Trip to New York, Day One

Author: FourMajor

Date: 2008-08-10

So far, so good.

After a late night Friday night, I got approximately two hours of sleep in my clothes and with the light on (I find it easier to wake up if it feels like I was just napping). Hopped on the airport shuttle, which sucked because it is more expensive than BART, which wasn’t running that early. The flight was unremarkable but comfortable, considering I was in the back row where my seat wouldn’t go back all the way. I flew Virgin America, which I had been wanting to do, but really they are pretty much like all the other airlines despite the hype. They did have purple mood lighting, which both didn’t put me in a purple mood and also was a little bit annoying. Some of the features on the seat-back display weren’t implemented yet, such as the Internet. And their much-vaunted chat feature was a letdown, by no fault of their own. I joined the airplane-wide chat room and stayed there for over an hour while I read, and was a bit surprised when no one else joined.

Anyway, that is enough about my plane ride. I got to JFK airport with my one backpack – I am really happy about my light packing abilities – and sought out the subway. I was amazed at the size of the airport – it was just massive. Once I arrived at the subway station it was pretty intuitive on how to get where I wanted, which included a transfer. I really loved the subway stations. They were old, run down in a very-lovingly-used sort of way and most of them had their own style and character. A marked difference with BART in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I arrived at my gracious host’s apartment (from CouchSurfing) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She was very nice and conversational from the moment I arrived. After a little while of shooting the shit and a much needed shower, we headed around the corner to DuckDuck for a beer. It is always nice being on the East Coast where I can get a Yuenling. By the way, I won’t say too much about each of the bars and restaurants I go to because I will be reviewing them all on Yelp; my New York Yelp map is at the bottom of this post.

After that we met up with a couple of my host’s friends and headed to a beer garden. What, did they do a personality check on me beforehand and figure out exactly what I would want to do? They nailed it. This place was great. I got some delicious German beer, a whole liter of it in one mug, and a brat with fries.

After that we went to another high-end beer bar where I had some more of the best beer I’ve ever had. I had some great conversation with all three people I was out with.

We finished the night off at a pizza place at 1:30am, and while it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for in a New York pizza joint, it came pretty close. The pizza was delicious – you might say it “hit the spot.”

Off to bed I went on a comfortable air mattress. One note – it stays HOT at night in New York. Not that I didn’t expect that. But I slept pretty well. Today I am off to a flea market and then I will probably meet up with Greg later. I’ll try to actually get some pictures today.