Shana Tova

So Mi Cariño and I decided to celebrate the Jewish New Year by taking advantage of a deal purchased months ago. A night at Glen Cove Mansion with several fun perks along the way. We began by picking up the car near La Guardia, then drove less than an hour to the great unknown that is Long Island. Here's the view on the drive up. I have a clearer picture of the Mansion, but I kinda like the tree being in the way so to speak. 

The Mansion is pretty big, and there's some story to it, but not really anything super exciting. It's beautiful though, with wonderfully manicured grounds. We began by enjoying their entertainment center, where we played some ping pong (this was not table tennis folks.) There's a disagreement as to who won the two games we played, but I'm pretty sure it was me.

After ping pong, we used the bikes that the hotel allowed us free use of, and rode around the surrounding streets. I didn't take any pictures of that, but regardless I wouldn't post those because I looked hella funky in that bike helmet. It has been over a year since the last time I rode a bike anywhere, so this was a lot of fun, but also very scary.

Bike riding led to visiting the Long Island Sound, which was as dark and greyish as the name sounds. We enjoyed the fresh air and the tiny walk before snuggling down to watch "Super 8," which we had wanted to see in the theaters but never got a chance to. The movie is really good - it's like a scarier, treasure-less Goonies. Really fun.

Soon it was time for dinner and so we went to the Mansion's third floor to their restaurant Pub 1910 to first have some drinks

My appletini was perfect. Then I opted for a turkey club on sourdough bread with mayo and fries.

It left a lot to be desired, I managed to eat half of it before I gave up on it. The Pub had some live music entertainment, good old music, but nothing that I loved much. The Pub had a good atmosphere though, and we enjoyed our time there.

To finish our visit, the next morning the Mansion provided us with free breakfast. We were very pleased to see that it wasn't the regular continental breakfast fare.

You're looking at cantaloupe, blueberries, french toast, home fries, sausage, bacon, toast, and "scrambled eggs." The eggs were powdery and they were the only thing that wasn't great. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the free food, and ate to my hearts content, even if it was a bit too much.

All in all, an amazing way to begin the new year.

Catching Up

Tried to listen to some poetry at the Bowery, but just couldn't make myself do it. Instead, met up with Weks and we tailed it to Sláinte, an Irish Pub nearby to talk about girls, food, and poetry.

In the meantime, I had me a little something to nosh: a Louisiana Cajun Chicken Sandwich; on Italian bread, chicken and bacon, cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and mayo. A side of fries to complete the meal.

Frankly not the best meal I've ever had, but it wasn't horrible. Can't say I'll be going here again. It was, however, nice to see Weks again.

Hump Day

Thursday, but I kept thinking it was Wednesday. Probably because I have to work Friday and Saturday this week. In any case, although we were again at the same awesome bookstore and with the same awesome people, I needed a pick-me-up type of activity and so Naomi and I decided that after work we'd go bowling at Corner Alley in Downtown Cleveland.

Good choice too, since there were specials going on and we were able to rent shoes, and pay for 2 games for only 6 dollars each. What a steal!

We of course had to eat, and since it was still their happy hour and they had food specials, we went all out. We each had some beers and we shared:

a cheeseburger and fries

Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese

And bruschetta on toasted pizza crust.

Can't say that this cured me of all that ailed me, but it was a good dose of laughter and of junk food. Also, I bowled a 156. Considering that I haven't bowled since 2005, I think it's not that bad of a deal!

Decadence thy name is Saturday Night

Saturday Night, Ida and I go in search of Molly Pitcher's Ale House in the Upper East. It took some walking around, and a bit of quick Yelp'ing. We enjoyed some beer. I've never had it before. It had red in the title. I don't remember the name.

For main Entree: Wings, baby.

After some deliveration and after the decadently delicious dinner (and another beer or two), I said goodnight to the Upper East Side and made my way to Williamsburg to celebrate the birthday of my buddy Herms.

The party was good, the music was eclectic, and there was a whole lot of people I didn't know, which happens when you go to a co-worker's shindig. I declined to participate on the beer pong mostly because the whole thing really grosses me out. Why can't they just put water on the cups and people drink from like a nice, clean, pong-free beer cup lined up next to them? Instead I partied with Naomi and Siu and talked to some girl's who had a magical traveling stick and then towards the end of our time there, we decided to go roof hopping.  Here's the view from the roof adjacent to the party:

It was fun, and the ride home wasn't so bad, specially since I managed to walk in a straight line most of the time. Huzzah!