Another Marathon in NYC

A view from on high with Brooklyn Bridge below.

Yes, it was the weekend for the NYC Marathon 2017. We saw runners with muscled legs everywhere we wanted to be. One sat down at the next table at brunch, having just finished the 26.2 mile run, at Maison Pickle, which was near the finish line. Runners sporting their medals and caps squeezed on the subway with us and others rode to the top of the World Trade Center Freedom Tower with us.

It is reported that there were over 50,000 finishers this year. We walked through Central Park in one area where we could get through the police barricade and got a glimpse of the runners near the finish, in mid-afternoon. After a 2-cocktail brunch (first cocktail photo by M. below) and a heavy Challah bread Croque Madame at Maison Pickle, I was dragging my feet across Central Park until we could access a taxi home on the other side. It was a little rainy, humid and warm ... and my worst moment in NYC.

Hair of the Porcupine - a very fancy NYC pickleback cocktail.

For this aging body, just navigating the streets and subways is a bit of a NYC marathon!

I almost missed my connection in Detroit and had to sort of sprint to a different concourse for my flight to NYC. My shins were already aching before I got to NYC! ... and then there was the pounding on (dirty, gummy) sidewalks for 3 days. They say you quickly get used to that aspect of NYC.

But it was a safe and fun-filled few days. The only thing I lost in NYC besides a chunk of change was half a turkey sandwich that fell out of my shopping bag somewhere between Macy's Herald Square and the Upper East Side apartment, probably after setting the bag on the floor at the misty outdoor rooftop bar.

 As always, I will document the highlights, so that I will remember!

I don't really know where to begin...

Before the weekend was over, son-in-law S. asked me what had been the highlight so far. I said to wait until I posted ... but it was likely to be the rise to the (100th-103rd) floor of One World Trade, currently the 6th tallest building in the world.

The whole WTC area--the beautiful new Oculus transportation hub, the sky-scraping WTC Building #4 with its gorgeous Eataly which we explored (second Eataly this trip!), including a spacious restaurant and bar with a view (new bucket list wish), the expanded walkways, Le District--the so-called "French Eataly" at Brookfield Place where we lunched, a new WTC park, a rising St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox church dome, designed by the Oculus architect, Santiago Calatrava--all in the shadow of One World Trade, all very impressive, and not too crazy with visitors on this particular Tuesday midday.

The whole "FiDi" experience was "tops", even as I fulfilled my wishes to view the city from the 101st floor and to see the inside of the Oculus. But there were many other moments and surprises along the way all weekend, in various districts of the city, some new to me--such as East Village, SoHo and Koreatown.

With all that is beautiful here now, we will not forget... 

A last minute plan allowed Florida daughter R. to join us for all but the Tuesday afternoon in lower Manhattan. That was a rare event and was especially fun as all four of us were able to dine together in unique spots. Her Tuesday was filled with business meetings and we joined together again in time for her to sample cronut #2 at the apartment before sharing an Uber to La Guardia airport.

The first evening we had reservation at Momofuku Saäm in the East Village. We indulged in cocktails and shared small plates of unique food, including skate with conge, something with squid ink, corn ribs ... and some of it was even tasty! The off-menu pork buns were the to-die-for favorite of the evening. The place has just imported a new chef from Singapore and recently received a good NYT magazine review, It was sadly too dark for any photos. Right across the street was a Momofuku Milk Bar and I stopped in for a compost cookie while we waited to be seated.

The very first morning had us sharing an egg pastry and maple cruller at a new Danny Meyer installation, Daily Provisions. The cruller was rich and buttery, unlike anything I can remember. It was not on my list, but only because I did not know about it! Four of us shared it, so it was not sooo decadent.

We also happened upon the Flatiron building soon after that, much to my surprise. As we approached it from the rear, I noted its detail at the top, not knowing what it was. The building is a photo favorite, a selfie and Instragam must, and so we indulged ourselves in the requisite touristy shots--another bucket list item fulfilled!

Eataly should also have been on my list. The location in the old Flatiron district was overwhelming for the senses, packed with amazing culinary delights with shocking prices. Even the names were intriguing, for example, as I noted a small gelato waffle cone was a piccolo:

After that we somehow navigated to the Upper West Side where we walked up Amsterdam Avenue. I stopped at a bakery for a big black and white cookie--also on my list! and still tasty on Tuesday afternoon when I had a chance to taste it--finally arriving at Jacob's Pickle only to find there was a two hour wait. We decided on a more upscale sister restaurant nearby, Maison Pickle. That is where I had the amazing pickleback cocktail, plus a Green Machine and then that Challah Croque Madame. Oh my!

The pickleback had been on the list for quite awhile. We tried one in the apartment once, but it was awful and M. spit pickle brine (or was it caper juice or something?) all over the marble table. A place with pickle in its name, with its own home-brewed brine, seems like the perfect place for the experience.

After resting our stomachs in the apartment we took the subway to Koreatown for some Karaoke. The kids found a few old songs I knew, but I mostly listened to the young ones belt out their favorites in our private room. I am amazed at the repertoire they knew. M. killed on a little Mermaid song and one from Les Mis, while S. surprised us with some fast-paced rap. R. loved the whole experience.

We had some late night Halal food from a food truck and then returned home.

Monday morning saw every one but me get back to their jobs. In the afternoon I went with R. to the area of her business meeting, near the Union Square farmer's market. I was impressed with the produce there but didn't find anything I cared to eat. R. scarfed up a spinach pastry before her meeting, but fortunately I was there with a floss pick in my purse to check her teeth--in the park!

Claiming to be the largest store in the world, the Herald Square Macy's was not on my list, but we meandered through several floors of the store after R.'s meetings concluded. The glitzy Christmas decor was already up. They have restored some of the old wooden escalators.

After Macy's we walked to the Vu, with a view of the Empire State Building. I ordered something sweet and amaretto from the happy hour list and we attempted selfies with the  top of the building in view. It was impossible! Having already received a generous tip, the bartender offered to lay down on the floor doing crunches to get our heads into the photo with the top of the building. We had to throw another bill into the tip jar!

Monday night was our last night together and we decided on a local UES French restaurant that was familiar to three of us. I had gnocchi with brussels and goat cheese. We all had fine late night dinners with a specially selected French red wine by R. that went down as smooth as butter.

Tuesday M. took off work. We had a cronut pickup time scheduled at Dominique Ansel Bakery in SoHo. It was not that busy and we even found a table to indulge in a half-cronut each and coffee. I think the coffee was $7.50. The cronut was $6. There is one flavor for each month:

Our next stop was the famed Freedom Tower. An escalator from the subway we took from SoHo put us right into the Oculus. We then went past the Memorial and got in the line which extended out the door at the Observatory. I was concerned that we would have to dump the cronut at the security checkpoint, but I was able to carry it with me to the top of the tower, where I bought a water bottle at the gift shop and acquired a nice bag with handles. I found it funny that we had to take our special second cronut to the top of the tower with us, so I documented its journey as well:

The observation experience smacked of Disney, but we didn't mind. They even take a photo of your party in front of a fake view. I got a $2 discount for being a senior, paying $35 to ascend, on a very fast, ear-popping ride--102 floors in 47 seconds!

After viewing the city on a now overcast day, we were hungry. We walked to Brookfield Place and ate in the French market, picking our own steak to be cooked while we watched. For $9 we added salad and fries and also ordered some sauteed veggies--a very fine lunch, cooked in full flaming view for a modest cost of a little more that $20 each, with tip. No alcohol was involved!

We then took a brief tour of the Eataly in the WTC building #4 before returning by subway to crash and pack at the apartment.

M. had time to do the laundry and remove all traces of her 3-day guests. I tidied the bathroom a bit, but didn't do much mom-cleaning this trip. I was exhausted ... and it all looked pretty good!

So that's about it. Did you count my completed bucket list items?

Until next trip...

One last photo of this amazing building, highlighted by a golden tree in the new garden.

(I tried to use different photos than already shared on Facebook, and also used photos taken by daughter M. in this post.)