Last Day in the Big Apple

Well, the day has finally arrived. In T-minus 9 hours, I will be on a plane out of New York, heading back to my "real" life in Chicago. New York, it has been real. I had a fabulous, and very eye-opening, experience, and would not have traded it for anything. Am sad to see the summer come to a close, but as that Semisonic song goes, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." And so it goes, time marches forward.

For my last day in New York, I decided to head out to Coney Island, and have a "real" summer day. I love theme parks, I love rides. I love the beach and the ocean, and I love when those two things are combined into one experience. I grew up going to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, so summer was always equated with at least one trip to a theme park, usually the Boardwalk. It just wasn't summer without. So now I finally can say that I have had a full, "real" summer.

Coney Island was pretty interesting-- about what you would expect: rows of carnival-type booths with games and food and other side-show type stuff, with amusement park type rides interspersed. What was interesting though, was that unlike the Boardwalk I was used to, this wasn't just one theme park. Rather, it seems like a couple different companies had their designated space along the boardwalk, with their own rides, and the tickets were not interchangeable. Luna Park is the most major of the companies, and has the most rides, split up between a couple of different locations. They also apparently control The Cyclone, apparently one of the oldest wooden coasters in the country (and it is looking its age). I got there about 1PM, and to my dismay, right as I walked up to Luna Park, they were closing it down for three hours so that a camp of about 200 ten-year-olds could have a run of it. So that was annoying. Luckily, there were the other companies' rides, and I was able to go on all of the major ones as a pay-as-you go thing. And eventually, at 4PM, I was able to go to the real Luna Park; it only took about an hour to get through the rides I actually wanted to go on, and in the end it was probably better for my sanity that I wasn't fighting through a million kids to get on the rides. So, all's well that ends well. I just felt bad for the other groups of campers (there were several) that were getting kicked out at 1PM as well, to make way for the one camp.

I definitely carvinaled it up, and did most of the throw-up rides (I am pretty intense about my thrill rides and coasters, and will do pretty much anything. I do, however, draw the line at rides that dangle-- not flip-- but dangle people upside-down for a few seconds. Just hate it. But other than that, bring on the speed!). Also dug into a traditional dipped ice-cream cone which was melting faster than I could eat it, so I ended up having to actually run to the ocean (it was closer-- and probably cleaner-- than the bathroom) and use the water to clean off my sticky, gooey hands. And I even played some carney games. Yes, indeed I felt like I was ten again.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the day. Actually was a good beach day, as it was warm but not hot or too muggy, and partially overcast but also bright because there was some sun. So the gods were with me today for my last in the city.

View of Coney Island as I left the subway station

Apparently one of the more known (or at least older-- circa 1920) attractions at the boardwalk. I did not go on

View of the Atlantic coast and ocean, from Coney Island boardwalk

View down the boardwalk which, to my surprise, is still made out of boards (or, wood planks anyway)

Stuffed toy I won for breaking 2/3 dishes at a ball toss. Apparently, I have a mean right throw

Oink! Won an Angry Birds piggy in one of those watergun race things. That game was always "my game" growing up. Nice to know I still got it!

Another view down the boardwalk

More information about Coney Island and its various attractions can found at theConey Island website, as well as at the NYC Parks website. More information about Luna Park can be found at the Luna Park website.

After I got back, I showered off and got ready for my final hurrah in NYC: Dinner at Butter, the restaurant where my favorite Food Network celebrity chef, Alex Guarnaschelli, is the head executive chef. My boyfriend and I are huge Food Network nerds, so stumbling upon this restaurant during the second week of my trip was like a godsend (had no idea where it was, but apparently in SoHo, close to where I am/was living). So I had planning to come to this place for my final meal in New York-- seemed like a fitting, fancy end to my journey here. I was prepared to spend a fortune, but was pleasantly surprised to find out when I got there tonight that thanks to Restaurant Week (more like restaurant month) NYC, there was a pre-fixe menu of three courses for only $35. It was a very good deal; the food was superb, I got to foodie-geek out, and yet spent less than I have spent in the past, for a lot "more" of an experience. The only thing that could have made the evening perfect, was seeing the chef-in-chief herself (and getting a picture; alas, neither happened). I felt a little silly being alone there, but I figured that I was also eating there for the boyfriend, since he could not experience it with me, and I knew he would want to.

Anyway, pictures below.

On the ground in front of the door. Tried to get one of the door, but the lighting was too poor

Swanky waiting area for Butter

Regular menu for Butter. I ate off the pre-fixe menu, which was on the other side

Executive chef Alex Guarnaschelli! (you know she went to Barnard before becoming a chef? Who knew)

First course: Corn chowder with chives and bits of shrimp meat. Delish. Just how you would want corn chowder to taste, with just the right hint of seafood from the shrimp. Also, not too thick and not too thin. A great soup

Second coure: flatiron steak with scallions and a sauce. I am not sure what kind of sauce it was, but it paired very well with the meat. I think it had red peppers in it, so some of that cooked-pepper smokiness came through and really added a nice depth to the meat, and played off the savory, meaty flavor of the steak. Ordered steak medium and it came just perfect, nice and juicy. Only complaint of the whole meal was that the scallions were a little stringy and thus hard to cut, but this did not interfere with an ability to eat them, or their deliciousness

Third course: Gingersnap and vanilla ice cream sandwich. Ice cream had a nice rich vanilla bean flavor, and the ginger cookies were hearty without being brittle (I am not a brittle cookie kind of gal. I like things more on the chewy side). All I can say is, yum!

For more information, see the Butter website.

And with that, my grand adventure is over. As a final hurrah, I have compiled a bunch of music videos set to songs about New York City, since that is where my heart is right now. And with any luck, I will be back next summer, and eventually, permanently. I ordered them to kind of show my "journey" through the city over the last couple months. Until next time, keep it real New York!

Thanks to all who compiled these videos. Note: I did not make, or claim any ownership, to the songs, photos, or videos contained herein.

Oh, and I finally did find out what "Manhattan" means, since I had always kind of wondered. "Manhattan" comes from Manna-hata, a term in the 1609 logbook from Henry Hudson's yacht identifying the surrounding area. It translates to "island of many hills." Fair enough.