2013 NYC by Train 6 - Daylight Delight in NYC

Woke up to a perfect weather day. Maybe slightly warm, but not a scorcher. Mike was refreshed and feeling great, to my delight. After last night I was not sure how things would go.

Today we had a date with our niece, Teshia. She is interning at MoMA-PS1 in Brooklyn and seeing her is what really motivated our visit here. We had been longing to get to NYC for an extended trip for forever, but just never got around to it. Teshia here, was the incentive to actually travel to this must-see city.

We were to meet her later in the day, so we started a morning trek to pass the time. Some North Carolinians we met in the lobby recommended a French place for breakfast, so we headed that way. But a few doors down we saw The Red Flame, a typical NY diner. It was full and hopping. If this many people liked it, so would we.

We got a seat in the back across from the kitchen order window and we were amazed at how quick and crazy orders were coming in and going out. Wait persons of many different nationalities hollered out orders to the cooks, each order having adjustments to the menu listing. Service was excellent and soon our pancakes and avocado/spinach/Swiss omelet arrived (served to order with all our "adjustments"). Coffee was good, orange juice was fresh squeezed, food was tasty and plentiful, and service was excellent. We were in and out in a jiffy and on our wandering way.


We continued west on 44th to Times Square. We would cross this famous corner many times during our stay. It was exhilarating and fascinating no matter what time of day, and always worth a pause in our venture. People watching is at its utmost here. Even at 10am, there were throngs. Per Wikipedia: "Although Times Square is only 1% of NYC's total land size, it generates 11% of the city's economic output and 10% of the city's jobs."

Many of the "jobs" are photo opportunists. These folks are costumed as every pop art character you can think of--many Muppet look-alikes;  Spiderman; Dora, the Explorer; Builder Bob; Mario; Angelina, the Ballerina; and a host of others. These all appealing to kids (of all ages) who then want their photo taken with the "personality," whose parents than have to pay a "tip." We overheard one little boy say as he headed away, "OK, Spidey, we're going to the park now" (as if he wanted Spidey to look after him in this big, over the top, maybe foreign to him, city).

We also saw the famous Naked Cowboy. Yes, he has his own Wikipedia entry at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Cowboy. He is a "street performer" that runs around Times Square in cowboy boots and hat and white jockey style briefs. Today he did not play his guitar, but was still VERY popular with his attire (or lack thereof) and longish blond curly hair. The gals run up to him for a hug and a photo. Imagine getting paid for hugging pretty girls! Sometimes he picks them up in his arms like going-over-the-threshold-on-your-wedding-night style or smooches them. I was not up for any of that, but I must say "That guy is really hunky!"

We meandered north and west along interesting looking blocks, marveling at the variety of architecture--classic buildings from NYC-Manhattan's beginnings to mirrored skyscrapers where you could hardly tell the reflections of clouds in the windows from the actual clouds above. We continued through the main and fringe areas of the Theatre District. It is our plan to see Book of Mormon sometime on this trip, but didn't happen past the Eugene O'Neill Theatre where it is playing.

We window shopped at many fun stores along our way. One was NY Gifts which had a replica of the Statue of Liberty outside. I told Mike to stand by Her for a photo as we were not sure we would see Lady Liberty in person on this trip. Good thing, too, as we were not able to fit Her in. Big reason to return here.

Another thing we noticed was the abundance of NYC police. They take their security seriously here. Lots of police and lots of video monitors. Times Square even has an NYPD station located in its heart. And American flags everywhere. After 9-11, this must have become the most patriotic city in America.

Winding our way back to the hotel to catch up with our niece, Teshia, we came across a great little beer bar named Beer Culture. It is on West 45th between 8th and 9th Avenues. It has been open only two weeks, but we could tell this is going to be a booming place and a plus for Hell's Kitchen. (We found out later that was its neighborhood, but we didn't find it imposing or hellish at all.) See www.beerculturenyc.com for more info.

It was only 11:50am and they didn't open til 12n on Sunday per NY law. They invited us in and until we could get served we chatted with the owner, Matt, and his sidekick, Eddie. Mike "delved" into beer his whole life and did some home brew stints in California. (Abigail Ale, an experimental IPA, was one of his favorites, named after our first cat Abigail.) So he could keep up with the beer minutia conversation very well.

I, on the other hand, know very little and have only drunk one whole bottle of beer in my life that I can think of. That was a Modelo in Puerto Rico with our good friends Lynn and Sandy. We were motoring around the hot and high mountains when we ran across a little hole in the wall roadside bar in the middle of the jungle-y terrain. We were all perspiring heartily and needed rehydration. Beer was the only option and I downed one pronto. I wish I could say different, but that was the only time I enjoyed a beer. Personally, I'd rather have water, wine, or tequila. 


Anyway at noon we ordered. Not sure what Mike had but I ordered a Lindemans Framboise Lambic ale. That is a Belgium fruit style beer that tastes more like fizzy raspberry juice than beer. I have had this many times as a pseudo beer. They had several other brands, but they were bigger bottles and I didn't want to get too "relaxed" as we had a long day ahead. So I stuck with my tried and true.

This place is called Beer Culture for good reason. It has numerous coolers filled with 415 varieties of beers and they hope to get up to 600 at their max. The beers are place by east to west origin in the cooler so you can easily find one from any area of the U.S. or the world. We looked for Bells (brewed in our home town of Kalamazoo), but they said they were in sore need of that. They had Founders (nearby Grand Rapids brewed) and a few other Michigan brews.

Most of the 400 are artisan, designer, or micorbrew kind of stuff. They also have an old fashion refrigerator with some old time working men's beers--Miller, Papst, Schlitz, Rolling Rock. Stuff your grandpa would drink. No Bud though. On the inside door is a photo of a naked lady. Matt said most people miss that as they are really enjoying looking at the "vintage" beers.

They had about 10 brews on tap that change constantly depending on what Matt can get his hands on. The curiosity of "what's new" keeps the clientele coming back he said. While Mike was in the restroom, Matt came out and asked me which tap beer should go in the chili that day. I was not a good person to ask, but he said, "This one is kind of smoky," so I said, "Sure!" Now I'm a beer aficionado and a cook! HaHa!

Matt also has a unique collection of beer locked in a wrought iron cage. These are mostly Belgium beers valued at several hundred dollars per bottle. Some of the bottles are magnum size! Matt advised beers, if tapped and stored properly, can last 60-70 years. You think of wine in this regard, but not beer. I was only there about an hour but learned more about beer than I had my whole life--bottling, serving, styles, etc.

The menu sounded delicious, especially coming from the little 4x4 corner kitchen. We will come back to try the hot Caprese sandwich. And another surprise, they have USB ports and power sources below the bar counter for patrons. That is a first, as far as I know.

During our chit-chat Matt said that they put a different quote on the outdoor sandwich board each day. He was using a line from Mike's conversation for the quote today. He wouldn't tell us what it was, but said look on our way out. When we finally and reluctantly had to leave to catch up with our niece, he came out with us to see the board and took our photo. Fun, fun, fun!

On YELP Mike says "Beer Culture is one of the best thought out beer selling operations he has ever seen. Plus they were playing George Benson and Lou Reed on VINYL for background music!!" That is really making a statement for Mike and he bought a T-shirt, too.


On the way back to our hotel we had to pause at 7th Avenue. There was a Gay Pride Parade going on today. This was huge, lasting from 1-5pm. When we arrived, the Dominican Republic contingent was passing. It was a colorful display, somewhat political, cultural, and gay mixed in together. We had to wait a bit to cross to our side of 5th Ave. It would have been fun to watch for awhile, but we were anxious to catch up with Teshia.