Monday, September 23, 2013

NYC Travelogue (Part 1)


Hello Foolish Mortals,

I apologize for my absence…I am usually chock full of updates this time of year (the most wonderful time of the year!), but I recently got back from vacation and then got overwhelmed with work, etc. upon my return. I wish I could be permanently on vacation (doesn't everybody?)!

Since I can’t be forever on vacation, I wanted to share with you my vacation to New York City I took earlier this month! Mister Spooky and I jetted off to NYC for Triton Festival, a goth/industrial music festival held every year there. We've always wanted to go, and this year we decided to do it! Below you'll find my travelogue of the trip, though I want to share so much that I'll be breaking it down into several posts over the next few days.

Our vacation began with a red eye flight on Wednesday night that got us to New York in the early morning on Thursday. Our friend that lives there was gracious enough to meet us and show us the ways of the subway back to his place on Wall Street, where we stowed our luggage and went off to explore! The streets of Wall Street were eerily empty and hauntingly beautiful just as the sun was rising. Then we hopped the subway and ended up in the East Village near Sustainable NYC, so I took a look around at this adorable eco-shop and grabbed a vegan muffin to go!


Trinity Church in the Financial District

We got some rest at our friend’s place before heading off again – we checked out the Financial District and Trinity Church. The church was gorgeous and I spent a bit of time strolling through its old cemetery. Such bliss to be in a green, peaceful location while the chaos of crowds and concrete reigned around me!

Angelica Kitchen - pickled plate, Dish a Dixie and parfait

Then we went to my first vegan restaurant in the city – Angelica Kitchen! For a starter, I got the Angelica Pickle Plate – “Garlic pickled shiitake, assorted seasonal pickled vegetables & marinated beets.” For an entrée, I chose the Dish a Dixie – “Grilled tempeh roasted in succulent barbecue sauce; steamed greens tossed with garlic oil and cider vinegar, studded with maple pecans; coleslaw of red and green cabbage with carrots, in creamy almond dressing; plated with choice of Southern style cornbread or mashed Yukon gold potatoes.” Of course I got dessert, which was Apricot Plum Kanten Parfait! Everything was delicious and I just wish I had room to try more!

Feeling satisfied, we headed down to Obscura Antiques and Oddities, which was featured on the show Oddities! I pretty much wanted to buy everything there, but I settled on a little bat encased in a clear block and some pins. They were really friendly there (to be honest, I had expected snootiness since they probably have a lot of people wandering through since they were on TV) and we chatted with them about our trip and about their specimens. Absolutely loved it there!!

After all that excitement, not to mention running on limited sleep because of our flight, we headed “home” to where we were staying…we actually booked a place off AirBnB, which is where you rent someone’s apartment or room. We found a really, really cheap place in Midtown that saved us a lot of money! It was a 5-story walk-up and a bit far from the subway, but for our purposes it would serve us just fine for our stay in NYC.

Champs in Brooklyn - "Death Before Decaf", French Toast Slam, 
Pancake Bowl and Drunken Cowgirl Bowl

The next day, we headed off to Brooklyn for vegan brunch at Champs! I have been dreaming of going there for so long! To start I got a vegan maple egg cream, since we were in Brooklyn and it seemed only proper! It was fizzy deliciousness! Then I got the French toast slam with some cold brew coffee. Mister Spooky got the Drunken Cowgirl bowl. I loved my vegan French toast slam, but Mister Spooky’s was ridiculously yummy! Our friend joined us and got the Pancake Bowl, which looked delicious!

Dun-well Doughnuts in Brooklyn - my half-devoured root beer
and lemon cardamom doughnut, cuz they were so good I 
almost forgot to take a picture!

After Champs I had a craving for something sweet, so we walked down to Dun-Well Doughnuts, which is not too far from Champs. I got a root beer doughnut and a lemon cardamom doughnut. Mister Spooky got a German chocolate doughnut and oh my goodness, these were perfection! The vibe there was also very cute – it was old-timey with ‘20s music playing. Seriously wish I could live in doughnut shop! It was probably my favorite place we went to the whole trip!

Strolling through Central Park was pure bliss!

We headed back into Manhattan and spent the rest of the afternoon sipping on iced coffees and enjoying the last of our doughnuts in Central Park. It was beautiful weather, in the mid-70s with no humidity, so it was gorgeous strolling weather! We were both blown away by the beauty and serenity of Central Park.

Friday night at Triton Fest - Psyclon Nine, London After Midnight 
and The Birthday Massacre!

That night was Triton Fest, which was being held at Irving Plaza. We saw Deadstar Assembly, Psyclon Nine, Faderhead, London After Midnight and The Birthday Massacre! Had a great time rocking out to some of our favorite bands and meeting people who came from all over to this music festival!

Read about part 2 of the trip!

1 comment:

  1. lots of good foods, sights and some bands that brought back memories! lucky!

    ReplyDelete