New York 2019: Monday Part 2: Misadventures in and out of Manhattan, departure

Accidentally in Brooklyn

Biking the Brooklyn Bridge was high on our list, so we figured out how to get to the Manhattan end of the bridge and hopped on the Metro. After what seemed like way too long on the train, I checked my phone--yep, we were in Brooklyn. We got off at the next station, and Sarah determined that it would be fastest just to get on going the opposite direction and head back to the Manhattan end.

Oh hai

We did this, with a quick detour to a Benjamin Franklin statue because #dad, then we found a Citi Bike station near City Hall Park. (There was also some sort of acrobatics street show just getting started here at the time.) Renting the bikes involved more rigmarole than planned, but finally we headed into the bike lane.

And promptly lost the plot, following another rental bike pair down the autos-only lane of the bridge. Helpful people honked and alerted us that this was NOT the way for bikes (they're not allowed). We wandered around for a while longer trying to figure it out, but finally time was too short on our bikes and we had to return them. Then we realized the bike path on the bridge is the same as the pedestrian path. So we followed the pedestrian path.

Brooklyn Bridge babes

I got a souvenir magnet subway map (well, Sarah bought it, but I paid her back) from vendors along the side of the path. However, the path was crowded and the sun was high. By the time we reached the first pillar, we decided we'd had enough of fighting the crowds and we'd already made it to Brooklyn once, so we turned back to head downhill/swim upstream against the current. Ultimately, the best choice.

We realized the historic Woolworth building was nearby, so we walked the few blocks to it. At my insistence, we ventured inside and took a picture of the stunning lobby before we were asked to leave. #eeeeesh Hey, we made it three and a half days before we got kicked out of anything. Is that a new record?

Cookie shot cup

Frozen s'more

Trying to live down our shame, we headed back to the Dominique Ansel Bakery. We picked up some gifts as well as a frozen s'more and a cookie shot for us. The cookie shot was a warm chocolate chip cookie shaped into a cup and coated inside with chocolate, with cold-infused Tahitian vanilla milk inside. Mm MM. The frozen s'more was bruleed in front of us, marshmallow encasing a layer of chocolate wafer around a vanilla ice cream center. The combinations of flavors, textures and temperatures made this dessert extra interesting! We also enjoyed a LOT of ice water in here and sat in their patio outside the "Garden" room.

XL DKA: enormous pastry!

Croissants at Dominique Ansel Kitchen

We also got a box of 4 DKAs for our hosts (who had never had them!) as well as Mini Me meringue drops for our children and Dominique Ansel granola for my dad.

We continued our quest for gifts at Chelsea Market, where we explored for a while. Sarah suggested fancy salt for my mom from the Filling Station, and I picked the Spanish Rosemary flavor and a marble salt cellar. Sarah selected the ghost pepper salt for her sister and brother-in-law. From Posman Books, I got a book about the Statue of Liberty for her kids and a magnetic bookmark of the Statue and the city skyline at sunset for my mom.

The biggest challenge in our gift shopping was Sarah's mom. After much exploring, we found a bag of French rosemary almonds and a Mr. Rogers magnet.

Goat curry, mac & cheese and Jamaican jerk chicken at Tings in Chelsea Market

After thoroughly checking out the food offerings, we decided we had no choice but to ask ourselves WWS&GD/E: what would Shawn and Gus do/eat? The obvious answer was Jamaican jerk chicken, so we bellied up to the bar at Tings for goat curry and Jamaican jerk chicken with a side of rice and beans and, oh yes, macaroni and cheese. We were seduced by the side dish as the served scooped out a portion of the gooey, stretchy, cheesy goodness for another customer. The flavor was complex and the texture was spot on. This was one of our favorite savory eats!

gelato selection

For our final dessert in the city, we headed over to L'Arte del Gelato. I had half mascarpone, half panna cotta, and Sarah got half biscotti and half amarena variegato (sour cherry). Four halves made more than two thumbs up on both flavor and texture. We particularly enjoyed how well our pairings went together.

Amarena variegato and biscotti and mascarpone and panna cotta gelato

By this time, Mark was done with work, so we met up with him (naturally heading the wrong direction first, as we were wont to do). He then walked us back over to his office across from the Flatiron building so we could see that and took our picture there. Then he led us to the PATH. Israel picked us up from Newark Penn and took us to the airport, and we returned home again to resume our lives. #asifitwereadream #England2029