NYC adventure

Well we're back from the big apple and getting rested up. Luckily I have a couple days to recoup before I start work. Where to start?? We went up a couple days before the Renegade craft show to visit with a college friend of mine and see the city.

My friend Brandt showed us around and took us to this awesome Cuban place called Café Habana for lunch. I had the spicy corn and an amazing Sincronizada Toluca filled with black beans, sun dried tomatos, avocado and chorizo. Beth and I wandered around after lunch and did some shopping. "Some wandering" turned into about 15 miles of walking by the time we made our way back to Brandt's apartment in Park Slope. Brandt and Rachel were both working late so Beth and I were on our own for dinner. We found an awesome sushi place called Monster Sushi which had some great decor behind the bar. It was nice to find an affordable and fresh tasting sushi bar in NYC.

Friday Beth and I ventured to Coney Island on our own and had fun riding the rides and eating hotdogs. We hit up the MOMA museum for their 'free friday' promotion. They had some great exhibits but we were exhausted after about an hour and a half in the museum. We headed back to clean up and take Brandt and Rachel out for dinner. We tried to go to a little Italian place they recommended but couldn't get in so we went to a great Thai place down the street called Song. Amazing food and very affordable prices, another gem in NYC.

The show started saturday so we were up early and on our way to Williamsburg by 8:30am. After waiting outside for a bit we were let in and started setting up as fast as we could. The show started at 11am sharp and people were waiting to come in. Unfortunately we weren't quite ready for the customers yet but most of our product was out and many vendors were still far from setup. The temperature was rising quickly but the show was getting crowded and sales were steady. Our friend Amy was in town helping us sell and we were catching up since we hadn't seen her in a few months. Brandt and Rachel came by the show as well and did some shopping and hanging.

The weather forecasts were changing hourly the days before the show, but seemed to settle by saturday. Well, the clouds rolled in around 4ish and the temperature dropped a good 10 degrees. It was nice for 30 minutes or so but then the bottom just dropped out and it poured for 45 minutes. Some brave shoppers stuck around and shopped, but most people left by 6pm. The rain let up enough for us to get packed up before it poured again. Brandt planned ahead this time and got us on the list for a great Italian pizza place called Lucali so we all pilled into Rachels car and drove through the flood to dinner. This place was yet another phenomenal eatery. True Italian style pizza, no menu, just enough dough for the night and when the ingredients were gone, no more pizzas. No sign out front and no liquor license, yet the place still consistently has a 3 hr wait during the 4 hours they are open each day. We brought some wine and ordered two pizzas and had a lovely dinner.

(the bar at Monster Sushi)

Day 2 of the show went well with decent weather. Thankfully it was cooler and the rain stayed away for most of the day only coming in little spurts. Sales were steady and overall we had a great show. It wasn't the mad house, selling spree that Renegade Chicago was, but it was in the top 5 shows we've done. After the show we were treated to homemade tacos and guacamole at Brandt's which were tasty. We ate and drank and hung into the evening before I finally called it a night and tried to get some quality sleep for the drive home.

After driving in NYC traffic for an hour, we finally made it to New Jersey and made our way down 78 to Pennsylvania and onto Roanoke VA to stay with my brother and sister-in-law. I was so glad we decided to split up our return drive as I was not feeling up to 15 hours in the car again. It was lovely visiting with my brother's family and then we were up early again Tuesday to start the last leg of our journey home to Nashville.

I got back in town just in time to roll to the WBN/Clif Bar sponsored viewing of the new movie Seasons by the Collective at the Belcourt Theatre. I could up on email and such and then jumped on the bike and met J5 and T.roy at T.roy's crib and then we all, plus T.roy's better half, road to the Belcourt to catch the show and hang with other crazy cyclists. The movie was great as was meeting the Clif Bar crew and checking out their cool bio-diesel bus. After received some cool swag we headed off to the Brewhouse for cajon dinner and a beer then rolled back to T.roy's to call it a night. This was a perfect ride after being off the bike for a week.


Back to the grind here starting tomorrow. I have work the rest of the week and into the weekend. Then have a tracking session on Monday in Cool Springs. Today is my 30th bday. I think I'll just slip that in here at the end and let that be it. Low key bday this year. I've spent the day with Beth which has been lovely. We had lunch at her parents house and then did some shoe shopping at the new Merrill store down the street. I've received a great mtn biking instructional book and a new pair of Pearl Izumi attack shorts courtesy of my Mom and Dad. Not sure how I feel yet about being 30. Just another year I guess.

(my 2 purchases at the show. A hip bag made from old inner tubes and a small camera bag for my messenger bag. Both made by Vaya)










Beth showing off our awesome Coney Island hotdogs



















The big ferris wheel at Coney Island, with swinging middle cars














the monsoon that struck the show saturday evening













statue of Robin Williams, I mean Theodore Roosevelt outside the Natural History Museum.







As usual you can view all my pics on my Flickr page HERE.




Late addition...... new pic of the yummy cuban style corn.... Does this look more appetizing Thad?!?