Goodbye NYC

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My last day in New York City. What to do? Eat, of course! I have a later flight, so I have plenty of time to visit two places I've wanted to go since I arrived. First off, a bakery in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn called 'Baked.' I saw the owners on Martha Stewart and have wanted to go ever since. They have such an interesting menu, great website, and now it is finally time to see the space! I took the subway as far as I could, but it doesn't go into Red Hook, a former industrial neighborhood by the river that is an up and coming arts district. I walked from the subway so I could see more of the neighborhood, and I liked it. Baked is close to the water and very easy to find, and it's on a great street. It's a long, narrow space with lots of yummy goodies and a great coffee menu. I ordered an ice coffee and a banana, cashew, chocolate bar thing that was amazing. There were so many great things to choose from I was just overwhelmed. I read the newspaper and when that got too depressing, I decided to look at the Baked cookbooks. Oh my. Outstanding. I bought them both, and a sweatshirt, my only souvenirs besides my pictures. Check it out at www.bakednyc.com.

I had occupied the window seat for a long time, so I decided to walk to Juniors, a NY landmark restaurant on Flatbush Ave. It was about an hour walk, and I was about halfway there when I walked by a Trader Joe's. An air conditioned Trader Joe's. So I went in to cool off and price compare. It was so cheap! I have heard over and over that NYC is the most expensive city in the world, but I'm not buying it. For housing, maybe that is true. But Shanghai and Hong Kong are way more expensive when it comes to food, drinks, and entertainment. Unless you're Chinese and just want to eat Chinese food. Which I'm not, and I didn't. So this Trader Joe's was so cheap and so great. The prices here were the same as the prices at TJ's in Tucson, so I was impressed. I cooled off and kept on walking.

Junior's was not what I expected. I expected a diner, because that's what it is, but it was huge and had definitely been updated. Juniors is famous for its upscale, but fairly reasonably priced, diner fare and cheesecake, and I planned to totally indulge. I got a 10 oz cheeseburger with steak fries and two giant onion rings, a bottomless Coke, and a piece of rasberry swirl cheesecake. Oh my. My first piece of NY style cheesecake. It was decadent and light and so good, no whipped cream or garnish necessary. Delightful. My bill was about $25 but worth it.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of these great places! I don't know where my mind was, but I didn't take any pictures today.

Now it was time to head back to the apartment, to the airport, and home. I was tired and stuffed and I did feel like it was time to go. I'll be back to New York City, hopefully sooner rather than later. With so much to see and do, I have to go back.

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