Travelicious

Q was what we needed. It all worked out eventually. We haven’t been to any of the upper parts of Manhattan yet, so will do that tomorrow.

Having eaten way too much, and being slightly miserable, we stopped at the hotel bar for a sambuca. Now relaxing in the room and calling it a day. The feet, calves, shins and hips are feeling it.

We weren’t sure where to eat, but looked for places as we made our way back to the hotel. There was a Mexican place we have been eyeing, and ultimately decided to go there. Y’all. It was so good! Maybe the best Mexican we’ve had. Pookie had the burria tacos and I had the enchiladas de queso with mole sauce. We each had a margarita.

I forgot that we stopped along the way for a drink. Pookie had a spicy margarita, and I had a pomegranate martini.

We stopped back by one of the restaurants and split a lobster roll and a beer. The lobster roll was the cold variety. It was good, but I prefer hot. Anyway, it was only enough for a few bites each. On the advice of other CCers, we walked on down to Brighton Beach and the in a block to check out some of the Russian neighborhood and businesses. It wasn’t long before we were ready to head back to Manhattan. Since it was still early, we were thinking of going to the upper part of Central Park, as we didn’t make it that far on Tuesday. The plan was to explore Little Italy and eat at Katz tomorrow. But, alas, plans changed due to necessity. We entered the subway station near Brighton Beach only to find out that no trains had run in some time. We were told there must be a problem. We later heard there was a fire somewhere along the line, though I didn’t find out exactly where. We decided to find somewhere to sit down and have a drink while we figured it out. We couldn’t seem to find such a place while looking, though I’m sure there are plenty around. Instead, we found a shady spot to try to figure out how to get back to Manhattan. It appeared a bus would be along in about 30 minutes, so we found the bus stop and began the wait. I looked up something else, and when I put to info back in Google maps that particular bus option had disappeared. So we weren’t sure if it was coming. I checked out the price of Uber, which was $101. We decided to wait another 10 minutes to see if the bus was going to come, and if not we’d bite the bullet and summon an Uber. A few minutes later, we heard an overhead noise and Pookie said, “Is that the train?” Sure enough! We headed up to the subway station and asked the attendant to make sure before paying to pass through the turnstiles. He said only Uptown was running. Perfect! We hopped on and made a new plan to get off at Canal Street and go ahead with the things we had planned for tomorrow in the lower East side. Not being hungry yet, we wondered toward Little Italy. OMG! The aromas were fantastic, and we would have eaten there if I didn’t have my mind set on Katz. Before long, we were winding through Chinatown before heading on to Katz. By now, it was getting a bit warm, and the layers we had on for the quite cold morning were starting to come off. Pookie was getting tired, which is kind of surprising considering she used to walk 15 miles per day for work. But that was before the middle of last September when she fell and broke her shoulder, which kept her out on worker’s comp until retirement. Anyhoo, we finally made it to Katz only to find a line about half a block long. No thanks! No telling how long that would take. So we found the nearest subway station that would get us back to Midtown.

Whew! What a day! I woke up around 5:00 this morning, having slept well. Pookie decided to play games on her phone during the night for at least 2 hours, so she was conked out while I was up making coffee, getting showered, etc. I decided to try to find Mama Jo’s Breakfast Cart, thinking if I brought back food the wonderful aroma would arouse Pookie. I found what appeared to be a popular cart, but about a block from where Google tells me Mama Jo’s should be (but wasn’t). I got us both an egg, cheese and meat roll and a cup of coffee. No photos because, you know, I often forget to take pics before scarfing it down. Sure enough, arriving back at the room Pookie woke up and prepared to eat. The sandwiches were huge, and I should have just gotten one to split. Neither of us could eat much over half. We usually drink black coffee, but the cart personnel did not ask. It had creamer and was lightly sweetened. It was nice though. After 2 days, we are getting our bearings on navigating the subway system. I actually made a plan before getting breakfast this morning, so we set shortly after breakfast. It took a bit over an hour to make it to Coney Island Beach. Most of the restaurants on the boardwalk were beginning to open, and the rides were in operation without passengers when we first arrived. There were people around, but it was not at all crowded - a first since arriving in NY. I was a little surprised that there wasn’t more to it. After we walked past the boardwalk restaurants and carnival rides, we walked onto the pier, and that was about it.

It was still great. Could really taste the garlic. This was the only burnt crust piece of my half.

Did not see many vendors. But plenty of people standing in the middle of the walkways taking selfies or photos of each other.

Having half the pizza left, we got it to go and took the ferry to Wall Street. It started to rain as we searched for the correct subway station to get us back the most easily to Grand Central. Google maps sometimes makes walking directions difficult to follow. We made it back, and have decided to just hang in our very nice hotel tonight, drink little airline size bottles of vodka that we brought for just for such an occasion, and eat the rest of the pizza. Honestly, we are so worn out after yesterday and today that I really wonder how we will hold up for this long trip. Luckily, we will have plenty of sea days on the Prima. Tomorrow’s plan is Coney Island.

It was also a much longer walk than I expected, but we rewarded ourselves with a pizza and sangria from Grimaldi’s.

We slept in until about 9:30 this morning, and it felt great. Had coffee in the room and got ready to head to Brooklyn. We took the subway from Grand Central to the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge, and walked across. There were so many more people doing the same than I expected. It was 11:30ish on a Wednesday. Don’t people work anymore?

No. They did recommend sharing sides, and there was really enough for 4 people. We couldn’t finish the steak, even though it was not “for two. They had a “for two” porterhouse for $160. No thanks. Honestly, the sides were phenomenal. The steak was tasty but pretty tough.

Calling it a day. 🥱

By the time we walked back to the hotel, my Fitbit read as follows:

Also a nice bottle of wine.