Well, as Jen mentioned earlier, Sister Jen came to visit us a couple of weekends back. Its always good to see my sister, and she's quite possibly the easiest houseguest we've ever had (along with Bec). The reason being, Jen came out here by herself last New Year's and pretty much did all the major touristy stuff...so when she came this time around, we had the ability to do stuff that none of us had had the chance to do so far...
Of course, most of that involved food....as our friends know, Jen and I are big time foodies, and we love the ability to check out new restaurants and such around the New York City area since there are only 14-thousand of them or so....
Among the highlight of Sister Jen's trip to NYC:
1. Dinner at Mesa Grill: (top Photo) Jen and I took Sister Jen (by the way, my sister isn't a nun, its just the only way to differentiate between the two of them...well, probably not the ONLY way, but one of the funnier ways, especially since Sister Jen is getting her masters in theology...) to Mesa Grill for her birthday dinner, as she had just turned 28 years old a couple of days before she got to NYC. (Still reeling by the fact that I have a 28-year-old sister...crap, I'm old)
Mesa Grill is one of Bobby Flay's restaurants in town, and I think it might have been the best of three (Jen and I have now gone to all of them). I had the flounder, which was awesome, and the Jen's had the salmon, which was also very good. The decor is also very nouveau and judging from the crowds, it remains a pretty popular place.
2. A trip across the Brooklyn Bridge: This was, in a word, awesome: We took the subway down to the base of the bridge and then walked across from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Going there was a little rough, because of the wind. It was really REALLY windy that day, which made for a bit of a struggle going over into Brooklyn. At one point, the wind actually lifted me off the ground and pushed me a few feet (hard to imagine, considering my 255 pounds). Of course, Jen was miserable and wasn't having a good time at all, but it was fun to cross over the bridge. The return trip, though, was even better. We had gone over to have lunch at a pizza place (more on that in a minute) and when we left, it started to snow....and I mean SNOW....very hard.
Jen wasn't sure she wanted to walk back in the wind AND the snow, but the Watts siblings ended up convincing her, and it turned out to be a good thing, because once we got on the bridge, the wind stopped, and we just walked among the snowflakes...totally cool visual, of which you can see above this post (thanks for the pictures, Sister Jen!)
3. Grimaldi's: This is the pizza joint at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side. Really well known, and annually picked as having the best pizza within the five boroughs. And they aren't lying. We ended up ordering a white pizza with pepperoni, garlic and basil, and they mistakenly brought a regular red pizza with pepperoni and onions. We weren't all that upset, and began to eat, and about halfway through our pie, they brought out the pizza they were supposed to give to us...and left it there...two pizzas for the price of one!
Anyways, the pizza is spectactular...definitely going back there...though Jen says she'll be taking the subway next time and avoiding the bridge.
4. Serendipity 3: The famous dessert restaurant from the movies. Sister Jen wanted to go there on the Monday she was in town, so after I got off of work, I met up with her (Jen was at work) and we headed over to the place. We avoided the frozen hot chocolate (its their specialty, but it was also 22 degrees outside that day..and I didn't want a frozen ANYTHING) so we each had sandwiches, which were to die for. Sister Jen had a turkey apple brie concoction, while I had some sort of croque monsieur type sandwich, and both were delicious...plus, it was a neat place to go to...highly recommended.
5. Regis and Kelly...the Jens took in Monday's show while I was at work...Jen was able to go because the show lets out at 10am, right when she's due at ABC. According to the girls, they had a good time. I didn't, because I was waiting outside for them for 30 minutes in 20 degree weather...literally went to the nearby Starbucks afterwards and ran hot water over my hands for 5 minutes....
Sister Jen likes to bring her little Pluto doll when she goes on vacation. She then takes pictures of Pluto at a bunch of sites, and creates photo albums so it appears Pluto is having the time of his life. By the way, did I mention she's 28 years old?? Actually, who am I to talk...I'm 31 and still watch professional wrestling.
Anyways, here's Pluto at Regis and Kelly and the World News Tonight set!
Of course, most of that involved food....as our friends know, Jen and I are big time foodies, and we love the ability to check out new restaurants and such around the New York City area since there are only 14-thousand of them or so....
Among the highlight of Sister Jen's trip to NYC:
1. Dinner at Mesa Grill: (top Photo) Jen and I took Sister Jen (by the way, my sister isn't a nun, its just the only way to differentiate between the two of them...well, probably not the ONLY way, but one of the funnier ways, especially since Sister Jen is getting her masters in theology...) to Mesa Grill for her birthday dinner, as she had just turned 28 years old a couple of days before she got to NYC. (Still reeling by the fact that I have a 28-year-old sister...crap, I'm old)
Mesa Grill is one of Bobby Flay's restaurants in town, and I think it might have been the best of three (Jen and I have now gone to all of them). I had the flounder, which was awesome, and the Jen's had the salmon, which was also very good. The decor is also very nouveau and judging from the crowds, it remains a pretty popular place.
2. A trip across the Brooklyn Bridge: This was, in a word, awesome: We took the subway down to the base of the bridge and then walked across from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Going there was a little rough, because of the wind. It was really REALLY windy that day, which made for a bit of a struggle going over into Brooklyn. At one point, the wind actually lifted me off the ground and pushed me a few feet (hard to imagine, considering my 255 pounds). Of course, Jen was miserable and wasn't having a good time at all, but it was fun to cross over the bridge. The return trip, though, was even better. We had gone over to have lunch at a pizza place (more on that in a minute) and when we left, it started to snow....and I mean SNOW....very hard.
Jen wasn't sure she wanted to walk back in the wind AND the snow, but the Watts siblings ended up convincing her, and it turned out to be a good thing, because once we got on the bridge, the wind stopped, and we just walked among the snowflakes...totally cool visual, of which you can see above this post (thanks for the pictures, Sister Jen!)
3. Grimaldi's: This is the pizza joint at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side. Really well known, and annually picked as having the best pizza within the five boroughs. And they aren't lying. We ended up ordering a white pizza with pepperoni, garlic and basil, and they mistakenly brought a regular red pizza with pepperoni and onions. We weren't all that upset, and began to eat, and about halfway through our pie, they brought out the pizza they were supposed to give to us...and left it there...two pizzas for the price of one!
Anyways, the pizza is spectactular...definitely going back there...though Jen says she'll be taking the subway next time and avoiding the bridge.
4. Serendipity 3: The famous dessert restaurant from the movies. Sister Jen wanted to go there on the Monday she was in town, so after I got off of work, I met up with her (Jen was at work) and we headed over to the place. We avoided the frozen hot chocolate (its their specialty, but it was also 22 degrees outside that day..and I didn't want a frozen ANYTHING) so we each had sandwiches, which were to die for. Sister Jen had a turkey apple brie concoction, while I had some sort of croque monsieur type sandwich, and both were delicious...plus, it was a neat place to go to...highly recommended.
5. Regis and Kelly...the Jens took in Monday's show while I was at work...Jen was able to go because the show lets out at 10am, right when she's due at ABC. According to the girls, they had a good time. I didn't, because I was waiting outside for them for 30 minutes in 20 degree weather...literally went to the nearby Starbucks afterwards and ran hot water over my hands for 5 minutes....
Sister Jen likes to bring her little Pluto doll when she goes on vacation. She then takes pictures of Pluto at a bunch of sites, and creates photo albums so it appears Pluto is having the time of his life. By the way, did I mention she's 28 years old?? Actually, who am I to talk...I'm 31 and still watch professional wrestling.
Anyways, here's Pluto at Regis and Kelly and the World News Tonight set!
There were a lot of other fun times to be had in the days Sister Jen was here...I was so glad she was able to come and visit us. Cooper was thrilled to see his Aunt Jen (and was very sad when she left) and we can't wait for her to come back...next time we'll make sure she's here for trivia night!
Now we prepare for my parents visit at the start of April. Unlike my sister, my mother has never been to NYC and my Dad hasn't been for about 30 years, so they will be in full tourist mode...I better start preparing now!
Mike
Now we prepare for my parents visit at the start of April. Unlike my sister, my mother has never been to NYC and my Dad hasn't been for about 30 years, so they will be in full tourist mode...I better start preparing now!
Mike
4 comments:
Okay, we're going to Grimaldi's on my next visit. Hopefully they can mess up on the order then too. Good to hear you guys had a great time.
We want to come and visit!!!! Sounds like we are missing out on some great times!!! We are keeping our fingers crossed that we might be able to make a sneak visit VERY soon!! Are you up for it??Miss you and glad to see the blog is up and running again. Love to you guys.
You're making me hungry for NY pizza! Yuuuuuuummy.
For all you peeps in Nor Cal if you want authentic NY style pizza go to Vicini's in Vacaville. It's owned and operated by NY transplants - my man's family. Here's the website:
www.vicinispizzeria.com
The food is great! It's my favorite pizza and I'm living in Staten Island. This is the real deal.
Post a Comment