I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Despite the fact that the city has felt like a furnace this weekend, I still got out and about! As you probably read, my weekend started out with a Yankees game in the Bronx. The Yankees ended up losing pretty badly to the Chicago White Sox, but we all know the realreason I go to the games anyways is actually for the stadium food. At least I’m honest right!? And the food was great as always. So win or lose it was a great evening.
This game we had some crazy Yankees fans in front of us that were hoot and hollering the whole game! Let me not forget to mention that none of them were above the age of 4. I thought the guys were pretty crazy about sports, but these little ones in front of us were pretty into the game. Besides being decked out in Yankees gear head-to-toe they also seemed to understand the game pretty well too — chanting for each Yankee player, by name, as they were up to bat. I certainly can’t say the same since I’ve really only become a Yankees fan by default. “If you can’t beat them, join them” probably best sums up my loyalty to the team. You can bet that any of the children in front of me would have definitely corrected me when I said the White Sox has scored 7 points. It’s runs Anna.. not points! As I was watching these kids chant away in front of me I started to see the progression of these die-hard Yankees fans from young kids, to the teenagers behind us, to Chris and his friends, and then the retired couple to the side of us. Whether it’s the Yankees, my Oregon Ducks, or any other team I’ve decided that it is these die-hard fans that really make the sporting events such a great time. Plus, having good food doesn’t hurt either ;-)
The rest of the weekend involved a lot of R&R. I started Saturday out by heading to brunch with one of my friends at a favorite of ours, Alice’s Tea Cup. I’ve talked about this restaurant a dozen times before about their scones, but this was the first time that we actually made it to brunch since I’ve lived here! It’s not for a lack of trying either — of the dozen attempts we’ve made. The usual hour+ wait is usually enough for us to just grab some scones to go and try a different location. This time was a SUCCESS though!
It was definitely worth the wait too! Here you will see a picture of my “Alice’s Curious French Toast”, which was complete with brioche bites of french toast soaked in apricot brandy tea, cooked bread-pudding style and served with raspberry couli, vanilla creme anglaise, maple syrup and topped with fresh berries. Mmm, just the description is enough to make me want to go back for more!
After brunch, it was time to catch up on reading and enjoy the sunshine at Carl Schurz Park, around the corner from my apartment.
Sometimes living along the East River is a little inconvenient when it comes to travel since the subway is 4 avenues (long blocks) away. But, on days like this I couldn’t be happier that I can take a scroll along the river and enjoy the park that is only a block away. Lately, I have been spending a lot of time past Gracie Mansion on a grassy hill in the park. I’ve found that it’s usually a little less crowded, has a great view of some of the bridges, and since it’s on a hill it gets a nice breeze from the river. It’s a great place to just sit and relax and watch the ferries, ski-doos, and boats go by too.
By the time the evening had rolled around I was ready to head to dinner at another favorite spot, Go Burger. In honor of 4th of July, the restaurant had a special burger that I can’t wait to tell you about. They termed it the “Ball Park Burger” and basically it was a combination of a hamburger and a hot dog. On top of one of their juicy burgers, was a thick slice of bologna sausage, Go Burger secret sauce, smoked ketchup, american cheese, and coleslaw. The only words to describe this bad boy are juicy and delicious.
I wrapped up the weekend on Sunday with my first trip the summer to the beach. After enduring the heat wave in the city this week, getting out and to the coast seemed like the perfect idea to wrap up the weekend. That is was too! It was still a sizzling 92 degrees, but being close to the ocean makes all of the difference. We definitely spent a lot of time in the ocean too! Having not spent much time in the Pacific Ocean (except my feet) I am still amazed by just how salty it really is. It doesn’t seem to matter if my eyes, nose and mouth are closed, I still end up drinking quite a bit of salty water. Although it might have something to do with my technique on riding the waves. Apparently, according to the boys, proper wave-riding technique is not to go head first into the waves, but what do they know! ;-) In all seriousness, I definitely think my sinuses are cleared out better than any neti pot could do after a day of hanging out in the ocean.
I also saw something interesting today for the first time! Along the beaches, there are planes that go by with flags attached to the back with advertisements. I still think it is funny that they actually do this, but today I saw something even stranger! All of a sudden, I looked up and there were plumes of smoke spelling out letters for advertisements. I looked at the boys like I had seen a ghost, and after poking fun at me, they explained that planes flew close to each other and produced the plumes to spell out letters. Maybe you guys have seen this before, but I thought it was pretty interesting for my first time. I found a video online of the same ad they were doing today at the beach. Click here to check it out.
I hope your weekend was as relaxing as mine! I also hope you didn’t get as burnt as me though.. Currently I am sort of resembling a raccoon from a sunglass tan/burn line. Off to put on some aloe!
