Wanted a change of pace so I wrote this in the classic Henry style: on my iPhone in one sitting with basically zero proofreads. Hope you like it!
I left the house at 3:45am and with the help of Mom driving I made it to the airport by 4:10am. Security going through TSA PreCheck was a breeze. In fact, the Dunkin’ Donuts line was 3x longer!
My flight was scheduled to board at 5:20am. I was on the plane at 5:45 scheduled to take off at 6am, but since it snowed in Boston a few hours earlier that meant everyone’s favorite airport activity…de-icing!! We ended up actually taking off at 6:33am and I was initially worried about the arrival time change, but it turned out that it didn’t really matter overall.
After the plane landed in JFK it was a wicked long 1.2 mile walk from the gate to the AirTram (JFK subway in the sky). I took the Red AirTram to the Howard Beach subway stop, then the J train to Broadway Junction, then the L train to Myrtle-Wycoff. I got to Phil’s house at about 9am. The JFK to Phil’s apartment took about 1 hour 15 min. After a quick chat with Dave (Phil’s roommate) I headed out for another 45 minutes of subways.
The Alexander Hamilton Grange NM was finally open for tours! The only issue is that it is on 135th street (really really far from anything). I eventually made it and had a nice walk through the streets.
The house is the original wood and such. It was originally a few blocks away, but had to be moved or else the subway would plow right through it. So to accomplish this they jacked it up, put it on some rails, pushed it over a church, and lowered it onto some more wheels. Then it was slowly moved to its new home.
Hamilton wanted to impress people mostly with this house and he also wanted a place to raise a family so he did both! It was a relatively big property for the time and was made to be perfect. It was completely symmetrical even if it didn’t logically make sense because from the outside the house would look better. For example: it looked better to have symmetrical windows on the outside even though they looked weirdly placed on the inside.
He also had mirrors on some of the doors to help reflect the light in the room and make the room look bigger. Pretty neat! You might know him for being a founding father, but what he really wanted to be was a well established lawyer and the best way to do that was to have an elegant house. If people were impressed with the house then they would surely trust him to do business. (Kind of a weird thought in my opinion, but it worked at the time.) It should be noted that he didn’t have the money to make such a house and so he kept taking out loan after loan to build it. Never did get around to paying off the loans.
After the Hamilton house I was going to go to the General Grant National Memorial a few blocks away, but I decided to get lunch first. I searched on google maps and decided to go to the Dinosaur BBQ close by. Philip took me to one in Syracuse and it was fabulous so I assumed it would be just as good here. I got a margarita with 1 bbq pork slider, 1 hamburger slider, & 1 Buffalo chicken slider. As well as French fries and Mac & cheese as sides. Hungry yet?
By the time I finished lunch it had started to rain, but that’s what rain jackets were made for and so I pressed on. It was maybe a 10 minute walk from the restaurant to the memorial. Last time I was here the mausoleum was closed!
It is the largest mausoleum in North America and the sarcophaguses are about as big as a medium sized car. (Think Jeep Grand Cherokee).
General Ulysses S. Grant was a great general in the civil war and the 18th US President. I followed him through the St. Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia when he held a legendary defense against confederate General Robert E. Lee. I have yet to visit his official park in Missouri so I’ll save my president history review until then.
After the memorial I headed south to the Tribeca area to visit the Fountain Pen Hospital. The store was really really cool, but the pen I wanted was a bit out of my price range and it was a medium tipped pen. They let me test my writing style with a few pens and it turns out I have a ‘light touch’ when I write so thus I should only buy ‘fine tipped’ fountain pens. Really cool and I simply must return some day. Fountain pens have always impressed me.
After the pen store I decided to return to Philips apartment to rest and get cleaned up for dinner. Philip came home about and hour later with his girlfriend Liz. It turned out we didn’t need to leave until a bit after 6pm to reach the restaurant in time so that gave us some extra time to enjoy the apartment. I hadn’t seen Liz since Philip took me to minigolf last time so it was nice to catch up. It didn’t take too long to reach Central Park. In fact we got there early so we hit the restaurant bar first.
I have been wanting to have an epic steak in New York City for a few months now. Peter Lugers, Harry’s, and Keens were all on the drawing board, but it was Quality Meats that won the winning bid. At the bar we started the night out with some cocktails. I got a Negroni, Phil had a Chili Margarita, and Liz got a Hemingway Spritz. All were delicious.
After we were seated both Phil and Liz insisted that red wine goes better with steak so they ordered a bottle to go with dinner. Since I don’t really like red wine I got a glass of white. I got a dry aged prime sirloin while Phil had a tomahawk and Liz a filet mignon. The moment of truth came once our steaks arrived at the table. I kid you not, this was THE BEST steak of all time. Philip agreed that he would never forget the taste for the next few years. Liz was also in agreement with hers. After dinner our waiter gave us a complimentary sticky toffee cake (really really good).
The last thing on my Official Plan was dinner, but Phil and Liz both really wanted to keep the momentum going so we went to a bar. It just so happened that there was a Judge Roy Bean bar nearby and when I saw that I decided we had to go there. Early last year if you read my road trip out to Philmont blog series you might remember that I visited the Judge Roy Bean courthouse in the middle of nowhere Texas. Well this is the same guy! So cool!
This bar was kind of small, but lively! After a bunch more drinks Phil and I said our goodbyes to Liz and headed back to Brooklyn. You have to realize that sometimes the NYC subway system sucks and that night was no exception. The L and M trains were both not in operation so that meant we had to take the J train and walk about 30 minutes through some quiet Brooklyn streets at midnight to get home. The chance of something happening was slim, but it was still a bit nerve racking. I’d hate to do this alone after a night at the bar with friends!
Saturday
I didn’t really have a plan for Saturday other than the speak east tour so I wasn’t really sure what to do. Philip is a big fan of the ‘let’s just wing it’ trick and that’s kind of what we ended up doing. Since there was no real plan, it was a vacation, and Philips off day we decided to sleep in a bit. It was at 11:30am that we hopped onto a subway and headed over to Midtown.
You see, the night before I had discovered a famous tarot card reader in nyc and decided that I must go check it out. The problem was that when we got to the spot…we couldn’t find it! We decided she must be hidden in a nearby apartment and not really prepared to go in unannounced we instead explored W 14th street. Not too far away there was a comic book store so we went there thinking I’d find some cool One Piece stuff (it’s a popular anime), but no such luck. It was mostly Marvel and DC comics stuff.
Not really sure what to do next we eventually decided to get lunch at a sort of nearby Joe’s Pizza. You can always rely on Joe’s for a good slice of pizza. I usually get a simple cheese and pepperoni slice. This time we actually got a table inside! There are no seats in Joe’s. Only standing tables and some tables outside, but it was 35F outside that day so I preferred to eat inside naturally.
One thing I really wanted to try was an authentic New York style cheesecake so after lunch we headed to Eileen’s Special Cheesecake in Lower Manhattan. It was a small shop with a wide variety of cheesecake, but one problem was that Philip doesn’t actually like cheesecake so I instead got us a chocolate mousse to split. It was delicious!
Next up was the Portal of old New York City. We traveled a fair ways south to near Battery Park to see it. It is an early 1800’s well. I wasn’t really sure what to expect and Phil wasn’t thrilled to find out what was here either. I think these red shorts are my favorite shorts ever. I didn’t see anyone else with shorts that whole weekend. Weird.
After a few pictures at the portal Phil decided to take me to Pier 17 to both see one of his favorite views in nyc and also to have a prime spot to play in the Pokémon Go community day. You see it was Larvitar day! While Philip was secretly catching them all I was enjoying the city streets of New York.
Philip enjoys this spot because it gives him a great view of Brooklyn across the river. Also the Brooklyn bridge was nearby. There was a row of benches next to the water that you could have a food or drink on (but we didn’t because it was too cold outside and we already had lunch). After a few minutes soaking in the tranquility we decided to walk on the Brooklyn bridge.
On paper it was easy to get into the bridge, but in reality it was a bit more complicated. Why you ask? Because there is always construction getting in the way whenever it’s least expected. I took us the way I thought would be fastest, but with it being a totally different direction and it being really cold we decided to just find the nearest subway and take that back instead.
The main attraction of the weekend was soon upon us: the speakeasy tour! Before the tour started Philip wanted to have some food so we headed out early and had about 15 minutes to find something. Winging it here made me a bit anxious, but it turned out ok even though the chicken tenders we ordered didn’t work out as planned.
The tour was sort of like a pub crawl, but with speakeasy’s. A speakeasy is a term for bars back during the prohibition. The prohibition was a time in the USA when alcohol was outlawed. Instead of stopping the consumption of liquor people instead just drank it in secret. It got so bad that often times random people would just come and knock on your door asking where the beer was at. That sounds nuts to me.
The first stop on the tour was The Back Room and to get there we had to go down a back alley between two restaurants. Phil and I met our tour guide Madeline (pronounced Mad-eh-lyn) and waited for everyone else to arrive. Liz’s Uber was late, but she gets a free pass this time because she is Phil’s girlfriend. This first stop looked the most like what a speakeasy would be like. It has dimmed lights, a proper decoration vibe (although the paintings were kind of strange to drink next to – if you know…you know), and a good music selection.
Here you had to drink out of teacups because that’s what they had back in the day. Basically if someone asked you could just say “haha this isn’t booze it’s tea!” Imagine a bunch of people drinking tea super late at night. Would you believe that? Often times you wouldn’t even know they were there because the bar was so hidden away.
After a round of tea we continued to the next speakeasy. This was probably the best secret place on the list. To get here you had to walk through the middle of a burger restaurant, through a safe in the wall, to the 2nd floor which was the bar. Really really cool. The vibe here was more quiet with couches and low to the ground stools. I got a bartenders choice, which is essentially whatever the bartender thinks is best. Not everyone likes to have their order not in their own hands, but this one turned out great and I got something with gin in it. The music selection here was a bit strange.
The last speakeasy was more of a club than whatever I was imagining. To get here you needed to go through a small art gallery. However, you could totally hear the music pumping through the walls. Heh totally an art gallery. It was packed with people on the other side, but eventually Phil, Liz and I found a seat. Since this was the last stop of the night and it was late we decided to go to bed next. I wasn’t too fond of another walk home late at night.
Sunday
This was the last day of the trip and since I had a super late flight back to Boston that meant we had plenty of time to chill doing stuff. For breakfast we met Liz at the Morning Star Cafe for an omelet. It was pretty good! The hot chocolate ranks number 2 on my list. I’ll post the current version at the end. After breakfast I said a final goodbye to Liz as I wouldn’t be seeing her again and Phil and I headed to the activity of the day.
I had bought us some VIP tickets to Madam Tussauds at the last minute which was a great decision although I’ll save my harsh review of the actual tickets for later. Anyways the wax sculptures were amazing!
The museum is open to visitors on floor 5-9. On the way to the elevator we passed by a few people.
Once at the top of the elevator we were in a pop star themed room. We also took some photos with the VIP photo card.
On the way to the next room was a Phantom of the Opera model. They were blasting the theme song as well, which was very cool! I listened to this song 57 times in a row on Spotify in 2022. Aaaaand my favorite rendition is the Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo version at the Royal Albert Hall. Haha I’ll move on.
I thought I could pose as E.T. with my hood over my head like the blanket. Did I nail it?
Just kidding! What a tragedy that would be. Basically the way this works is you start at the bottom and work your way up. At the 9th floor you take an elevator back to the bottom. After a bunch of popular movie stuff came horror films. Wow they were good!
After the nun I accidentally scared some people. It turns out that seeing a tall person with a polar bear hat in the dim lighting is a bit frightening. I thought it was funny though!
One of the most popular attractions was the Marvel movie area. This also included a 4-D film. Basically it’s 3D, but also with shaky seats, practical effects, and wind. You are supposed to feel like you are actually in the movie. Pretty interesting!
I think a few more pictures before I move on.
Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts. Without him who knows if I would’ve been at Philmont?
Overall I’d say the wax museum is worth it. We dipped our hands in wax and made a mold of it. Really cool. Shoutout to Mathew and Robert! Next was Times Square.
After the wax museum we did just one more thing before heading back to the apartment: the M&M store in Times Square. My brother loves M&Ms and I wanted to try out the ‘put your face on an M&M candy’ thing. The store was pretty big and filled with a bunch of weird merchandise such as M&M pajamas or M&M wedding kits.
One last trip back to the apartment. I opted to just rest for a bit on the futon before leaving for my flight. I had a few hours to chill before I had to go and it was nice to not be outside in the rain. Eventually I headed back to the airport. It took about an hour on the subway. TSA stopped me at security because of the wax hand, but I got to keep it!
Once again it was a wicked long walk to my gate. That’s why I wanted to get there so early. I had an overpriced burger and a Pepsi at a small restaurant before boarding my flight. The trip home was great and I walked into my house at about midnight. Wew, such a long day!
That’s it for now. See you next time!
Trip Stats
- Miles walked in NYC with shorts in 35F weather: 20mi
- Subways taken: too many to count
- One thing I missed: never did try an authentic New York style cheesecake
- Elmo’s in Times Square: 3
- Airplane of choice: Delta
Official Hot Chocolate List
As of January 28, 2023 here is the list as follows:
1. Laura as the barista (FULLer CUP)
2. Morning Star in NYC
3. Cimarron Mercantile in New Mexico
4. Hot chocolate machine at Philmont
5. Cafe Nero in Winchester
6. Swiss miss w/ marshmallows
7. Swiss miss without marshmallows
8. Swiss miss Kurig edition
You must be logged in to post a comment.