Neice Katie's Visit

My neice, Katie, came for a nice little visit last Friday.  She recently finished up her course-work in Alaska where she earned a degree in environmental science.  She also served as the only intern at the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.  She did her undergraduate work at Southwest Minnesota State University and was recently featured on the cover of Focus, a magazine for alumni and friends (you can't get this if you still go there, I guess).

Katie, The Cover Girl


As any good uncle would do, I took her to my favorite neighborhood place for dinner on her first night in town. And you can probably guess where that was.

Burgers And Beer At The Waterfront Ale House


Now, to be honest, Katie only took a sip of the beer. She is preggers so she was behaving herself. I am not sure, but I think she might even have had a veggie-burger.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman Went For The Ribs


I had the crab sandwich again and a Brooklyn Brewery Buzz Bomb Ale. This is a bit of a different brew in that it uses wildflower honey for 25% of its fermentable sugar. They also throw in a bit of orange peel for a citrus punch. It isn't a sweet beer, by any means, coming in at a more than decent 8% ABV.

The Buzz Bomb is bright gold, kind of like honey held to the light, and, despite the citrus honey flavor has a very dry finish.

Buzz Bomb Ale is kind of a throwback to braggot, a combination of mead and ale that has a long history. In fact it is mentioned in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and definitely worth tracking down.

The next day we headed out to Coney Island and, of course, once again I had to introduce Katie to one of my favorite haunts, Ruby's.

World Famous Ruby's


My favorite bartender, Willie, was still pouring the brews, although she said this would be her last year. She is retiring to Florida at the end of the season.  Her husband retired last year.

Katie, Willie, And The Mysterious Chinese Woman


Spot The Difference


A Burger And A Root Beer


I was a bit dismayed to see that the boardwalk is pretty torn up for repairs. You really would have thought they would do all of this work before the start of the summer season. There was actually a chainlink fence separating Ruby's from the beach and a torn up stretch of the boardwalk.

Next week is the Mermaid Day Parade but it was such a bummer last year with confusion over the route and bad weather that I will probably just skip it this year. Quite frankly, despite all of the hoopla about the "new" Coney Island it still looks pretty desolate and torn up.

Speaking of desolate and torn up, we had to stop by Hank's Saloon on the way home so I could show Katie my favorite neighborhood dive honky tonk.

No Visit To New York Would Be Complete...


There is, of course, more to this visit, but it shall have to wait.