Jack and I went on a sort of last minute long weekend trip to NYC – left CLE bright and early at 0600 and flew to Newark, NJ.We had no problems with our flight and arrived at Newark just on time. We took the NJ Transit train right to Penn Station from the airport. We checked out the beautiful new train station at Penn Station and then had a nice breakfast at a nearby diner – mapping out our day.We walked over to Hudson Yards – just a few blocks away and admired the new architecture and the ill fated Vessel that is now closed because too many people have been jumping off it to their deaths!It was a beautiful, blue skied sunny morning. Perfect for exploring Manhattan.The High Line starts right at Hudson Yards and we walked down looking forward to coming back some time in Spring or Summer when everything is blooming.The High Line is amazing in all the development it has spurred. It is interesting to see the very old and the very new along the path. One can argue the costs and benefits of gentrification but not sure how you can’t think this a good thing.We stopped at the Little Island towards the end of the High Line that opened up a few years ago that is literally a park build on a pier. Super cool.Nice views of downtown from the top of the park.We walked through Chelsea Market, walked through some of the meatpacking district and made our way to the Whitney Museum.I somehow finagled my way to get free tickets to the Whitney on their website fiddling around. It was a beautiful museum – all American art with lots of cool stuff,There was an Edward Hopper exhibit going on that was super impressive. He was a very prolific artist dabbling in everything and very talented.After a couple of hours in the museum we continued to walk south through Greenwich Village and Soho and stopped at a nice spot for tacos, guacamole and beer.We kept walking south and stopped to admire the impressive 1 World Trade Center.The solemn 911 memorial fountains.Nice shot.The Oculus – the World Trade Center train station. Makes you feel like you’re in Star Wars.Jack bought a swatch 🙂Walked further downtown through Wall Street……and eventually made it to the Brooklyn Bridge – along with the rest of the world – it was super crowded. We walked across, caught an Uber on the other side and went to our hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for a well needed rest.We took the subway back to Manhattan in the evening heading uptown to the Guggenheim.The Alex Katz exhibit is the reason why I wanted to go to NYC. This was the last weekend that it was hear so super happy that we made it happen. Courtney is also a big Katz fan and was upset that she couldn’t get off work to come with us.The exhibit was amazing – taking over the whole Guggenheim. His wife Ada was his muse for many years and this is the famous multiple Ada’s in a black dress,upside down Ada.deconstructed Katz.Such an amazing place – and so so so happy we were able to make it happen.We decided to head back to Brooklyn after the museum. Jack had been researching the best Brooklyn pizza joints so we did a small tour. First stop was Best Pizza – very Brooklyn sitting outside on folding chairs and drinking cans of Budweiser. Pizza was excellent.Next stop was Rosa’s – more of a fresh mozarella vibe – but good none the less.Last stop was L’Industrie where we had two more excellent slices as well as a nice bottle of natural wine. All places were excellent – there’s dozens more too. Best was my favorite.Long day of walking
Sunday, February 19th, 2023
After a good night’s sleep we hit the road – first stop Black Seed Bagels a few blocks down from our hotel where I go a sesame seed bagel, scallion cream cheese and bacon.We walked across the Williamsburg Bridge this time to get over to Manhattan. It was much more pleasant as we were about the only ones on it.While not as historic or picturesque as the Brooklyn Bridge it is still a cool bridge with nice views.We wandered around the Lower East Side, then walked up to the East Village – walked through Tompkins Square Parked then jumped on the subway to midtown.We went on a walking tour of Grand Central Station and the area directly around there.Grand Central Station is beautiful and it was interesting to hear the history that surrounds it. The tour was good but could have been about 30 minutes shorter.The beautiful Chrysler Building.It was lunch time so we decided to head down to China Town to explore down there and find somewhere to eat.China Town was bustling. Always amazed how big it is.Food options were endless – we checked out lots of different places.We ended up at a place that I don’t remember what the name was – but was almost like a food court with lots of diffent options. We had these really good dumplings as well as several other plates of things. We were about the only non-Asians there so it was a good choice.Had to try out the gelato in Little ItalyHung out on Tompkins square for a bit.Went back to Brooklyn for a rest… couldn’t say no to milk bar. Cereal milk soft serve is a must.We decided to stay in Brooklyn for the evening and went to a bunch of different bars around Williamsburg. First stop was Other Half brewery where we had a couple of good beers.Next stop was <what was it called???> a nice little place where I had a fancy cocktail, Jack had a glass of natural wine and we had a plate of bruschetta.Went to another place and had some oysters and drinks.Went to this other bar that only had aperitifs… super wacky bartender was interesting to watch and gave us lots of tastes.Ended up at a jazz club that we unsuccessfully tried to get in early for a manhattan night cap in a nice setting. Unfortunately just missed the band. Fun night
Monday, February 20th, 2023
Got up, packed up our stuff and went to a breakfast place a few streets down in Williamsburg that unfortunately was closed. So we took the subway to Manhattan – grabbed some bagels and coffee and walked around mid-town.A little hungover after all those manhattans.Another Kusoma takeover on 5th Avenue.Walked through central park admiring the new tall skinny skyscrapers where the 0.01% live.After a nice walk through Central Park we spent the rest of the morning and mid-afternoon at the Met. I thought I have been there before… but after wandering around I realized I haven’t because it is the most amazing place ever. Amazing stuff around every corner like this famous portrait of Gertrude Stein by Picasso.They don’t have just famous works by artists… they have multiple ROOMS of stuff by the artist. A whole wing for an Egyptian temple.We were there for 3 hours and barely made a dent.Back on the lovely subway… (I love all subways)…Strolled around for an hour or so… Empire State Building. We eventually made our way back to Penn Station where we took the train to Newark to catch our flight home. Of course when we got to the airport our flight was delayed 2 hours… but Newark actually has a really nice airport and we were tired so just found someplace to put our feet up, had another beer or two and we survived. Great trip.
Eat On Edgecliff 