New York City, Day Five

What an epic walking adventure through Brooklyn Day Five turned out to be.  Geri and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, through Brooklyn Bridge Park, through historic Brooklyn Heights and along its promenade, to the Old Stone House, around the Green-Wood Cemetery, and through Williamsburg neighborhood where we found a great pub.  If that wasn’t tiring enough we decided to go to the Village Vanguard for some great jazz music and have a fantastic Japanese dinner at Hagi’s at 2:00 am.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge was a perfect way to start the day.  The skies were clear, the air crisp and there was a brisk wind out on the bridge.  The views from the bridge of both Manhattan and Brooklyn were great.   We frequently stopped and took in the view.  The craftsmanship of the bridge is something that has to be seen and makes it clear what an accomplishment the construction of the bridge was.  Its a little over a mile long so the walk was easy and something everyone can do, its worth it.  The bridge ends just outside of the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

We weren’t expecting to find a park just beyond the bridge, but once we saw how nice it was sitting there right on the water, we couldn’t resist.  We relaxed for a bit and reviewed the course we had laid out on the map.  Next up was historical Brooklyn Heights.

The Brooklyn Heights area is filled with 19th century homes in many different architectural styles and all situated along picturesque tree lined streets.  The neighborhood played a major role in the American Revolutionary War and has had many notable residents.  It was nice to see all the homes decorated with large plump pumpkins neatly arranged around their doorways set against the bursts of yellow from all the leaves littering the streets.  Visiting historical sites, such as we have been able to do in New York, is definitely a treat.  The walk along the promenade with its incredible view of the Statue of Liberty was surreal.  Something we had only seen on TV was sitting there right before ours eyes and we could stay and look at it for as long as we wanted.  We could have spent all day lounging along the promenade, but it was time to head to our next historical destination, the Old Stone House.

It was quite a trek to the Old Stone House, but after what seemed like hours we arrived.  The Old Stone House is situated in the middle of a park, flanked by a little league baseball field, a doggy park and row houses.  It is an accurate  reconstruction of a 1699 home which saw more than its share of events from the Battle of Brooklyn and modern urbanization.  It was even a club house for the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Geri got a kick out of the battle reconstructions as can be seen from all the pictures.  After a short visit we were both excited to get to our next stop, the Green-Wood Cemetery.

It may be bit morbid to take pictures of a cemetery, but it was simply fascinating.  There were graves from so long ago and they dotted the rolling hills for as far as we could see.  Visiting a cemetery of this size and age was something completely new for us.  There were mausoleums, obelisks, statues, and grave markers which you don’t find in California.  We walked around until the cemeteries closing.  Our pictures do not do justice to how beautiful it was.  By the way, as we were walking through the maze of little pathways between the graves we were surprised to find a young couple sitting on one of the benches under a tree “necking.”   Turns out that the cemetery provides a grand view of the city and is one of the only places where a couple can go to be “alone.”

It had already been a long day and we had planned a break at the Brooklyn Brewery for some beer, dinner and a tour.  (Notice that beer is mentioned first. ) We hailed a cab and headed across town to the Williamsburg borough of Brooklyn, it was quite a ways and as we drove the sun set.  The Brooklyn Brewery is located in an old industrial area where many vacant dilapidated buildings surround those with businesses that have managed to hang on.  Geri and I have been looking forward to visiting the brewery since we first set foot in New York.  Visiting the local breweries is one of the things we always do when visiting a new city.  We jumped out of the cab and walked up to the door and turned the handle, locked.  We looked around to see if there were any other doors, no luck.  We walked down around the end of the building, no luck.  A few people came out of through the locked door.  We rushed over and tried to make our way through.  We were stopped and told that the brewery was having a private party and was closed.  WTF.  Here we were in a real bad part of town, no taxis to be seen and none would be coming.  We were going to have to walk for blocks before we got to any payphone were we could call for a cab and it was dark.  Please understand, I checked the Brooklyn Brewery website prior to our visit and that morning, I also called the brewery about the tour and to get directions, I spoke to a person at the brewery who understood that we would be there that day and at that time.  Neither the website nor the person on the phone stated that the brewery would be closed that day.  BS.  Brooklyn Brewery, I will not be drinking your beer anytime soon.

We needed to get to an area where we could hail a cab and fast.  We walked for about 20 minutes heading in a general direction we assumed would lead us to civilization.  Turning left and right, but always heading away from the industrial area, We turned one last corner and happened upon a street with restaurants and shops filled with 20-something hipsters.  We couldn’t believe our luck, we had stumbled upon the Williamsburg art community.  We strolled along popping in and out of the shops until we came across Mugs Ale House.  We still hadn’t eaten so we went in for dinner and beer.  It was a unexpected treat.  They had an extensive beer menu.  We ordered a couple Belgians, sat back and talked about our day.  As I continued to study menu I noticed that they had a 2003 Samuel Adams Utopia for $300.  The 2003 goes for significantly more on eBay.  I thought about it for a moment then asked the waitress if they really had the Utopia.  She believed they did, but wanted to verify it with the bartender.  She returned and they indeed did have it.  $300 is a lot of money so I needed a few more minutes to think about it.  Dinner came and went, so did a few more great beers and….I decided to get it.  I wanted to give it to Mike for his 40th birthday, with the selfish knowledge that I would get to try it too.  The waitress gave me a shocked look and headed off to get the bottle.  After about 10 minutes she returned empty handed and said that ‘oops, we can’t find it.’  They didn’t have it, hah!  I believe it was added to the menu to give it some clout and they assumed that no one would actually buy it.  I called them on their bluff.

Our Brooklyn odyssey had come to an end and we needed to head back into Manhattan.  But, we were still not ready to call it a day and we needed to walk off diner.  So, we decided to take the subway over to Greenwich Village.  Beware, while at the subway station we came across a swarm of zombies aimlessly stumbling through the hallways on their way to a brain feast.  Luckily we mimicked their behavior and were able to get by them.  One of the things Geri wanted to visit while in New York was a real jazz club.  Imagine how excited she was when we stumbled upon the Village Vanguard.  It just so happened that there was to be another show at 11:00p.m.   The woman at the door instructed us to show up 10:15pm and take our chances on getting stand-by tickets.  We strolled around Greenwich and admired the quaint shops and hip bars that jamed the tiny brownstone streets.  At 10:00pm we headed back to the Vanguard and stood in line hoping to get in.  Guess who came through the door while we were watching the people to leave from the first showing?  Tony Bennett.  Turns out he didn’t perform, but was there to see the show.  Geri was so surprised when he came out that she forgot to take a picture, and by the time she did he was in his town car zipping down the street.  Ticketed patrons poured into of the club and it didn’t look like we were going to be able to get in.  But, physics doesn’t exist at the vanguard and they were able to sit more people then it appeared humanly possible.  We saw the Bill Charlap Trio.  They were fantastic and the experience was everything Geri had hoped for.

We weren’t done yet!  There was a Japanese restaurant that we had seen on “No Reservations” called Hagi.  It was 2am, we had grown hungry again and we still had the adventurous spirit.  We jumped on the subway again (no zombies though, bummer) and headed over to the restaurant.  We searched and searched for the entrance, but it was nowhere to be found.  Not only that, but none of the doors looked like they might lead to a restaurant, and they were all locked.  We were just about to give up when Geri pushed a button that was on the side of the building.  A few seconds later we heard a buzz.  We turned in the general direction of the sound and noticed it emanated from a door.  We hurried over and pulled on the lever.  Magically, a previously locked door was unlocked.  We walked down a flight of stairs, through an archway and there was Hagi.  It was packed.  Let me remind you it was 2am.  I guess Hagi monitors who they let into the restaurant via a camera and we passed the test.  The restaurant gave off a very warm and inviting vibe.  The waitress sat us and we proceeded to order most of the menu.  It was to much food, but we wanted to try it all.  It was simply the best Japanese food we had ever had.  We lost track of time as we enjoyed our meal and they had to shoo us out the door.  It was well after 3am.

Simply an amazing day.

Click here for pictures of our fifth day in New York City…