Earlier this month took a trip to Seattle, more specifically to explore the areas surrounding Seattle. One of our goals for the future is to find a place to live that has more greenery and nature (which isn’t that hard to do when compared with the concrete jungle of LA).
After a bit of a delay with our first flight and our connecting flight, we landed at SeaTac after 11 pm. We grabbed our rental car and then started our way over to that night’s accommodations in Tacoma. Leaving the airport we were first hit with some mild snow that quickly turned to rain and then finally drizzle by the time we arrived at the Silvercloud Hotel Tacoma – Waterfront. Luckily their front desk is staffed 24/7 and we were greeted and checked in quickly.
When we got up in the morning, we were greeted to some spectacular water views from our hotel windows. Luckily the rain was holding off and it was just overcast. The Silver Cloud hotel had some fairly standard fare food for free breakfast and then we were off. We decided to go check out Gig Harbor first (not as somewhere we’d be thinking of moving but just to see the quaint little village). This sleepy hamlet was cute and it was quiet (we were there on a Tuesday morning).
The whole idea that started this trip was a simple conversation from a year ago with my cousin on joining her for a dinner. She mentioned that she’s in NYC every year for her husband’s work function and always thought of skipping out on a boring work-related dinner where all the people did was talk shop and enjoy a delectable meal. As this year’s work event got closer, D and I checked in with the cousin and she said that dinner was a go if we wanted. So we booked our flights and hotel stay for NYC for October. We actually went in October of last year for my friend’s business grand opening.
This time we flew out of LAX and took a direct JetBlue flight to Newark. We landed around 7:30 pm and caught a cab into the city, which took about an hour. After dropping our bags at our hotel in Midtown East at the Intercontinental New York Barclay, we walked over to PJ Clarke’s for a much deserved drink and late dinner. This bar/restaurant opened in 1884 and is particularly known for having a good burger. D had the burger and fries while I had classic fish and chips. To drink I had a Smoky Old Fashioned while D had the 1930 (Elijah craig small batch bourbon, lime juice, st. elizabeth allspice dram, simple syrup, angostura bitters, orange peel).
We stopped for a night cap at the hotel bar (we had a $30 credit for each day of our stay).
The following morning I woke up and headed to get bagels for us while D got ready for the day. I went to our normal spot, Ess-a-Bagel, (that we went to the last 2 times) as it was just up the street. By the time I got there (around 10am?) the line was out the door. Luckily it moved relatively smoothly and I got our bagels and a coffee for D (I had a coffee with the hotel room’s Keurig).
This time it was a bit of a disappointment. The bagels themselves and their crumb didn’t seem as chewy as normal (maybe a little dense). I kind of wonder if they’ve grown too much that quality control isn’t as good because they’re so busy.
We wanted to check out Harlem and Sylvia’s (one of the oldest classic southern fare food in the area). To get there, we walked down to Grand Central Station and hopped on a subway to head up to 125th street. I’ve found that every neighborhood in NY has their own feel, from midtown to LES to Chelsea to Brooklyn.
Harlem was very musical – lots of music just everywhere. The two places we had looked up were Sylvia’s but also Red Rooster (Marcus Samuellson’s place that he opened up in 2010). They were actually just down the street from one another. We settled on Sylvia’s and had some yummy food. I had the lunch special which was a fried chicken leg with some collard greens and D had the chicken and waffles. Both were very good.
We also walked over to the Apollo Theater, a classic institution for music, comedy, and other performances.
We continued south on our cruise and stopped on the island of Sicily at Messina. This sleepy port town didn’t really have too much to do. We planned another half day since it was still scorching hot and gross to be out for the full day. The main attraction is the Campanile del Duomo con Orologio Astronomico (Astronomical Clock of the Cathedral of Messina). At 12 o’clock noon each day the clock has movement show with its mechanical infrastructure.
We happened to be there while the european professional volleyball was having a tournament – set up just adjacent to the cathedral.
After seeing the church and realizing we had a few hours to kill before noon, we walked through town to La Tradizione Doddis. One thing Sicily is known for is something called a granita with coffee. There are also other more dessert like variations with fruits, almond, mint. In Messina, granita with brioche is a common summer breakfast, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Afterwards we meandered through town checking out the various historic buildings, passing by a monastery. And then we settled back across from the church to watch the noon show.
Our first stop of the cruise was in Cannes where we had to tender from boat to the port. D and I had signed up for an afternoon shore excursion that left us a little short on time exploring Cannes. Luckily there wasn’t too much to see in this beachside town. Known mostly for Cannes Film festival and being a destination for the rich and famous to hang out on yachts, we were there during the Cannes Lion festival and there was a big Amazon House there. We walked along the water briefly and then ventured into the small streets of the town. Initially we wanted to check out the local farmer’s market but it was closed that day.
With time running out we elected to get some lunch. We settled on Astoux et Brun where D had the Sole Meunière and I had the Marmite du Pêcheur (essentially a fish soup with various sea food in it in the style of bouillabaiise). Very delicious.
StewsCat 