose water. Overall, a great experience and I would recommend it.
We got up a little bit earlier today, so that we could walk to a place for brunch. We ended up eating brunch at Third Avenue Ale House, which was surprisingly amazing! The dish that I ordered was the Grumpy Old Man's Wife. I loved this take on an eggs benedict. I wish I could tell you the exact ingredients, but I can't remember them and there is no menu that has this dish on there. But just feast your eyes on the picture of my meal and you'll see :) After a filling brunch, we grabbed some pastries from a shop near us (can't remember the name) for our "picnic" on Roosevelt Island.
Next, we made our way to around 60th street to take the Roosevelt Tram to Roosevelt Island! It was much bigger than I thought it would be and such a cool less-than 5 minute ride across the East River. It was quite smooth, very updated and I felt very safe in it. Also, the Queensboro Bridge is actually a really pretty bridge, especially if you are gliding right along side it :) When we got to the island, we grabbed a map and decided to walk around it to the main sights.
The first and best stop was the abandoned smallpox hospital that is super creepy and very much in ruins. It was behind a fence, because it was so much in ruins that it's basically a death-trap. It was an actual hospital and not just a place to quarantine them, but it did seem a bit rude to take them over to this island and give them views of their former life and everything they are missing. Kinda sad. Near the smallpox hospital at the southern tip of the island is a little park that is built to further honor FDR, the namesake for the island.
Next we started our trek around the rest of the island. It's much bigger than we thought it was and therefore it was a tiring trek. Our goal was to make it to the northern side of the island where the lighthouse was. Along the way we found out how livable Roosevelt Island is. I knew that there were apartment buildings here, but I thought that was about it. Truthfully, Roosevelt Island is a tiny small town/community in the middle of New York City. It has a few restaurants, a Starbucks, a grocery store, a couple churches, it's own NYPL library branch, fire station, etc. I had no clue it was so fully-equipped. You truthfully could never leave the island. Aside from the fact that there aren't a ton of jobs or corporations to work for here, so I'm sure people still commute by the tram or F train (there's also a subway stop on the island now), or by car (there's a bridge over to Queens - for the longest time we couldn't tell how there were cars on the island unless there was a ferry crossing constantly).
Finally we reached the lighthouse, which was SO tiny. Luckily there was a picnic table calling our name where we rested and ate our pastries. Instead of walking all the way back to the tram, we walked back to the Octagon where the Roosevelt Island shuttle took us back there for free. Once back in Manhattan, we headed back to Meg's to rest a bit and then grab our belongings for our bus trip home. For a quick supper, we grabbed food at a great Thai restaurant near the terminal called Room Service. It was beautifully decorated and so swanky, yet the prices were typical prices for Thai food (most entrees under $15-20) and it was SO yummy! I ordered an appetizer of curry puffs for the table (which were divine), as well as Lychee Siamese Duck, a Bangkok specialty. That was also delicious and the duck was so, so tender! I took half to go and it tasted just as good as leftovers the next day :)
I'll spare you the details on the hassle of getting back to Boston via the Greyhound, but essentially it was an hour late and then they didn't even have room for the both of us on it, so Ian had to stay an extra night and take the early bus. I haven't had too many incidents with taking buses, but that one probably took the cake - not even having room on the bus for people who paid for a seat and showing no remorse and doing nothing about it? Shame on Greyhound, really.
Besides that tiring ending, it was a fantastic weekend and all I can think about is the next time I visit!