Snowbird Practice : First Day NYC

I of course was awake before Dave so went to the second floor of our hotel to make an americano from their fabulous coffee machine. We are loving this perk, and it’s great coffee! After Dave got up we headed out to find EssABagel, only to discover it was closed for Rosh Hashanah. On the way as we passed by St Patrick’s cathedral there were lots of black government vehicles and men in black suits with ear pieces and taking on phones, I mean lots and lots! We were thinking maybe some official or dignitary was going to services at The Cathedral?

Since the bagel places was closed we headed to Magnolia Bakery. Think we picked the furthest one from there! After 4.5 miles we brought our muffins we purchased and some bananas we bought at a produce stand back to our hotel and had a very late breakfast!

Then we decided to walk to the Highline, walk showed 40 minutes to get there or 30 by transit, so we walked. We ran into a parade, a celebration of Mexican Independence Day, very colorful, dancing, loud music right by Rockefeller Center .

So glad we walked as so much to see! We ran into a pizza place that was recommended on Kenji Lopez’s pizza tour that he recently did here. We each got a delicious slice!

We walked the Highline. It was very busy, maybe because it’s Sunday or maybe because it was sunny and mid afternoon. At one place you can actually see the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

After finishing the Highline we walked back to Chelsea Market, it too was packed with people.

We put on our masks and walked though part of it stopping for some gelato which we took outside to enjoy and take a break from walking!

There have been several street markets and celebrations going on in various neighborhoods today.

We decided to continue our walk taking us through Soho, Greenwich and the lower East Side.

We ran into an Italian street fair in the Italian neighborhood, guess it’s a yearly celebration held in honor of a patron saint.

We went into the old St Patrick’s Cathedral.

We had made plans to see a family friend at Estelle, a Mitchell in Star restaurant, that he tends bar at. We were greeted with big hugs from Blake, it has been a few years since we last saw him. He directed us to seats at the bar and made us a couple delicious cocktails. One was a recipe he created and the other a creation of his fellow bartender. We ordered a couple of dishes planning to eat light and get dinner later. Blake brought us some additional things, bread and Iberian ham. All items were amazing! Summer squash was drizzled with lemon juice, olive oil on a bed of pine nuts, herbs, and ? The Endive salad was delicious with sole of nuts, cheese, fennel, and other deliciousness that you scooped onto the leaves. We enjoyed chatting with Blake and the others sitting at the bar by us, such a fun and delicious experience! We left full, that was our dinner!