Turkey Day in the Big Apple, Part II
That night, we went to see the new James Bond movie, partly because it was something we could all agree on, and partly because my dad is fanatically obsessed with Bond movies. He's seen all 21 of them multiple times, and has been asking me "When is the new Bond coming out?" since approximately five minutes after we saw "Die Another Day" on Thanksgiving 2002. This new one was quite good -- Daniel Craig was great in the role, and it wasn't nearly as preposterous as the Brosnan movies (no invisible car, in other words). My dad loved it, if a connoisseur’s opinion means something to you.
The next day, we went to Ground Zero, since neither my parents or brother had been (my parents were last in New York maybe 10 years ago, and Pat had only been to the city for a day or two for work last year). After that, we went on a “food tour” of Greenwich Village, where our guide talked about the history of the neighborhood and stopped to sample various cheese-based goodies. Seriously, everything we ate had some kind of cheese in it, except the chocolate -- two types of pizza, cannoli, some kind of cheese ball, and a cheese plate from Murray’s Cheese Shop. I’m certainly not complaining.
One of the neatest things on the tour was a stop at a speakeasy, which is still running after 60 years and looks exactly as it did during Prohibition. Chumley's is a little hole-in-the-wall place with no signs or markers that you need to walk through a courtyard to get through. The walls are plastered with signed photos of all the famous writers that used to drink there, which is pretty much all the famous writers. We didn’t actually eat anything, but now I can say I’ve been to a speakeasy. The one, in fact, where the term "86" was invented -- it's at 86 Bedford Street. (Kristen: the idea of visiting a working speakeasy strikes me as the kind of thing you’d find highly amusing. Let me know if I’m right.)
Oh, and we saw the apartment building where Monica and Rachel lived on Friends. I'm not nearly a big enough fan to recognize it from the show, but Kate knew it instantly.
All in all, it was a way fun holiday. Certainly more interesting than eating and falling asleep watching football games I barely have an interest in.
The next day, we went to Ground Zero, since neither my parents or brother had been (my parents were last in New York maybe 10 years ago, and Pat had only been to the city for a day or two for work last year). After that, we went on a “food tour” of Greenwich Village, where our guide talked about the history of the neighborhood and stopped to sample various cheese-based goodies. Seriously, everything we ate had some kind of cheese in it, except the chocolate -- two types of pizza, cannoli, some kind of cheese ball, and a cheese plate from Murray’s Cheese Shop. I’m certainly not complaining.
One of the neatest things on the tour was a stop at a speakeasy, which is still running after 60 years and looks exactly as it did during Prohibition. Chumley's is a little hole-in-the-wall place with no signs or markers that you need to walk through a courtyard to get through. The walls are plastered with signed photos of all the famous writers that used to drink there, which is pretty much all the famous writers. We didn’t actually eat anything, but now I can say I’ve been to a speakeasy. The one, in fact, where the term "86" was invented -- it's at 86 Bedford Street. (Kristen: the idea of visiting a working speakeasy strikes me as the kind of thing you’d find highly amusing. Let me know if I’m right.)
Oh, and we saw the apartment building where Monica and Rachel lived on Friends. I'm not nearly a big enough fan to recognize it from the show, but Kate knew it instantly.
All in all, it was a way fun holiday. Certainly more interesting than eating and falling asleep watching football games I barely have an interest in.
posted by Ryan Davis | 4:10 PM
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