Empire State of Mind – NYC Day 1

Mother Nature treated us to a gorgeous day for Canada Day.

Naturally I celebrated in my own patriotic manner by hopping a Porter flight to NYC.

After a bumpy flight we touched down in Jersey, I held onto my cookies on the short shuttle ride into The City and stepped out directly in front of my old company.

A quick walk to the hotel (Hilton Garden Inn, Times Square) later I rescued Jules from the lobby. It was after 3 and way past lunch time so walked over to Pret for “lunch”.

I went for the veggie wrap and still water strawberry lemonade. Both lived up to Pret’s great quality.

Jules really wanted to see Ellis Island and I like boats so we hit the town running for Battery Park.

The Eagle has landed!

Lady Libby is only thiiiisssssssssss big.

She’s quite diminutive in the shadow of the city skyscrapers.

Of course that all depends on your perspective.

I overheard something profound on the boat; “Birds poop on statues just like they poop on humans”… Truer words…

Ellis Island was pretty neat and the architecture is awesome!

The main hall was amazing but can you image how badly this smelled back in the day?

The sleeping quarters were kind of rough, can you imagine staying here for months?

Even though I’m not American, nor do I have ties to Ellis Island, I enjoyed the snapshots of the past.

An original column with notes from those who passed through.

The views of NYC from Ellis Island were spectacular.

Once we returned to NYC our first stop was Crumbs.

Crumbs has locations all over NY and they have quite an assortment of unique flavours.

Since we couldn’t try them all we went for the Grasshopper (mint choc) and Reeses. I quenched my thirst with a iced raspberry tea which was one of the better American Iced teas I’ve had but sorry America, Canadian iced tea is where it’s at.

We walked up Wall street looking for the Bull and instead walked up to an Urban cemetery in the heart of FiDi. It’s cool but I’m not sure how Feng Shui it is to have one in close proximity to the NYSE.

Eventually we found the bull. Peace OUT yo!

The last time I was in NY was the summer following September 11^th, seeing the massive hole in the ground and the tributes decorating a nearby church was eerie and even amid the bustle of the city it felt silent.

Nearly 10 years later, with reconstruction efforts well under way and the tributes cleared away, I still felt the same. The quiet is hollow and I’m sure I could walk by hundreds of times and still feel the same.

Just one block East feels like a different world with the gorgeous city hall building rising above a city parkette.

Vogue!

We took a seat on a bench facing the fountain and split the mint chocolate cupcake.

OMG so good! Crumbs wins the best icing award for cupcake shops. I also enjoyed that the cupcake was filled, overall a great cake!

We saved the other cupcake for later and perused Century 21 before heading to the Gramercy/Flatiron area for Kenny Callaghan’s southern BBQ at Blue Smoke.

There was a small wait so we took seats at the bar and started with stiff Strawberry Watermelon Daiquiri’s.

The relaxed and easy woody feel plus skylights and wall of windows in the back dining area clearly say BBQ meets big city. Our waiter was awesome and made us comfortable from the start.

We both ordered the pulled pork which came on homemade white bread with a side of beans and coleslaw.

The beans were cooked perfectly but just missed the rich taste I prefer and the coleslaw was pretty good but not the best I’ve ever had. The pulled pork however was fantastic! The meat was very good quality and the flavor was delectable on its own or with added “magic” sauce from the table.

I couldn’t finish the coleslaw or beans butthere was no pork left behind! The only downside is that we didn’t have room for dessert. I guess I’ll just have to come back for the ribs and dessert.

After the eating we’d done I was glad to walk through Times Square on our way back to the hotel, I was stuffed!