Today's New York State Of Mind Is: Out & About
Well, what a week it has been. Having survived triple digit heat, subways, buses, and the usual metronome of mediocrity for the week, I decided it was time to take a break.
After work Friday night, I met my husband and we went out for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant called Mole. It is in the west village, on Jane Street. The food was spectacular, and the drinks were refreshing. They make Margaritas with fresh fruit puree and no sour mix. The flavors for the night were: Cucumber, Coconut, Ginger, and Mango. We tried them all except Coconut. Nice place. Would go back again.
Then we walked over to Pier 54, part of the Hudson River Park, to watch the sunset. When we got to the Pier we saw that there were all these unusual cars parked on it.
After further investigation, we found out that it was the starting point of something called "The Bull Run" which is a race across country from New York to Las Vegas. The race was to begin on Saturday, and several of the drivers were there tending to their cars. We wished them luck and went on our way.
We continued walking downtown till we got to another set of Piers so we could view the water unobstructed.
As twilight approached, we made our way to the next stop.
John Lennon's West Village apartment on Bank Street. 105 Bank Street to be precise. On the 16th October 1971, John and Yoko moved to this Greenwich Village loft, renting it from Jerry Butler of the Lovin’ Spoonful. It had two large rooms and a wrought-iron staircase which led up to a small roof garden. John lived in this apartment until early 1973.
We continued on to our next destination: Magnolia Bakery on Bleeker street for cupcakes. Yummy. We bought 4 of them and had them boxed to go so we could have them at home with a nice pot of coffee.
As we were making our way over to sixth avenue to find the F train, I suddenly had the wish that I could go back in time 39 years, and walk back to Bank street and ask Mr. Lennon if I could use his bathroom. The Margaritas had made me need to pee. Not being able to find "The Doctor" or the TARDIS, I had to settle for asking at a nearby Church. After much relief, and thanking and blessing them, we sojourned on.
Walking onward toward the subway we stumbled upon a new phenomenon:
Someone was putting on a concert on a fire escape. By this time it was dark and the staircase of the fire escape was lit up with lights and lanterns. A man in a hat was talking into a microphone holding an accordion, about to introduce "The Lady In The Red Dress" who was next up to sing. They announced themselves as the "Renegade Cabaret" and apparently they play all over the city in strange and random spots. We listened to a couple of songs and then descended into the subway to head home. It had been a fun night.
