Tag Archives: New York

New Year’s Vacationing

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Knox Farm provides great winter walking trails.

January 1, 2012 – Thanks to the holiday calendar and hoarding vacation time, we were able to spend a few days visiting the (non-frozen, barely even snow-kissed, North).  There was a dusting of snow for Christmas, but other than that it’s been rain or (gasp!) sun (woo-hoo!).  We’ve taken advantage by visiting Knox Farm State Park, and also by driving up to Niagara Falls.  We went to the Falls on a colder day; the mist from the Falls was frozen on the trees, bushes, and buildings on both the American and Canadian sides.  The air temp also dropped noticeably and the wind increased as you neared the mist given off by the water.  The Niagara River, however, wasn’t even close to being frozen – though it was quite high, and fast moving.  The local ducks didn’t seem to mind, and neither did the little song birds hopping around in the trees.

Canada provided a great view of Bridal Veil Falls and Goat Island.

Just a word for people walking across the border – the waits weren’t long, but you do need $0.50 per person to get back from the Canadian to the American side.  And while the Canadian customs officer was almost friendly, the American officer was much more the typical brusque brand.

My (Tony) leg was voted favorite scratching post on the trip.

We had a great time – lots of relaxing, games, good company and great food.  Beyond the home-made goodies (beef on weck, Christmas cookies, breakfast casserole, hummus, coffee cake with maple syrup icing, Christmas coffee cake and caramels), we got Antoinette’s marshmallow sauce (to go with some home made hot fudge!), ate New Year’s Even dinner at Pasquale’s (where we enjoyed the classic cheese/pepperoni/mushroom pizza, cheese/pepperoni/green olive pizza, and an appetizer sampler), tried the Pizza at Santora’s, and got some amazing BBQ wing’s.

Western NY Trip

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The flowers were blooming at the beginning of June.

June 2, 2011 – We spent a few days relaxing in Western NY.  Relaxing, as usual, involved lots of yummy food (including gnocchi, grilled hot dogs, lemon raspberry cake with lemon buttercream icing, Pasquale’s pizza and Kone King), walking at Knox Farm State Park, and hunkering down to wait out a thunderstorm that eventually got worse rather than better, forcing us to call for a ride to pick us up.  Okay, so maybe that last item isn’t “as usual.” ;)   We also had a fire (complete with roasted marshmallows and s’mores) and enjoyed playing with the kitties.

There were quite a few bluebirds at Knox Farm.

Daisy was happy during our return visit too.

Knox Farms has the biggest concentration of bobolinks that we have ever seen.

Driving to NY

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It looks like they could have gone a little higher on that 50% estimate...

June 1, 2011 – There’s a 50% chance of storms today, mostly in the afternoon.  We’re hoping to get a leisurely breakfast and a quick walk in before hitting the road.  Our last breakfast at the Inn was a cinnamon raisin muffin (we both really enjoyed this one), baked apple with sugar and vanilla syrup (Louisa preferred the apple stuffed with dried fruit and sans syrup, while Tony liked this one best), an omelet with feta and herbs, along with a simple sweet cherry tomato and mixed green salad dressed with a bit of olive oil, grapefruit juice and coffee.

The outdoor breakfast was windy today, but very tasty. Outdoor breakfasts are the only way to go.

We watched the peregrine falcons by the Precipice Trail for a bit, and then did a quick walk along the ocean.  There’s just something so calming and peaceful about sitting on the rocks and enjoying the rocky ruggedness of the Maine coast.  On the way back to the car we noticed the ocean getting darker, and the wind picking up.  The storms that were supposed to roll in later in the morning were materializing early, and we had to quick walk/jog back to avoid the rain and thunder that was rather quickly moving over the Beehive and out into the ocean. Fortunately we were able to make it back to the car relatively dry. We were also fortunate to avoid the tornadoes and (most of) the heavy rains that passed through MA, particularly around Springfield.  The detour around the worst of the storm (thanks to the weather app provided by our smart phone) also directed us through the pretty and historical Worcester.  By the time we got on the 90 in NY the sky was clear, there was only a bit of breeze and we could watch the sunset as we drove west.

NYC Restaurant Recap

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Louisa and I got to check out many great restaurants on our recent trip to New York, including great pizza places, bakeries, and bagel shops.  We decided to put up a few of our favorites here for easy reference. If you are interested in learning about some of the other sites that we visited in NYC, feel free to check out the links at the bottom of this post.  Otherwise, here we go!

Waldy’s Pizza

Waldy's Wood-Fired Pizza & Penne on Urbanspoon

This place serves pizza with a gourmet twist, and was our favorite pizza on the trip.  The thin crust and wood-fired ovens pushed it ahead of other places that we tried. Here’s a recap from Friday:

The destination was Waldy’s Pizza, just a few blocks from Penn Station and a few blacks from our hotel.  The restaurant was crowded, but we found a small table and enjoyed our (very) thin crust lamb, roasted lemon and basil, and prosciutto, roasted asparagus and Parmesan pizzas.  There is also a little herb garden with potted herbs for customers to put on the pizzas, as well as garlic-infused olive oil for dipping the crusts.  We enjoyed the lamb more than the prosciutto, but both pizzas were great.

Murray’s Bagels

Murray's Bagels on Urbanspoon

This was our go-to breakfast spot on the trip.  We enjoyed two great meals here, and will definitely come back again if we are in town.  Here is a recap from Saturday:

So, by 8:10am we were walking to Greenwich Village for breakfast at Murray’s Bagels.  Tony tried a ham, egg, and cheese on sesame, and Louisa enjoyed a cinnamon raisin bagel with walnut/raisin/cinnamon cream cheese.  The bagels are fresh, chewy on the inside, slightly crusty on the outside, and just plain wonderful.  Their fresh oj is also excellent.

And Sunday:

Breakfast was a reprise of Murray’s bagels.  The poppy seed was good, and the pumpernickel was great.  After breakfast we hopped the subway down to Doughnut Plant.

Doughnut Plant

Doughnut Plant on Urbanspoon

If you like gourmet donuts, then Doughnut Plant is the place to check out.  We sampled a wide variety of donuts, including Creme Brulee, Tres Leches, and Blackout. Here is a recap from Saturday:

Detours included Doughnut Plant (great creme brulee yeast doughnut, good coconut cream-filled yeast doughnut topped with toasted coconut, and neither of us really liked the chocolate glazed yeast doughnut).

And Sunday:

We needed to make up for Louisa’s mistaken order from yesterday – our quest was a chocolate doughnut.  Tony really liked the tres leches doughnut, it was  moist, with a creamy center and a great glaze.  Louisa said the blackout doughnut was wonderful – chocolate, chocolate filling, and chocolate cookie crumb topping.

Veselka

Veselka on Urbanspoon

This is great Ukranian restaurant that dishes out awesome Varenyky (pierogi). They have many other dishes, but I was definitely all about the pierogi. :)  Here is a short recap:

Our destination was Veselka, an upper scale Ukranian diner where we were meeting a friend for lunch (thanks for the recommendation, Matt!)…Lunch was great, the potato pancake was freshly fried and crispy, and the pierogies were great.  We liked the meat, cheese, spinach, and sweet potato fillings.

There were also a few other restaurants mentioned in our trip posts, which can be checked out here:

If you have any other NYC favorites, feel free to leave us a comment.  We’re always looking for good recommendations on our travels.