The Great American Road Trip: Day 80

Thursday I dealt with parking, then took the subway over to Greenwich Village to walk around. Chloe's suggestion via text was "Check out the MET or the museum of natural history (SCIENCE!!) or go to the village or Central Park! EAT EVERYTHING!!!" This is why I love my friends.

I wandered around the Village for a while, and when I got chilly I stopped and settled in at Think Coffee. The tea selection in a coffee shop can be a little hit or miss, but I knew I'd hit the jackpot when I saw that they had lapsang souchong tea - that distinct, deliciously smokey tea that is typically an acquired taste and is definitely one that you don't find in many places, but I've come to really enjoy it. I wrote some postcards for an hour or so, then started to wander uptown to see Chloe for lunch. She wasn't going to be free until 12:30 but suggested a few places to check out near her office.

And that's how I ended up spending 30 minutes in Lush, being overwhelmed by competing scents and chatting away with the staff while they scrubbed and moisturized my hands to within an inch of their lives! At least they were finally nice and warm, albeit smelling very strongly of just about every flower ever turned into a body product. I was offered a lip scrub by the sweet young Puerto Rican guy with fire-engine red hair in a manner reminiscent of being offered a shot of booze when still underage. We "did" the lip scrub and then "chased" it with a honey lip balm that left my lips tingly and smiling. I thanked them all for their time and company - they seemed to be having just as much fun as I was, it was a slow morning for them.

I checked out a few of the stores in the Garment District before turning the corner and being met with a flying hug by Chloe. We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant whose name I just can't remember (Chloe?), and then treated ourselves to macaroons at a pop up food court that had appeared around the corner from her office in a large street median area. Maple and bacon is clearly the "it" combination still, but for good reason - the macaroon was delicious, as was the Earl Gray. I think macaroons might be my next baking venture when I get home...anyone want to help? I took a quick tour of her office after getting a hasty "security clearance" via a few phone calls, then she had to actually do some work so I said goodbye and headed back out into the cold.

I texted Elissa, a college friend who I rowed with for three years, and met her on 5th before we continued on to Central Park. She lives in New Jersey with her fiance Sarah (another crew friend) but comes into the city almost daily to volunteer in the pediatric oncology ward at a city hospital, as well as working as a nanny for a few families in the city while she applies to nursing programs. We walked all the way up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art - ostensibly it's admission by donation but we were discouraged by the glaring admission people when we stood there contemplating paying less than the suggested $25, so we went to the gift shop and spent our money there instead ;) It was fun seeing the more popular works of art reproduced as cards, scarves, shirts, mugs, etc - I can't wait to go back when I actually have a whole day to spend looking through the massive museum!

After walking back to Penn Station so that she could catch the train home, I continued down to Union Square to meet Alicia, Emily, and her co-workers for celebratory birthday drinks at Reservoir (Emily's was Tuesday, her friend Steven's was Saturday). After drinks I met up with two college friends - Sarah Brady and Caitlin. Sarah and I met through friends, Caitlin and I rowed together, and after a bit of searching it turned out that they had, in fact, met each other before! Sarah was working in publishing but has now jumped into TV and documentaries as a production assistant (?) and loves her new job - she works with folks on Law and Order: SVU and also on an upcoming, super secret documentary - how cool is that? Caitlin is working in publishing and wants to stay in the industry but is currently working her tail off networking and applying to jobs, hoping to move to a company that's a little bigger so that she can get into a position that has the potential for continued upward movement and new challenges.

Caitlin suggested an arepa bar called Caracas, which we all thought sounded delicious, but tragically the wait was easily an hour so we decided that Venezuelan food would have to wait for another day. Instead we went to Japadog! Besides having a cool name, the concept is also cool and a little crazy - essentially it's Japanese foods and condiments served on top of hot dogs. I had one that was served with a teriyaki onion sauce and strips of roasted seaweed on top, but I almost got the one with the potstickers on it ;) Cheap, tasty, and different - just what we were looking for! Sarah went home to get some sleep, but Caitlin and I stopped for some frozen yogurt before getting on the train to go back to Brooklyn. Despite the cold winter weather, New Yorkers seem to love their frozen yogurt - there seemed to be yet another store every few blocks!

I'm starting to believe that if you live in NY long enough you develop some kind of a homing system for the subway, so that you have a general idea at all times of where the nearest entrance is and how that relates to where the nearest train to get home is. I happily followed Caitlin onto her line once I realized that I could take it to transfer to the A line I'd been using, but without her confident striding along towards the subway I would have been on my phone trying to figure out where in the world I was and how to get where I needed to go. :p