New York Day Two: The High Line

On Saturday (fourth of July) I took over a hundred photos during our walking tour of the High Line and Greenwich Village. Due to this and the amount of information that we learned on the tour that I want to share with you, Saturday's adventures will be split into two blog posts. This one will have photos from the High Line part of the day, and the next post will be about Greenwich Village and food part of the tour. 

Now that that is over and done with, on with the photos! A few weeks ago we did research on walking tours of Manhattan and we decided on the High Line and Greenwich Village Food Tour from Manhattan Walking Tours. This tour is two tour combination of the High Line tour and the Greenwich Village food tour, so the food comes at the end of walking the High Line! We had a fantastic four hours learning about the history of the High Line, Chelsea, the Meatpacking District, and Greenwich Village. There was also a lot of amazing food!

We met up with our tour guide Gary (the founder of MWT) at the elevator entrance to the High Line on 30th St before heading up the High Line.

I love all of the art along the High Line. It would be amazing to live in one of the apartment buildings next to the urban park, but I don't think that they are in price range!

Along with the artwork, the flowers were also beautiful. 

Along with his research, Gary has lived in New York for most of his life and knew these areas before they were the "cool" places to visit. The buildings that opposed the building of the High Line are now advocates of it because the value on the buildings have gone up due to the park. 

Gary is so passionate about his city. He and friends have protested in front of storefronts that have taken down or changed aspects of the historical buildings that the stores are now in. In the Meatpacking District, for example, Tory Burch took down the overhang over her store. An overhang that is seen throughout the district because it was used to cart the meat from the truck into the building. In the next photo you can see how the stores around Tory Burch have the overhang, while her store now looks out of place.

After getting off the High Line, we walked into Greenwich Village for the food part of our tour. We had a great time walking the High Line and would definitely recommend Gary and his tour group to tourists and New Yorkers. In our group we had people from out of town and native New Yorkers, and we all learned a lot. 

See you in the next post about Greenwich Village and Food!

Kara

New York Day One: Sightseeing, Mexican Food and Darren Criss!

Hello! How was everyones fourth of July? Last weekend Mom, Dad and I went to New York City for a mini-vacation. We left the house early in the morning and got to the Affinia Dumont in Midtown at right before noon. We dropped off our bags and headed out into the big city!

Our first stop was the Tenement Museum on the corner of Orchard St and Delancey St in the Lower East Side. We had signed up for the "Hard Times" tour, which looked into the lives of two families who lived at 97 Orchard Ave (the actual tenement) during two different economic crises (the Panic of 1873 and the Great Depression). No photos were allowed in the tenement, but I took photos of the outside of the building.

This is the gift store and ticket counter at 103 Orchard St, the tenement is down the road

Outside of the Tenement Museum 

Looking up at the tenement

We all agreed that this is one of the coolest and most interesting museums that we have ever been to. There are seven other tours, and I want to go back and try them all. Each tour is held on a different floor. For example we visited two staged apartments on the first floor, but the "Irish Outsiders" is held on the fourth floor with a different staged apartment. We really got a glimpse of the lives of the people who lived at 97 Orchard St through the staged apartments, census records, and real life accounts.

After our tour we stopped at the gift store and bought a postcard, a New York Street Food cookbook, and some buttons for Emma. Then we headed out to explore the Lower East Side and find some lunch.

While walking on 2nd Ave we found Rosie's, a Mexican restaurant where the front glass windows opened up to open the interior to the sidewalk. Making it perfect for people watching!

We decided to split some appetizers before moving onto entrées.

Fried plantains, fresh fruit with lime and red chili, and fresh salsas.

Some guac and chips!

I loved the fried plantains and fruit. In the fruit cup there were pieces of watermelon, cucumbers, and mango. It was super refreshing for the hot day. Mom and Dad really liked the guacamole and salsas, although they liked the salsa verde better.

After eating the last plantain and scooping up the last of the guacamole, we ordered the entrées. Dad got the brisket torta, which came with black beans, avocado, lettuce, pickled jalapeño, cheese, and mayonnaise. Mom and I split the brisket tacos and the queso fundido.

Everything was delicious and I would definitely recommend Rosie's to anyone looking for good Mexican food. 

After the late lunch, we walked back up 2nd Ave back to the hotel. We passed by a lot of neat looking restaurants, a park and we went into a coffee shop for a quick pick-me-up. 

I thought this was in DC!

At Peter's Field

Also at Peter's Field. My favorite Peter!

Before going to see one of the best musicals that I have ever seen, we rested at the hotel and then got ready.

I will be the first to admit that one of the main reasons that I wanted to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch was because of Darren Criss. I have loved Darren Criss since I saw A Very Potter Musical four or five years ago. I still cannot believe that I saw him perform live and that I actually met him in person!

The musical was absolutely fantastic and it was such a privilege to see Darren perform live. Mom, Dad and I laughed through the whole thing. While it is not a musical to bring Emma to (at least not for a few years), I would love to see it again with Darren as Hedwig or with anyone as Hedwig.

As soon as the last song ended, I rushed out to stage door wait to meet Darren. While I waited for over two hours, it was definitely worth it! I also got a photo and autograph from Rebecca Naomi Jones who played Hedwig's husband Yitzhak. 

Dad's photo of me right in front of the line! Stage door is directly to my right!

AHHH!

Rebecca Naomi Jones! 

Maybe my roommate will let me hang the poster is our room!

This was an amazing first day to our long weekend. I mean, what more could I ask for? A really interesting museum, fantastic food, and a mind-blowing musical? Not much tops that. But it's a good thing that we had a great weekend plan. You'll just have to check back later this week to find out about the rest of our trip!

See you next time!

Kara

Breakfast With Dad: The Most Delicious Breakfast EVER!

In the next installment of Dad and Kara try new breakfast places, we went to the Ugly Mug Diner in Salem, MA. I had seen this place when I went to Salem with my grandfather last week. It was also featured in North Shore Magazine's "Best of the North Shore 2015" for breakfast.  I checked the menu online and immediately knew that I needed to go there! The diner calls themselves a "foodie haven, not a greasy spoon" and it is certainly a foodie haven.

One side of the sign outside of the diner.

Same!

While looking through the menu Dad and I both got large orange juices (freshly squeezed) and espresso drinks. He had a double espresso and I got a cappuccino. My cappuccino came in a, you guessed it, ugly mug! Every table already comes with an ugly mug filled with the creamer cups. My mug was for a motorcycle company and the one on our table had different variations of "mom" written all over it. I saw a Scarecrow (from "The Wizard of Oz") mug that was pretty ugly!

Now onto the good stuff! I made the fantastic choice of getting the "This Ain't No Chicken & Waffles," which is duck confit and candied pecans on top of a waffle with a bourbon maple syrup reduction. This was out of this world delicious! Why don't I have duck more often? And for breakfast!

Dad also got duck, but he got it in "The Hungry Chef" with Brisket Hash, wheat toast and two sunny-side up eggs. He loved it and found it interesting that the hash was made with sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. 

Overall definitely a 5 out of 5 and we would come again. The delicious food along with the quirkiness of the restaurant with all of the ugly mugs on every table made the experience unique and fun. We need to take Mom with us next time! (Plus we got 10% discount at Wicked Good Books if we brought our receipt!)

Dad and I then spent some time wandering around Salem and looking at all the witch related stores in the area.

A "Bewitched" statue 

Some storefronts on Essex St. 

I guess that this is the American Ollivanders?

Stickwork, part of the Peabody Essex Museum

This is supposed to be an abstract map of Salem with a Torii (Japanese gateway) to represent Salem's relationship with the Far East.

Dad and I had a great time at the Ugly Mug Diner and walking around Salem. We went into some cool shops. I especially liked Roost & Company where I got a Jane Austen candle! Dad and I agreed that we would want to come back to Salem and try some of the other restaurants. 

See you next time,

Kara