Quick getaway to the Apple
Feeling a bit of remorse for not having taken any vacations all summer, I resolved to get out of town for a few days, and over Labor Day we hopped an Amtrak up to New York City. It turned out that a week after Hurricane Irene, the weather couldn't have been more perfect for such a trip.
We just had a few concrete ideas to build the trip around, but it came together pretty well. One of those was the "Lists" exhibit at the Morgan Library and Museum, a collection from the Smithsonian of lists by famous and semifamous artists, writers, and other people. It sounds pretty dry, but it was fascinating, and reading through these documents, most handwritten or typed, many with scribbled annotations, doodles, and other illustrations, made one reflect on how much richness there is in written communication, that is, on paper; and how much we are losing as we move away from that.
The library itself was pretty fascinating too, a sumptous building occupying much of a Manhattan block, built by legendary Robber Baron J.P. Morgan in the 1800s with wealth that even today still seems almost inconceivable.
Another highlight that day was the High Line, a park built on an abandoned railway line through Manhattan's Meatpacking District, which has now been extended several more blocks up to 30th Street. I never get tired of this strange park -- there is something uniquely refreshing about this sea of tranquility amid the bustle of the city all around.
From there we walked to a great little Tex-Mex bar in the West Village and downed a couple of margaritas, and from there walked to Bell Book & Candle, an interesting restaurant on West 10th Street that is notable for growing its own vegetables on the rooftop. I had the hanger steak (not grown on the roof) with a roof-grown salad; both were yummy.
We just had a few concrete ideas to build the trip around, but it came together pretty well. One of those was the "Lists" exhibit at the Morgan Library and Museum, a collection from the Smithsonian of lists by famous and semifamous artists, writers, and other people. It sounds pretty dry, but it was fascinating, and reading through these documents, most handwritten or typed, many with scribbled annotations, doodles, and other illustrations, made one reflect on how much richness there is in written communication, that is, on paper; and how much we are losing as we move away from that.
The library itself was pretty fascinating too, a sumptous building occupying much of a Manhattan block, built by legendary Robber Baron J.P. Morgan in the 1800s with wealth that even today still seems almost inconceivable.
Another highlight that day was the High Line, a park built on an abandoned railway line through Manhattan's Meatpacking District, which has now been extended several more blocks up to 30th Street. I never get tired of this strange park -- there is something uniquely refreshing about this sea of tranquility amid the bustle of the city all around.
From there we walked to a great little Tex-Mex bar in the West Village and downed a couple of margaritas, and from there walked to Bell Book & Candle, an interesting restaurant on West 10th Street that is notable for growing its own vegetables on the rooftop. I had the hanger steak (not grown on the roof) with a roof-grown salad; both were yummy.
The next day we caught an M Train over to Long Island City. I'd been lucky enough to happen upon an article about 5Pointz in the New York Times days before the trip, and this temple to graffiti became one of our destinations. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but it turns out it was totally worth the short subway ride. A taste of it is in the slideshow here:
After that we walked over to nearby MoMA PS1, which wasn't quite as fascinating, possibly because a good section of the museum was temporarily closed while we were there, but also because a large amount of the exhibits were video-based, which isn't something I usually enjoy in a museum.
That evening we headed over to Barbone, a great little Italian restaurant on Avenue B near 11th. They have a lovely little terrace out back, and the night we were there it was lively but not oppressively crowded. My girlfriend had the black pepper pappardelle braised short rib ragu, and I had a special consisting of homemade penne and a lamb sausage-based sauce -- both were delicious and washed down with a healthy amount of wonderful Italian red wine.
On our last day we had breakfast in Greenacre Park, a tiny and tranquil urban park with a waterfall, and watched with amusement as the caretaker chased away one European tourist after another who were trying to ignore the "no photography" sign.
In between these stops was lots and lots of walking. We were completely exhausted by this point, and the Amtrak Northeast Regional and two empty seats awaiting us in Penn Station were a welcome sight. It had been a good trip.
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