A Slice, A Lighthouse, and a Playground of ...Teeth?

Don't tell anyone but after all this time in New York, I STILL haven't had a slice ah pizza. Sorry New Yorkers, Italians, and myself. However, I fixed that today.

My sister works during the day, which allows me a certain amount of creativity in my daily activities. I had it on very good Italian authority that the nearest pizza place was, "a good place to go it you like terrible pizza." And since I don't, I wasn't going to bother. I looked up another place though, and set out. It was about a twenty minute walk, a little sketchy at times, but my eyes were on the pizza prize.

And let me tell you, I walked by, did a double-take and reluctantly walked in. Picture this- five dudes just bummin' around behind the counter (sooo do you work here?). Whole pies chillin' behind a plastic case on shelves. Didn't look very fresh but I was already there so I ordered. 

Dude slides a slice onto the counter. Slides a pizza paddle under it, and pops it in an oven. 

.... 

A few minutes later it comes out.

"Want it to go?" 

*shoves it in a bag* 

I go on my way, but I'm pretty hungry so I get at dat. 

Wow.

It was so good. For sitting on a shelf it was so fresh. You can tell its quality ingredients. It's a thinner crust pizza and so it's time in the pizza oven was well served. Also, I have never had sausage quite like that! Teo says they look like bat wings.

Later that day Ali and I headed over to Sleepy Hollow. We heard from a now questionable source that there was a 100% legal and reliable way to get in, even after it is purportedly closed.



There is a trail that goes along the backside of the cemetery, but everything was closed up pretty tight. If it wasn't barbed wire it was mini cliffs that dropped into who-knows-how-deep shrubbery.



Sorry dead Washington Irving, guess we can't visit your bones today.

Next, off to neighboring Tarrytown. It's a cute little place, like all the wealthy places in Westchester County. Ali taught me that you can take the girl out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the girl. She taught me her hoodrat ways and we crawled through this sketchy hole in the fence. She reassured me that it was totally legit by explaining that everyone from pot-smoking teens to 90-year-old grandparents routinely traversed through the chain-link.

When in Rome right?



We walked out to the little lighthouse. And despite getting tangled in some spiderwebs, walked around the little grate walkway.



Enjoying the quiet night and once again beautiful skies!

By the time we came back it was pretty dark and lightning bugs were everywhere. I love those little guys. It was Ali's first time noticing them. On our way back through the park I saw this... playground?



Financed by your neighborhood dentist I suppose. We may need to call in back-up for that decaying tooth. I think a root canal is in order.

Carvel and Food Glorious Food!

When I finished writing this post I realized that I sound crazy. Yes, I love food. No, I do not understand what about food here has me singing and dancing like my 4th grade version an orphan in the musical Oliver. "Food! Glorious Food! We're anxious to try it!"

Today we kept things simple. We walked over to the local ice cream place which just so happened to be the famous Carvel ice cream.

I have noticed that New York is all about the soft serve. Usually when I think of soft serve I think of somewhat crappy but somehow delicious McDonald's ice cream. I remember in Grenada when a place got soft serve people were falling over themselves. I didn't get it. I now understand that is because I am a west-coast human. Because East Coast soft serve is where it's at!

Soft serve round here is so rich and creamy. Swirl machines are the best. I'm not indecisive, I just want it all. Imagine when I laid my eyes on this magnificent machine.

I was practically gasping for air as I tried to point and express to Ali the important of that beautiful, center level that would soon dispense my dream come true.

Okay, that's so dramatic. But things got a lot more dramatic when I got a Sundae Dasher. It was so rich I couldn't even finish it all. We walked over to a park to eat our ice cream. The village is so small we were already in a different city by the time we had walked a few blocks.



Back at home with the sunset.



Speaking of soft serve... Ali and I finally dug in to those ice cream sandwiches from our trip to Stew Leonard's. They are made with soft serve too. I have found out that makes all the difference! Instead of a melty outside and an frozen iceberg-solid core, it is the perfect softness throughout. Why are they so small?! Oh yeah, so I can eat 15 in one sitting. Cookie Ice Cream Monster! nom nom nom

Also from Stew Leonard's, but not soft serve, this pretzel roll & Italian cold cuts & fresh mozzarella sandwich turned out amazing.



Ali and I have been having incredibly good luck this trip. Remember when we got a free trip to Grand Central and saved $30? Or when we barely had to wait in line at Katz's?

We also picked the most delicious watermelon ever. I like watermelon. But this watermelon was like candy. Ali and I can't stay away from it, and it is guilt-free, so it feeds our ferocity.



And last of the random food updates is brought to you by my sister's landlords. Ali lives beneath an awesome Italian couple who treats my sister like their daughter. They are so nice and always bringing food. One day it was homemade eggplant parm (I thought I didn't like eggplant- I did then!) Another day this plate FULL of cake. Sheet cake is meh but this stuff was good!

I feel like I am going slightly crazy here. I sound so dramatic, like I have never eaten before. But it seems like everything that comes out of a New York kitchen is laced with cocaine. I just can't get enough.

Caught a Train to Poughkeepsie

I mentioned how hopeless I am when it comes to pronouncing things on this coast. Luckily I listen to Something Corporate and therefore knew how to properly pronounce Poe-kip-see. Thanks!

We didn't catch a train, but as soon as Ali was done with work we shot off, hoping we could make it to all our sights before they closed. We held our breath and raced up north.

On our way, we passed by THE Culinary Institute of America. You know, with alums like Anthony Bourdain and Duff Goldman. The drive was cloudy and beautiful. I can never get enough of all this green.

We made it just in time to take a brief walk around Springwood, Franklin D. Roosevelt's birthplace, and home with Eleanor Roosevelt. Also home of the First Presidential Library. The library was closed so we just walked around. We saw the graves of Franklin and Eleanor in the Rose Garden.

The house is really impressive. Apparently it was used as a "Summer White House" and housed princesses and monarch from around the globe, as well as Winston Churchill himself.

Not to get weird, but this place is likely haunted by a ton of political ghosts.



Scared of ghosts face.

After that we jetted over to Poughkeepsie to walk on the longest pedestrian bridge in. the. WORLD! New York always has to be so epic. So obviously it is also a National Historic Site.

We got a little lost in some sketchy places thanks to our shady navigation. But after a while we shut her up and found our way.



The bridge closes at sunset. We weren't really sure how that was going down since there was no sun with all those clouds. But we made it and had time to walk about halfway down the bridge.



Apparently the bridge used to be a double track railroad bridge. That thing is so narrow I kept thinking of old westerns with trains rattling down these toothpick-frail bridges. I guess part of it got damaged in a fire so they let pedestrians walk on it instead.

Just kidding. Obviously it's safe or whatever. Luckily I had Ali to tell me about bridges and safety and things you know when you are a genius structural engineer for a living.



Bridges make Ali happy! :)

The Walkway Over the Hudson has fun little informational signs along the bridge. Where you can learn about things like sloops, "The 18-wheelers of the 19th century." Pretty much a sailboat. But we didn't have any boat aficionados to educate us on all that.



Pretty soon this wannabe-hardcore wannabe-park-ranger got all bossy about the park closing in 5 minutes. I walked three steps past him to take a picture of the American flag of all things and he pretty much shot laser beams through my back. For goodness sake! It's the flag! What about freedom?! No freedom there cos we had to hoof it back to the car while he drove 5 yards behind us until us and the few other people on the bridge exited.

Sheesh!

Next we rushed over to New Paltz. In New Paltz you can find the debated first/ one of the first streets in America. Seriously. The history over here is crazy. This place also closes at dusk since it is a National Historical Landmark or whatever. *eye roll* 

It is not likely that you can see anything on this map. 

But we are crazies and it's not like there is a fence or anything so we let ourselves in. And that was the funny thing. (one of) The oldest street in America is half museums half occupied residences. There were people just wandering around walking their dog right next to a house that was built IN THE 1600s.

Old stuff is not even a big deal around here. That dog probably pees on those buildings every day. 

Moving on. The street is called Huguenot Street and the homes are dutch colonial style. I'm no architect/ art history buff but they look very Northern European. The community was settled in 1678 by individuals fleeing religious persecution in what is now northern France/ Belgium. That's less than 60 years after the Mayflower landed. 

I started getting a little weird thinking about ghosts because I was getting a little spooked by how dark and quiet the area was.

Don't even mention when we walked past the cemetery. Kidding. I think. 

By this point it was pretty late, so we headed back, hopefully without any hitch-hiking ghosts. 

(Name that reference!) 

Puppy Dogs and Wildlife Sanctuary

Every day in NY warrants it's own post. Today's adventure was to Mamaroneck. Heaven help me pronounce anything here. After I found out Soho stands for South Houston, and it's pronounced House-ton, I officially gave up.

First stop, Walter's, this funny little hot dog stand. No idea why is has the architecture of a Chinese pagoda, but it's cool. I like the sign that has Walter's spelled out in hot dog links.



They have a half hot dog,-just a little guy- called the puppy dog. Since the sides sounded so amazing I went with the puppy dog. Then we shared a shake, sweet potato waffle fries, potato puffs, and a black & white shake. It was pretty good. Sweet potato + waffle fries = my favorite thing about fries so it was awesome!



Cute little place to eat that in California would be called a national forest.



I am not really a planner. I'm the type of person to research a thousands ideas, then just choose a couple to sloppily actualize. The Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary seemed like a cool enough place. As I explained to to Ali, she was confused.

A: It's in Rye, like where Playland is?
K: I guess, I think it's right next to it.
A: Umm, here is Playland. Next to it like where?
K: Behind it?
A: Through the parking lot?

Haha. It went on like this for about 5 minutes as we roll past the creepy deserted looking theme park, past the parking fee station with no one in it. Then through the empty lot, pulling up near a lake looking thing.



I some how convinced Ali to get out of the car and check it out. Since she's my little sister she has to trust me, even if it is reluctantly.



We walked down a path over to a rocky shoreline. The whole geography of this part of the world is baffling to me too many trees and too much water going different directions. But we figured it out that were looking over the Long Island Sound.



We continued wandering and made our way back to the wildlife sanctuary. The sun was setting and everything was bathed in a warm sunset tones. We walked around for a bit. Seeing a ton of cute little bouncing bunny bums.



The weather was so nice and the sky was beautiful.



On our way back to the car, we saw a mamma duck and about 6 or so ducklings waddle across the path, headed to the lake. We were so stunned by how cute and tiny they were. Our hearts were bursting due to cuteness overload!

Makin' Bacon Pancakes in Neeww Yoorrk!

Sunday was a nice lazy day. I think I may be running my sister into the ground pretty quickly. I need to remember to chill out with the itineraries. I thought it would be fun to try makin' some bacon pancakes. Of course inspired by this lovely song that will forever be stuck in your head, compliments of Teo.

It was fun to try something new. We candied the bacon first to make it extra delicious. And it was. No post from this trip is complete without food.

The recipe is easy. You just take a bacon and you put it in a pancaaakke! ... In Neeww Yoooorrrk!
Here is your complete photo tutorial, deprived of that lovely song.

Tuckahoe Fireworks Show

I mentioned before that my sister lives in a cute "village." It is only 0.6 square miles and has a population around 5,000 people. Small village, big heart.

After our busy day in the City, we still wanted to make time to catch the "Tuckahoe Summertime Fireworks Event." And for such a tiny place, it sure was packed. We found a seat on the grass while everyone was enjoying street games and food from vendors.

There was live music by the "world famous" The Ultimate Boyband Tribute band. People were going wild for their renditions of Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC songs. Also, these really cute ancient lady duet, "Twin Gold" really rocked the oldies. But if you thought that was epic, wait til the fireworks.

It was epic. The best fireworks show I have ever seen. We just sat there with our jaws dropped wondering if that had really, actually, for serious just happened. As one man aptly observed, "at one point I couldn't even see the fireworks! There was so much smoke!" 

The show was firework after firework upon firework and firework! It was so neat, and likely funded by the Italian mob that runs the village. But i'm not complaining. It was so much fun. I am so glad that we drug our half-dead bodies to watch them. A perfect ending to an amazing day! 

I Love Subway

I love trains, and metros, and whatever else you want to call it. I've used public transportation everywhere I have lived. But New York, I bow down to your public transit.

I bow and bask and bathe in it's glory and ease. The great thing about visiting family in a new place is that they have the lay of the land. My sister is a train wizard.

But before I get ahead of myself, we started the day off on much humbler transportation.



The village trolley. It doesn't run all the time and me being around was the perfect excuse to be weird together and ride it along with the other geriatrics and 4 year-old boys. It was fun to drive through Tuckahoe before heading to the Metro North train.

The cool thing about my sister's location is that she is only a twenty minute train ride into the City, but far enough away that she still has a car to get to work and use on the weekends if she travels. Following her lead I hoped on the train and off we went.



They were doing construction, so we were a little held up but I didn't mind since I had no preconceived ideas. The most interesting part of the Metro North train is heading south, you can see things change as you approach the Bronx. Buildings (projects) spring up and everything gets a little closer together. I sound like a country bumpkin when I say this, but it just shocks me how so many people can be living on top of each other like that.

Of course, first things first- Grand Central!

To ride the subway you have to find a magical portal. You enter at one hole.



 Make your way through a buzzing sea of thousands of humans. Jump on a long steel train.



Then pop out in a completely different world that is still somehow part of New York City.

I never could've done it myself but you just follow Ali's lead. And somehow she always knows which portal to go through, which tracks to be at, and which side to hop on. It must be pretty obvious that she knows because people kept asking her for directions. Like a boss. If you happen to be in NYC without my wizard sister, try using the CityMapper app. So much magic. 

And no tourist on the subway would be complete without a picture of the funny and information signs on the subway. "Poles are for your safety, not your latest routine." 

Read about our day in the City over at this post. 

It blows my mind how the subway can get you anywhere. Anywhere! It seems like there is no part of Manhattan that can't be accessed by the secret underground world of moving capsules. 

As I was walking in the crowded city streets, I thought about all the layers of trains and tracks below my feet. And I wondered at any given time how the number of people below ground compared to the number of people above ground. Can someone look in to that for me please?