Yankees Game

Today I head out to see a Yankees game courtesy of my friend Allen. Each year he and a bunch of cronies head here from God knows where, Philadelphia, or someplace like that. I hooked up with him last year as a result of this blog and we have met up several times since. He was at Pioneer to celebrate Number 1000 with me. This year he offered me six tickets, most generous, so I took along several friends and the Mysterious Chinese Woman.

Normally I could just catch the 4 Train form Borough Hall to Yankee Stadium but, because it is a week-end, that train doesn’t run here no more. Instead I had to start out taking the 2 Train to Times Square.



I love how the MTA, or whomever, can spend whatever it takes to install works of art in the subway stations yet not find the money to keep them clean and in good working order.



The MTA must also make a pretty penny encouraging drinking on the trains.



One good thing about the filth on the tracks is that the scurrying of the rats gives you a heads up on when the train is approaching.



From Times Square we grabbed the shuttle over to Grand Central.



We stopped to admire more artwork on our way to catch the 4 Train to where we were headed.



A bit of a hike and we were ready to catch our train.



Yet another dramatic shot of a train entering the station.



A relatively short ride later and we were standing on the platform overlooking Yankee Stadium.



A somewhat more important view from the platform was the one looking the other way, towards where I was meeting my friends.



We were all meeting at Yankee Tavern, a reliable watering hole about a block away from Yankee Stadium.



We got there a bit before noon so we were able to belly up to the bar and pre-order our beers. Then headed over to catch the game.



Once there a stop was made to replenish our supply of beer.



We had great seats on a hot day, up high but under an overhang so we were in the shade and caught a all to rare breeze when it blew. Lovely view of the neighboring skyline as well.



The fellow taking the picture is Allen and behind him you can see Bernie and my friend Bob. I think the women were off powdering their respective noses or something.



After the game the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I stopped by the Ball Park Lanes for a quick drink before catching the subway home.



We each had a delicious Hot Sausage on a bun. That was my first for the day but someone had already wolfed down two hotdogs at the game. Who that might have been I cannot imagine.



And there is no justice in the world because she never puts on any weight. Of course, as she reminded me, she didn’t have three beers (just one).

It was a quicker shot back home because I picked up the D Train so there were no transfers involved.



Even better, the D Train dropped me off a mere block from my favorite Dive Honky Tonk bar in Brooklyn, the infamous Hank’s Saloon.



The friendly bartender Jeanne was on duty and gave me a friendly greeting.



I learned that what I had suspected was, indeed, going to happen. The new owners who, originally said they were just going to add a second floor to the place, are going to tear it down and rebuild it. I figured this would be the case because I don’t think this building really could be saved, let alone added to.

They have promised to keep the existing atmosphere, but that will be hard to do. Places like this have to evolve, they can’t really be created.



After a quick Gin and Tonic to cool down I headed home but decided to stop into the Brazen Head for one of their specialties, a real ale on draft.



The bartender, Jill, pulled me a nice Six Point Double IPA from one of their casks.



This place always has one or two real ales available (the other one today was Victory Storm King Stout) and also hosts an annual real ale cask festival every year. Well worth taking in. You can find out more about them by going to their website:

BRAZENHEAD

I was just leaving when I ran into an old friend, Frantz, who I hadn’t seen for the longest time.



We repaired to the backyard garden area for another beer and he caught me up on his activities. He is an artist and had been over in Europe, working and putting on some shows. He is back now and if you get a chance check out his work. He is quite talented and sometimes you can see his work hanging on the walls of the Brazenhead.

Downtown Farmer's Market

One of the interesting juxtopostions of my neighborhood is that in the midst of bustling businesses and court houses you find a bit of an oasis. During the summer a couple of days a week, and always on Saturday their is a small farmer's market that sets up right in the shadow of Borough Hall.



Like just about everything here in Downtown Brooklyn it is easily accessible by subway.



Although compared to the work-week it is relatively uncrowded here, the farmer's market always attracts a good crowd of people looking to buy fresh vegetables, fruit, flowers, bread; you name it. Looking down the stretch of vendors you can just barely make out the Manhattan Bridge in the background.

The Brooklyn Bridge is right next to it and the adjacent area is now known as Dumbo, another stupid name dreamed up by a developer. In this case it stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Nobody, to my knowledge, ever referred to the Manhattan Bridge and an overpass before. Oh well, the name must work, the real estate prices in that area are some of the highest in Brooklyn now.

You can just pop out of the subway, buy a fresh loaf of bread, and pop back down again if you choose to do so.



The flowers were particularly colorful on the sunny Saturday morning and I probably should have bought some for the Mysterious Chinese Woman. I failed to do so, however, and now feel remorseful. Oh well, I will buy her a hotdog and a beer at the Yankees game tomorrow. The flowers would have been cheaper though.





The vegetables and fruit were also looking particularly colorful.



As early as it was, they were already being picked over by hawk-eyed old women.



If you like tomatoes, but dislike the insipid, flavorless things you get in the supermarkets now, this is the place to go.

I took one last picture on the way back home that captured the lovely fountain in the very small Columbus Park that is right in front of Borough Hall, home of Marty Markowitz, our charismatic Borough Presdent who now has his eye on the exhalted title of Mayor. Watch for a run in 2010.



Tomorrow I head out to a Yankees game and, although it isn't in my neighborhood, I will try to take a few pictures and post them for your amusement.

My Neighborhood

I am no longer visiting bars on as regular a basis as before, who could. However I still visit interesting places on occasion, and I live in an interesting neighborhood. Well, it is interesting to me, at least. I thought I would change the direction of this blog a bit and start posting more on things and places that I find to be interesting, mostly in the area around where I live, Downtown Brooklyn, and the surrounding neighborhoods. Of course if I do visit a new bar I will certainly post on that as well. Let me know what you think about this idea.

Gowanus Yacht Club



While out for a morning walked I passed by the Gowanus Yacht Club prior to its opening for the day. This is a decent place to pop into for a cold beer and a hamburger or a hotdog. They have cheap PBRs and a decent selection of more exotic brews, all served in plastic cups. You can get pitchers too. They also have trivia contests for your amusement and enrichment.

The Specials



You can find this outdoor on a cement slab with picnic tables and umbrellas place at the corner of Smith and President Streets. You can get there on the F or G train (there is a stop right next to it) or just take almost any train to Boro Hall and walk up the ever entertaining Smith Street. This neighborhood is Carroll Gardens although there is a move underway to rename it BoCoCa for the three adjacent neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens. Resist the urge to use this name at all costs. It is absolutely stupid and unnecessary.

Not too far away, but far enough away so you can't smell it while sipping your beer, is the infamous Gowanus Canal. One day this may be a very upscale neighborhood itself. You could have a marina and boats can get out to the ocean from it. Right now it is still pretty industrialized and smelly at times. There has been talk of dredging it out, but there is so much chemical waste and stuff that there is a concern about how safe dredging would be.

The Gowanus Canal used to be a creek but it was made into a canal and became a major commercial waterway used to transport cement, oil and coal during the 1800's. A number of cement factories and coal and oil depost still line it. A flushing system was installed but for many years it didn't work and there is no natural outlet to the canal other than the one into the ocean. Supposedly the flushing system is now working again and water is clearing up somewhat. A study is underway to decide weather or not to do a major upgrade to the system down the road a bit.

Views From The Bridge

Looking South Towards Red Hook


Looking North Towards Downtown



There are a few art galleries opening up along here and at least one performance place, Issue Project Room at 400 Carroll Street between Bond and Nevins. This evening and tomorrow evening the School of Hard Knocks dance troupe is putting on a 7 hour piece along the banks of the canal. You could join or visit the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club if you wanted to get a more up-close look.

Mentos and Cola

Ah, the day started out serene enough with a quiet stroll across the bridge between Callicoon and Pennsylvania. From the tranquil look of the Deleware river you would hardly know that a week ago a lot of this town near the river was covered in water.

Scenes From The Bridge





But, as is often the case, serenity doesn't last. Over breakfast I mentioned the recent craze involving mentos and diet cola. Surprisingly enough, this was not common knowledge amongst my companions so, of course, we had to buy a couple bottles of Diet Coke and try it out for ourselves.

Our first attempts, using one liter bottles, did not produce the spectacular results that we had hoped for.

Steven Dropping A Load



Less Than Spectacular Results



Not to be deterred, we decided to restock our supplies and use the larger two liter bottles.

The Gang Gathering



As is natural for a group such as this, we chose the youngest member be our volunteer for the new attempts.

Andy Decked Out For Duty



Our first attempt started slowly enough.

Slow Start



However, we hadn't counted on Andy's conjuring skills.

Andy Doing His Stuff



The final results were most gratifying indeed.

Lift Off



Of course we weren't satisfied with doing this just once so we had to try it out with Diet Pepsi too, and that worked just as well if not better. We also captured the often talked about, but seldom seen, double.

The Elusive Double Geyser



Finally, exhausted from our efforts, we were able to retire for our cake and to continue to celebrate Shirley's birthday.

Happy Birthday Shirley

A Slow Start

I headed up to Callicoon, New York today to visit friends and celebrate the birthday of Shirley Stabbert who wouldn't want her age mentioned but looks mighty good for turning eighty.

Birthday Girl Shirley Being Crowned



Unfortunately I got of to a bit of a slow start due to problems with the Enterprise Car Rental in my neighborhood. I originally planned to pick up the car at 9:00 A.M. and had made reservations over a week ago to do so. I was going to pick up a friend of mine, Shirley is his sister-in-law, before heading up. He was going to be running a bit late because he was coming in from Florida so I called Enterprise at 9:10 A.M. (they open at 9:00 A.M.) to tell them I would be picking up the car at 10:30 P.M. instead. I was informed that they might not have a car available at that time. I said I didn't understand that, I had the car reserved for 9:00 A.M. and would pay for it from that time, just hold it until I got there. I was told they couldn't do this. I then asked to talk to a supervisor.

The supervisor heard me out and said there wouldn't be a problem, there would be a car waiting for me at 10:30 A.M. Well, you can probably guess where this is going. I got to Enterprise at the appointed hour and was told that they had no car available but that I could be driven to another location to pick up a car. I asked what happened to the car I had reserved for 9:00 A.M. and that they were going to hold for me and after a bit of hemming and hawing they admited that they had rented it out. I said I didn't want to go to another location, that they advertised that they could deliver a car to your residence, how about if they just delivered it here and I would pick it up at noon (Enterprise is only a few blocks from where I live). They said that would be fine.

As you can imagine, shortly before noon when I arrived there was still no car. They did call and have someone drive one over though and I finally got my car at 12:30 P.M. To add insult to injury, it only had about 1/8th of a tank of gas so the first thing I had to do was stop at a nearby gas station in downtown Brooklyn where the price of gas was $3.40 a gallon.

Luckily an Avis dealership has opened up nearby so in the future I will probably be doing business with them. Or at least I will check them out to see if I have better luck. Avis also lets you return your car on Sunday whereas Enterprise is closed on Sunday.

I will say that in the past I have never had any problems with Enterprise, except for there policy of sometimes giving you a car with almost no gas in it. And even throughout this set of intereactions everyone, except for the first person that I talked to on the phone, was very polite and friendly. I just don't understand the reasoning behind not having a car available that you have reserved in advance if you can't pick it up on time when you let them know in advance that you are going to be late. I would never use Enterprise at an airport. I imagine if your plane was delayed you could be completely out of luck in terms of having your car waiting for you.

By the way, if you are wondering why I didn't just pick the car up on time and keep it at my place until I needed it, there is absolutely no place to park a car during the week where I live in Downtown Brooklyn. Even the parking lots are filled up by 9:00 A.M.

Eating Ethiopian

Makeda's



The Fourth of July weekend will find me smoking ribs and chickens and a duck or two at my sister-in-law's house in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I headed out on Friday to do our shopping and decided to have lunch at an Ethiopian restaurant not far from the train station. Luckily there was a very nice bar in the place where I was able to have a pre-lunch beer.

Bar Man and Erica At The Bar



Erica was very friendly and I had a Magic Hat #9, nicely refreshing on a hot day with that hint of apricot that sets it apart from most other beers. I sat next to a friendly couple, Chris and Kim, and chatted with them a bit.

Chris and Kim



Chris is a systems ecologist for the Environmental Protection Agency. He works in the Water Quality Branch and has a Ph.D. in whatever it is you study to get a job like that.

After finishing my beer and conversation I headed into the adjacent dining area where I scooped up my lunch with that spongey bread.

The Dining Area



The food was good and the service was friendly and the bar was friendly so if you are in New Bruswick and want to do something a bit different, do drop in. I have been here in the evening, and it does pack up.

A Trip Abroad

Well, perhaps a trip abroad is a bit of a stretch, but we did move to another island, Staten Island. By the way, for those of you who might not know, where we were earlier today, up in The Bronx, is the only piece of New York City that is not on an island.

We took the Staten Island Ferry, always a fun trip, and free as well, and said adios to Manhattan:



And goodbye to Brooklyn too:



And, as the ferry took us by the Statue of Liberty we had to take the obligatory photo which is basically a big head with a tiny Statue of Liberty in the background.

Donna And The Lady



After landing we took a bit of a walk to a place that Donna had read about, the Cargo Cafe.

Cargo Cafe



This is an unpretentious place with a lot of interesting art hanging, and painted, on the walls. There is a pretty decent view of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and there is a bit of a view of Manhattan and Brooklyn interspersed with views of three large apartment buildings, two of which are still being built. The view from them must be quite nice indeed.

Bruce and I decided to have a pre-dinner Martini at the bar, of course.

Bruce And Bar Man At The Bar



After our drinks we headed for the back room, which had the best views, and had our meal under the watchful eyes of some of old friends.

The Pack



Our drinks were very good as was the food. I had a nicely spiced skirt steak and the ribs were a big hit too. The portions were more than generous and they came with large portions of mashed potatoes with onions and stuff mixed in. Very good, and they most certainly were not the instant kind.

Even though this place is out of the way, and that is putting it mildly if you live in Brooklyn, I will return. And I will have the steak again too.

We didn't pay attention to the ferry schedule, kind of assuming they ran every half an hour or so. Well, they do, from Manhattan to Staten Island. They only run every hour in the other direction, at least late on the week-ends. To make matters worse, we missed one by just a couple of minutes so we had a fairly long wait.

Bruce, Donna And The Mysterious Chinese Woman...Waiting



Despite the wait we counted the adventure a great success and were very pleased with the Cargo Cafe.