New York City - the final chapter

Conditions at 5:15 am: 15' and overcast (and the howling wind we had most of the night has died down a little)
Expected later: 23' and more rain

Where were we:

The Lot- it's under an old railway line. The line is no longer used and instead of tearing it down, it's been rejuvenated as a walkway. The Lot, as it's called, was once  just that - a vacant lot under a rail bridge.

One of the food trucks at The Lot

Now in the summer, there are food trucks all around the perimeter, a bar at one end and tables and chairs fill the centre. When we went on a sunny Saturday afternoon, it was packed with people. There's another one further down the line but it's even busier.

The tables at The Lot

Quite a unique idea for an unused space. The rail line above, called the High Line,  has been made over to a lovely green walking space that is really well used.

Walking along the High Line

We had a drink at The Loft then walked down the High Line to the Meat Packing District.

We toured around there for a while and spent some time in Chelsea Market. It's a really interesting old building that's been reclaimed and actually houses a lot of businesses on the upper floors, one of those being the Food Network. We were told the Network test kitchens are there as well as Kitchen Stadium where Iron Chef America is filmed. I would have loved the opportunity to tour that part of the building.
Oh well, maybe next time!

Yes, these are cupcakes!

On the ground floor there are all kinds of little shops with really interesting items, including a Jaques Torres Chocolate shop and another bake shop with row upon row of multi-coloured Macarons. (And yes, Meghan (1) I will try the recipe before you get here and we'll give them a whirl while you'r e here! I'll make copies of the recipes for you before you get here. I'm really glad that someone knows what I'm talking about!) There were also a lot of really different cupcakes!

Anyway, it was soon time to head back to Kristi's to get dressed for dinner. We took a cab from her place to Les Halles, of Tony Bourdan fame.  Our reservation was for 8:30 and we arrived a couple of minutes late but not to worry. However there are a small handful of tables outside on the patio and it was such a beautiful evening we asked if we could wait for an outside table.

It probably took an hour to wait but we sat at the bar and had a bottle of wine among the four of us and had a great time with the bar tender. I even managed to get him to sell me his apron.

He was taking our picture for us when one of the other waiters came up in the background and made a silly face. We had so much fun and we hadn't even had any food yet! Once we got  our table it was worth the wait. We sat outside - I'd say under the stars but there's too much light pollution to see any but we know they were there because we could see the moon quite clearly. I ordered the Fois Gras for my appetizer and the Steak Tartare for the main course. It was all that I expected and I was pleased to learn that what I had made at home was very close. The fries or frites as they are called, were

fabulous - crisp on the outside and creamy soft on the inside - even when they got cold they were still the same way - amazing. We were even too full to have dessert but we'd had several desserts through out the day so we were ahead of the game. We'd had such a good time that the bartender and one of the waiters, stopped by our table when they were done their shift, to say good bye and wish us a bon voyage. By the time we were done, it was around midnight and the girls decided to go out to a club for a while. Jana and I were invited but we thought it might be wise to just go home and get organized and packed for morning. As it was, it was 2:00 am again when we went to bed.  I downloaded my pictures onto Jana's camera and then we loaded Kristi's pictures to Jana's computer and then onto my camera card so I had all the photos to bring home with me. There is definitely a new scrapbook in my future.
I was up early on Sunday morning and had planned to attempt to take the subway, but got turned around outside and was headed the wrong way. Since I would have had to taken a bus from the subway in Harlem, I thought it best to just take a cab after all - my sense of direction is not that great and Harlem might not be the best place to be walking around lost.
I was extremely lucky to get both my flights as planned - to Montreal and then to Charlottetown, arriving home right on time.

It was an exhausting weekend but a huge amount of fun.Once again many, many thanks to Jana, Kristi and Jackie (and also Sir Paul, for giving us the excuse!) I look forward to the opportunity to return the hospitality.