A Great Spring Weekend

Finally last weekend, Josh had the weekend off, I think since Christmas.  So, we thought we had to take advantage of it.  The weather was looking decent with a chance of rain on Friday so that made it even better.  We had tickets to the Yankees/ Jays game on Thursday, but unfortunately, Josh had to work late and the weather was less than favorable with some rain and cold weather.  But, we also had tickets to the Yankees/ Red Sox game so it wasn't the biggest loss in the world.  On Friday, we made our way to Yankee Stadium to meet Jason and Nicole and Jesse and Nadia to watch the game. 

Nadia, Jesse, Jason, Nicole, me and Josh.

Notice how dark it is?  Ya, its starting to get late.

The 13th inning...  FYI, there is normally 9 innings in a game.

Brett Gardner bunting.

Here it is, the 19th and final inning.  One inning away from a Yankee record and 5 away from a MLB record!  It was also the longest game ever played at the new Yankee Stadium.  It was 2:30AM by this time.  The game started at 7PM.  The Yankees sadly ended up losing but it was a pretty crazy game.  After an hour subway ride we didn't get home until almost 4.  

Since we got home so late, or early I guess, Josh and I didn't get into the city as early as I had hoped.  I had spent some time on Friday making a map of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District with some great little bars and restaurants that we had never been to before and we were excited to wander around the area and explore. The start of our walk took us passed Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace.  Pretty cool, we actually had no idea he was born in NYC.

Our first food stop was the Old town Bar in the Flatiron District.  I have been craving really good chicken wings for weeks and it is shockingly hard to find them in NY or NJ.  So I did a ton of research to find some of the best in NYC and this place happened to close to where we get off the PATH and t where we were planning on doing our little tour.  When we walked in, it was kind of a dive, but very homey and old with tin ceilings and walls and tons of character.  I love these kind of places and it was also not packed with loud tourists or the brunch crowd so that made me love it even more.  The wings were no kidding absolutely what I had hoped.  Delicious!

We continued our walk over to Chelsea.  On our way we saw this awesome street art.  It is at least 5 stories high.

Our next stop was Tipsy Parson in Chelsea.  I was drawn to their menu with Southern food with a NY twist.  Josh got the shrimp and grits and I got grits, andouille sausage and poached eggs.  So amazing, and by this time after all this food, I was stuffed.  We also had a couple drinks off their amazing cocktail menu here.

We continued our walk along the streets of Chelsea.  Unfortunately, a couple of the places that Josh and I wanted to stop didn't open until 5:00 so we had to improvise.  We stopped at a pizza place called the Gaslight with outdoor seating for a quick drink.

I am so in love with the cobblestone streets in Chelsea and so much of Manhattan.  Had to get a picture on them.

Our next stop was Bill's Bar and Burger.  They have a few locations around NYC and New Jersey with one opening soon in Pittsburgh and it's no wonder why.  We didn't get any food but everything looked amazing and it is for sure a great Chelsea hotspot.  I did order a Mint Chocolate Chip milkshake with a shot of Creme de Menthe liqueur.  They have several other boozy milkshakes and OMG yum!  Josh got a great cocktail too.  We will definitely be coming back to eat here!

We walked passed the Standard Highline Hotel, pretty cool building attached to the Highline that runs along the side of Manhattan.

We stopped in at the iconic Hogs and Heifers Saloon as well.  If you haven't heard of the concept of this bar, basically it is a vulgar Coyote Ugly.  The girls dance on the bar in very skimpy outfits but they also berate the patrons (from what I saw just the males) very harshly.  It is pretty hilarious, but like I said very harsh.  Also, there are hundreds (maybe thousands) or bras that have been signed and left by women over the years. Actually a pretty cool place if I was in the right mood and dressed properly haha.

The sun was starting to set, so we thought we would start working our way back to the PATH stop to head home.  The sun starting to set beyond the buildings and the Hudson river made streets look really pretty.

Our last stop was Nighthawks, right on the corner of Christopher Street by the PATH stop.  It was almost totally empty, but not shocking for 5pm on a Sunday in NYC.  We just ordered a few things from the raw bar and it was great.  I love raw bar so I totally devoured everything.  The place also had an awesome looking Mediterranean menu that I would go back to try.

Finally it was time to go home.  Honestly I was so exhausted from our long night and 2 hours of sleep that I was ready for bed.  I was also getting a migraine, likely from the combination of no sleep, alcohol and salty foods.  It was an early night so we could be ready for another day of exploring and lovely weather.

Sleepy Jinx!

Again on Sunday we decided to go for a nice long walk over to Weehawken through hoboken along the Hudson Waterfront.  When we got to the end of Hoboken we got to this... One beached sailboat, and if you look closely there is one that is completely sunk!  There was also another sunk one that I couldn't get into the picture.  Weird.

On the waterfront connecting Hoboken and Weehawken there are sea creatures stapes into the bricks. Cute.

We stopped at Carpe Diem in Hoboken on our way back for a drink and some more wings (yes this was the most fattening weekend I have had in a long time, luckily I walked and ran like 30 miles so I didn't feel too guilty).  The wings were also great there!  I also managed to get a pretty bad sunburn on the 2% of my body that wasn't totally covered.  The walk back through Hoboken was so nice and quiet and the weather was fantastic.

 We had a great weekend and I'm so glad that spring may finally be here!  I'm off to continue trying to catch up on my very small amount of sleep!