Old Fashioned in Hip Brooklyn

Mark and I took the subway over to the Carroll Gardens neighborhood in Brooklyn.  This neighborhood is filled with brownstones on tree-lined streets.  The reason we came to this neighborhood was that I had wanted to try an Old Fashioned cocktail, and Mark had done some research on the web that indicated that Prime Meats had some of the best in town.  The cocktails were indeed wonderful, using bitters made from the pear tree in the back yard.  We felt a bit out of place here, though.  I thought I didn't know what a hipster was until I came here:  hipster heaven.  Thankfully we came here at 2:30 in the afternoon, an "off time."  Not only were we old, but we made the mistake of telling our server that we had come all the way from New Jersey to try the Old Fashioned.  Barely containing his look of horror, he said disdainfully:  "Well I hope it lives up to the hype."  sigh.  On the way home, we stopped at Whole Foods in Union Square.  It was a madhouse.  We were swept through the doors by the crowd.  Even after three months, I haven't become accustomed to the crowds that are everywhere.

The 3Ms Bike Staten Island

Mike came to New York to attend Daniel's bachelor party.  On Friday afternoon, Mike, Mark and Mary put bikes on the car and drove over the Bayonne Bridge to Staten Island.  We parked at the nothern point of the island (a mile or so west of St. George) and rode to St. George.  We took the Staten Island Railway down to Tottenville (southern point of island) and then rode our bikes up the eastern shore, about 20 miles of riding.  (Click here to see our route.)  While quite a bit of the ride was on busy streets, we had some stretches of bike path along the ocean.  We rode through many different neighborhoods.  Got back to the car just as a thunderstorm was approaching, and made it all the way back to our Newport neighborhood before the downpour.  It was like driving through a car wash for about 6 blocks.  We parked in the parking garage, which is right behind our building.  But they don't have skyways here, so we hung out in the garage until the rain let up.  It was great to spend the day biking with Mike.

Tutu

Tutu is the Hawaiian term for Grandma.  Julia got a tutu from a friend of Nancy's.  Grandma is goofy.  Thus, tutu in tutu.

Sister Act

Holy Mary

Mark and I went to see Sister Act on Broadway last night with Linda Arnesen, our friend and neighbor from the Brownstones.  It was a great production, with lots of singing and dancing, fantastic staging and costumes, and a lively audience.  Broadway was unbelievably crowded; in addition to the normal crush of tourists, Beyonce was performing a block away and the line was 4-deep, snaking behind barriers for over 4 blocks!

Brownstone Buddies and Barbeque

We met our friend and Brownstones neighbor for dinner at Daisy Mae's Barbecue.  It had been raining all day, and Manhattan was very wet.  But at least it kept the crowds down.  Linda is in town for a housewares show.  It was great to see her and catch up on things.  The food was good, but I like Dinosaur Bar-b-que better.  Luckily, we plan to go to Dinosaur next weekend to celebrate my birthday!