Friday 7th - Saturday 15th October: NYC, the last leg of my Vacation.
Friday 7th October
Had breakfast, showered and checked out of the hostel. Ordered an uber, which arrived in about 2min and headed to Boston South Station for my Amtrak to NYC. Arrived with plenty of time, and managed to figure out which platform my train was leaving from. I dragged my 2 suitcases on board and as they were so heavy I couldn’t lift them up. I left one in aisle, but after a while the conductor came and said I had to move. I didn’t realise there was lots of space up the front, so I moved them. So much easier. I had a window seat which was nice. The train stopped at a few different locations, so sometimes I had someone next to me, sometimes I didn’t. The train ride was about 4 hours and it pretty much hugged the coastline, so got to see some really pretty towns along the ocean. I listened to podcasts, napped and caught up on my blog a little bit. Had a beer and a delicious chickpea salad. The journey went pretty quickly. Got in to Penn Station at about 1.45pm. Managed to navigate my way out of there through elevators, as no way my 2 suitcases would have gone up an escalator. I tried to order an uber, but it was going to cost me like $75 to travel 4 miles to Brooklyn, so walked back across the street and lined up at the taxi rank, which had a big line. Eventually, after about 20min got in a cab to get to Williamsburg. It took almost 50min to get from Penn Station to my accommodation, which even for NYC is crazy. Luckily, Shawn my Airbnb host was meeting me at his apartment, as he was on the 3rd floor up 6 flights of stairs. I couldn’t have gotten my bags up there. He was such an awesome dude and carried them both up for me. His place was pretty small, but not for NYC standards. My room was pretty spacious and had a couch and window right on the fire escape which was cool. I settled in and he gave me the run down of the apartment and where everything was. He also gave me some great local tips on bars and dive bars. The cool part was, he has moved so I had the place to myself. Which is awesome. He said he had friends staying Sat night after a wedding, but they’d be in his room. He asked if I minded which I didn’t at all. It was his place, who am I to say who can stay or not!
Once I’d settled in I headed down to the local food town to pick up some food for the week – bread, cereal, milk etc. Even shitty little supermarkets cater to vegans so well and their prepared meals are just awesome. So much better than what we have at any of our supermarkets. I will miss that so much. Headed down Bedford Ave and hit up Mug’s Alehouse first up. Apparently this is one of the original bars in Williamsburg, before it got all hipster and gentrified. It was pretty busy, but got a seat at the bar and had a couple of beers. By this stage, a mate who is living in NYC was messaging me as they were heading to a movie in Williamsburg and we were gonna meet up for a drink after. I decided to grab some vegan pizza at Vinnie’s which was just up the road. I had 2 giant slices and they were bloody delicious. Love all the vegan options here. My next stop was a bar that my Airbnb host recommended called the Levee, which is a super dive bar that has free Cheetos at the bar. You should have seen the size of the jar they came in. I had a beer to start with, then realised they had $5 cheap ass beers with a shot of whiskey. The beer came in a can with a coozie (stubby holder). After I’d had one of these, Leon and his mates turned up as they couldn’t get into the movie as too full. I met Christy his fiancé who is just lovely and a couple more of his mates. We drank here for a while, before heading down to the next venue which was just blocks away, called Skinny Dennis. Skinny Dennis is hard to explain. Dive bar honky tonk saloon bar that has live country music. By this stage, we were all pretty tipsy and one of Leon’s mates was super drunk as she’d had her wisdom teeth out earlier in the week and was still on medication. We chatted, danced and drank lots of beers. After a while, Leon’s friend lost her phone and was super panicked. Leon was helping her try and find it and also cancel her cards. I headed home about midnight, it was a short walk. Decided to check out the rooftop of my apartment, which had some pretty sweet views out over Manhattan. Had a beer up here and just took in the view, then headed down to bed. Amazing first night in Brooklyn and was super nice to meet Leon’s fiancé Christy who was just lovely.
Saturday 8th October
Was going to head to Smorgasburg today, which is a food market by the East River, but headed out to brunch with Leon, Christy and 2 of their friends Liann and Alex. Certainly pulled up a little dusty, and had a bit of a sleep in. Had a shower, some OJ and just sucked it up. Walked to brunch which was in Williamsburg at a place called The Regal. It was about a 20min walk away. Think the walk did me good. Leon’s other friends were lovely and he’d known them many years after working with Alex in Auckland. I had some avocado on toast with a side of mushrooms, it was delicious and fresh. Super nice. After brunch, we caught the train back to Leon & Christy’s new apartment they had just bought and moved into. It was awesome and their outdoor area was almost as big as the apartment, which is super rare in NYC. They live in Long Island City, which is in queens. We just really chillaxed for the day and bummed on the couch watching Luke Cage on Netflix. Was a nice lazy Saturday. Eventually had a couple of beers and waited for a couple of their other friends to turn up as we were heading out to Alex’s 40th birthday tonight in Manhattan. I am terrible and can’t remember their names, but they were super nice. We checked out the rooftop of their apartment complex and it was awesome, had some BBQ’s, outdoor furniture and a gym. Super rad. From here we headed out to a brewery called Rockaway, which was tiny. They had about 10 beers on tap, and we between us got the 2 flights of each. We shared all the beers, and they did some great ones. We also got to go on their brewery tour which involved walking out into the brewery and hearing their story. The dude was super nice and didn’t bang on too much about the brewing process. But as I’d learnt at Sam Adams, most small breweries don’t’ do lagers as they need 5 weeks in the fermenter, rather than ale which only takes 2-3. They can’t afford the time. After the tour was over, we could hang around in the brewery as more spacious than the bar. We grabbed a pint and hung around for another half hour or so. We had planned on going to the waterfront, but ran out of time. We went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant not far away. Leon & Christy knew the owners and the food was just amazing. I had a tonne of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and then some mushrooms and beans. It sounds boring, but they were cooked so well and were so tasty. We shared a few bottles of wine, and it was a really nice dinner and a nice restaurant. From here we caught an uber across to Manhattan to the bar that Alex had his birthday party. It was a belated birthday party, and he wanted it low key. They had booked out the bar until 10pm and it was a pretty cool venue. Can’t remember what it was called, but it was next door to The Library, which a mate had taken us to last time. I had a few beers here and chatted to a few people. Caught an uber home about midnight, as I had comic con the next day and dint’ want to be too seedy. Had a super fun day!
Sunday 9th October
Slept in longer than planned as was a little seedy from night before. Had some breakfast, showered and mad my way across to Comic Con. I didn’t plan very well, as it was raining and I didn’t bring an umbrella or jumper, just had my flanny on. Got in to Comic Con no problem at all, as I’d arrived about midday, so missed all the queues in the morning. Also as it was day 3, most people had already been before. It was absolutely huge, as expected. The last time I’d been 4 years ago, we had only got tickets for the Thursday, which was press day so not busy at all. Once getting in I just made my way across the massive showroom floor. Started at one end and worked my way around. Really only thing I was looking for was x-files vinymation. I couldn’t really afford to buy anything else as my money had definitely reached breaking point. It was packed and there were so many people dressed up in some amazing costumes. I don’t know how they walk around all day in them! I saw lots of cool t-shirts for sale, art for sale and independent comics for sale, but just couldn’t buy any of them. It took me about 4 hours to walk around the whole floor and I managed to find a stand selling my x-files toys, so I bought 3! I really wanted to see a panel, but there was nothing really on that interested me. All the big panels had been on the day before, with all the big guests. So once I’d finished the floor I headed outside, checked out the south park photo park and then headed off. My plan was to go to Rattle & Hum beer bar in Hell’s Kitchen, but on the way passed a cool looking bar called Pony Bar, which was a craft beer bar. So I headed in here for a couple of beers. Nice little bar with some amazing beers on tap. Also quite a few people in here from comic con. After here I walked down to the original beer bar I’d planned on going to Beer Culture. It was pretty cool down some stairs. They didn’t have a huge selection on draught, but they had a tonne of beer fridges, with bottles. I stayed for a few beers, it was only when I was leaving that I discovered like 3 more fridges! Probably lucky I hadn’t seen those earlier! Jumped back on the subway to my place to watch the debate. I know I’m a crazy American now! The debate was farcical as Donald Trump is just insane. He kept bringing up topics that had nothing to do with Hilary or the campaign. He couldn’t answer properly his comments about “grabbing her by the pussy” and just passed it off as locker room talk. Absolute bullshit. I think Hilary won this for sure. I had a couple of beers watching this and then once over watched a few shows on Netflix before heading to bed.
Monday 10th October
Had a bit of a sleep in this morning, grabbed some breakfast in bed and took it easy. Headed out about 11am to go and do my washing, as I’d run out of undies and sox. Walked to the laundromat a block away, and washed and dried all my clothes, read a comic whilst I was there. Dropped it all back home, then headed out to the Williamsburg cinemas, to watch Girl on a Train. The cinemas were pretty cool, and I got a decent seat as it was Monday lunchtime. The movie was really good, despite some bad reviews I’d seen for it. Also cool to just have a chill day in Williamsburg. Headed out to grab some lunch at the Bagel Store. Last time I was in Brooklyn, think I ate here every single day. The bagels were just amazing. I couldn’t decide, so I ordered 2 bagels one with sundried tomato spread and one with scallion. They were just delicious, and I was so full after eating them both, but so well worth it! Kept walking down Bedford Ave, and popped into the Lucky Dog, which is the last bar I visited last trip. It is a cool neighbourhood divey bar that is super dog friendly. Only had one beer here, as had a tour of the Brooklyn Brewery to do. Walked down to the Brooklyn brewery, which a beer mate back home had set up for me. On the way past a pop up food/art market on Bedford Ave. Didn’t really get a chance to look, but they had some great food and cool arts and crafts. Shut down a fair chunk of Bedford Ave. It was Columbus Day, so not sure if that was part of the reason or not. Once at Brooklyn, I got the tour free, plus 3 free beer tokens and a t-shirt which was so super generous. The tour was just as I’d remembered it. We got 4 beer tastings as part of the tour, all of which I’d had before, except the comic con beer the defender, as they had changed the recipe since last time. They gave us the history of the brewery which I already knew, but the guides were super fun. Went and had a look behind the scenes and got to see Black Ops, the beer that doesn’t officially exist on the packaging lines. A whole pallet of black ops! Crazy! The guy said you can buy one at the shop, but they had run out which totally sucked, but good for my bank balance and luggage weight I guess! Had my 3 beers here, I tried 2 that were only experimental at the brewery and one full one of the defender as I really like this version, was a hoppy red ale. Had to haul ass pretty quickly out of here, as I was seeing a Comedy Show at a club called Little Field, which was about a 40min subway ride/walk away. My favourite comedian Jen Kirkman, was kind enough to get me on the door list for this show, so I didn’t’ have to pay for it. Super sweet. The walk from the subway to the venue was really nice. Pretty neighbourhood (Carroll Gardens) with most of the houses having Halloween decorations out the front. Cool to see. Also got to get some views of Manhattan, and a river that flowed into the East River. Got to the club just in time. The show that was on tonight was called Night train, and it is apparently one of the most popular shows in Brooklyn for comedy. It’s hosted by Wyatt Cenec, who is super funny. HE then introduces 5 comedians, of varying style. The ones on tonight were all pretty funny, and all very different. I hadn’t heard of any of them before, but they were great. This show finished up about 10pm, so headed to find a local brewery. Found Threes Brewing, they only had big beers and no sample sizes, so I just had one beer here. Seemed to be a cool venue though and their beers sounded interesting. After my beer here, caught the subway back to Williamsburg and headed to Alligator Lounge, a dive bar I’d been to last time that offered free personal pizza with each beer ordered. I had one craft beer and got a pizza with tomato paste and garlic. They give you a pizza token and if you want anything other than tomato paste/cheese then it’s $1 a topping. I just substituted cheese for garlic. Next drink I went as low as it goes, got a miller high life with a shot of whiskey. How could I resist for $5. Plus another pizza…this time I got with pineapple. Of course super basic, but when it’s free can’t resist. The dough is made fresh, the tomato paste good and I can’t go past that. Headed home about 1am ish, walked there as only about 15min away. Had a fun day!
Tuesday October 11th
Slept in longer than planned. Had breakfast, showered and lazed around in bed for a while. Then headed out on the L train to Manhattan. My first stop was Momofuku Nishi, as they had a vegan plant based burger that was meant to be the closest to resembling real beef. I’d planned to get there at open at 12 midday, as they only serve it on a first come, first serve basis. It is the only venue that is selling it, and it was developed after an $80,000 Kickstarter campaign. The sourced the same genetics or DNA that is in beef in plant based proteins, then developed the burger around that. I go there about 1pm, sat at the bar and ordered this burger and a beer. When the burger came out I really had to do a double take as it looked like real beef. It was bloody and red and had the same consistency. I even had to google to burger to make sure it really was vegan. I was convinced it was real meat. I have no idea if it tasted anything like real beef, but I certainly thought it did. Never tasted a veggie burger like this. The burger itself was yum. Super basic, tomato, lettuce, pickle and mayo/chutney/sauce. Came with chips too. Definitely well worth trying as it was delicious, once I got over being so freaked out.
After finishing lunch, walked up to see the Empire State Building close up, took a few photos and then was going to head down to the freedom tower (new wtc) and the 911 memorial. I got as far as Greenwich Village, and thought I’d have a wander around there. Happened to check Yelp and discovered there was a cool craft beer bar that was opening up in 5 min just around the corner. So thought I’d pop in there for a quick beer. The beer bar was called Arts & Craft’s Beer Parlour, and was set just down from the street. It was wooden bar and looked like some cool décor. They had some amazing beers on tap, so I kind of just settled in here for the afternoon. Got talking to the bartender and a guy that lives locally. Had about 4 beers here, before realising I was not going to make the WTC/911 site today.
I was meeting up with a bunch of garbage fans I’d known online for a long time, otherwise known as darklings at a pizza restaurant in the east village. So I walked down there via Washington Square Park, which was a beautiful park with a nice fountain and some people busking. Got to Pala Pizza right on time. Met Mike and Alex and ordered pizza and beers. Dorothy arrived not too long after. They were all super lovely and we had a great night chatting garbage, politics, food and everything in between. Super nice dudes, and was awesome to meet them. Got a group photo, as you have to do. I’ve now expanded my garbage network across the world, and met so many great people as a result. Such fun. From here, we all headed home about 11pm. I caught the subway back to Williamsburg and spent the rest of the evening watching “the fall” on my laptop. Got to sleep about 2am.
Wednesday October 12th
So after falling asleep super late (2am) watching crime docos and The Fall, I woke up at 5.30am to realise my beer wasn't finished. So finished my beer and went back to sleep. Woke up again about 10am, had breakfast, showered and prepared to head out to Manhattan to meet Mike for lunch. Caught the subway (2 lines) to meet Mike at Bombay sandwich co for lunch. It was close to his work and had lots of vegan options. It was a tiny place, but had ample outdoor seating if you needed. We managed to secure a bench inside. I ordered the vegan quinoa wrap which was delicious. Avocado, kale, almonds, lemon juice and some other veggies. Delicious. We chatted for the hour he had for lunch, and bonded over pets. Mike is someone I've known for a long time via the garbage message board and being a massive garbage fan. Was super cool to hang out in NYC.
After lunch, I caught the subway down to the freedom tower/ new world trade centre/911 memorial. I'd planned on coming here yesterday, but ended up at a beer bar for way longer than anticipated. Turns out, I’d seen it the day before and even taken a photo, just didn't realise. The new tower is pretty impressive. The area is of course super touristy. The memorials are now open, whereas last time I was here they were still under construction. You can even book 9/11 tours which kind of makes me cringe that people are making money off such a tragedy, but also I realise we have to acknowledge and respect history. There are 2 giant water memorials for both the north and south tower. I would think that the size of them represents the size of the building at the base. Each one is a giant square, with water cascading over the sides and then in the middle of that another square where water cascades into. Along the edges of the monument are the names of what I assume are all the people that died. Some names have flowers, roses and flags in them. It was a pretty sobering and reflective moment to see it. But juxtaposed with all the tourists posing for selfies in front of the monuments. There was even a guy walking around telling people not to lean on the edge (as that's where the names were inscribed). At some times felt like it was respect and other times gratuitous.
I didn't do the 9-11 museum as I'd done it last time and was so sobering and upsetting, I felt of I didn't need to do it again.
From here I walked down to the Hudson River, at south cove park. Walked along the river a bit, saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time this trip and was awestruck again. Didn't think I would be, but I was. Just seeing it in movies from such a young age, so iconic.
I sat by the river and laid down on a park bench listening to my new favourite podcast "my favourite murder" for a few hours. It was peaceful and quiet, despite the subject matter.
Eventually, I got up and walked into the financial district, past the wall st bull that was surrounded by tourists. Glad I already got that pic 4 years ago. I was heading back into Brooklyn to go to a dive bar called rocka Rolla. Got there about 3pm. They serve beer in goblets. You can get (during happy hour) like a pint of bid for $2 or a craft beer for $5. They played rad music (Metallica, metal, Bowie) and the decor ruled. I had 2 beers here before heading off to barcade a block away.
I'd been to barcade last time I was in Brooklyn and it was amazing. It didn't disappoint. They had an amazing tap list, like so hard to even choose what to drink, and also some amazing old school arcade games. I gravitated towards ms pacman, Tetris, and asteroids. At a quarter or 2 a game it was a bargain. Spent about an hour or 2 here before heading off to dinner.
Dinner was at champs vegan diner. I'd dreamt about this for months. It did not disappoint. I had the mozzarella sticks and the Mac & cheese bowl (that came with broccoli, veggie burger, tomato, breadcrumbs). I was on vegan heaven. I wanted to eat everything on the menu but yknow I couldn't. After here I got on a train to other half brewing, which was about 15min away by train. On the ride down when the train was on an overpass could see the Statue of Liberty at night, all lit up it was pretty cool. Brewery wasn't far from the station, but it was tiny. Only a table to seat about 6 and then benches around the walls. They had a pretty impressive tap list though, mostly IPAs and mostly all over 7-8%. I got 5 samples and they were all amazing. I ended up chatting with a girl who say my garbage hoodie. She commented because she was going to wear hers that night but didn't. Chatted for ages about garbage and also death as her grandpa had just passed away at 94. Was a good evening and the bartender was super nice letting us stay well after the bar had closed to finish our drinks and use the restroom. Had a weird homeless guy try and get into the bar once it was closed and he just kept looking through the window. Super creepy.
I left here about 11.30, caught the train back home and watched a few movies in bed. Got to sleep about 2am.
Thursday October 13th
Had a great sleep in. Woke up first time about 7.30am, then rolled back over and got up again at 9.30. Made myself cereal, banana and yoghurt for breakfast with coffee and OJ. Finished watching a serial killer documentary on Netflix and typed up a new blog. Showered and got ready to head out for the day.
Went up to the rooftop of my building to get some daytime photos, and realised I could see Empire State Building and the new wtc or freedom tower. Pretty cool. The building is way old and the rooftop is not looked after at all, so much potential but they have done nothing with it. Such a shame as could be amazing. But on the positive, no one goes up there ever.
Headed out to find a local comic book shop called Desert Island, and I'm pleased to say I knew exactly how to get there, just based on being here for a week and knowing my way around. Unfortunately when I got there it was still closed even though it was meant to be open at midday. So headed to my next stop the keg and lantern brewery in greenpoint. Unlike most breweries or bars it opened at 11am. I grabbed a flight of 4 beers and chilled at the bar. It was most definitely a local bar, filled with people who drink there every day. I kept to myself mostly, until after I came back from the bathroom and saw the giant wall of beer cans they had. I of course took photos, cos that's what I do. An old man local dude commented that at least one person a day takes a photo of it. I laughed and was like of course, it's amazing. Chatted to him for a while. He was clearly an alcoholic as he comes here first every day at 11am had like 6 Budweiser bottles, then once next bar opens at like 2, he moves on to them as they have bid on draught. He lives in queens, but loves Brooklyn. Just hates how all the young hipsters have taken it over which is pretty fair I guess. He's lived in the area a long time. After my beer flight I scored a free shot o Jamison whiskey as the beer rep was at the bar and shouting shots. Win!! I finished on an imperial pumpkin ale, which was delicious. We don't get a lot of good pumpkin beers back home, so I've gotta make the most of it. Great local bar that was super chillaxed.
From here, I walked to McCarren park to eat my sandwich id made earlier for lunch. It started to rain a little bit, but not too bad. My sandwich was delicious thanks for asking! Next up went to Torst a beer bar like 100m away. Hadn't planned on going here, was going to head up to Long Island city/queens for a brewery but decided to put that off until tomorrow as more logical.
Torst was pretty cool. Very minimalist, but had an AMAZING tap list. I started off with a $5 can of sour beer. It was great. Then ordered. 5oz pour of an Evil twin smoked porter and an 8oz pour of evil twin imperial stout with coffee and raspberries. Holy shit that last beer has to be the favourite of my trip. Mind blowingly good. Whilst I was at the bar, a group of Brazilian tourists came in just to buy the beer glasses for $15 a pop. Apparently, that is a thing that happens a few times a day. I still don't get it. It's a rad bar. The beer is great, but it's not a brewery and unless you'd had a rad night there and wanted to remember it forever via a beer glass that isn't even labelled, I don't get why you'd want one. These folks some in, ordered 4 glasses and then left, didn't even buy a beer. Apparently buying for their cousin back home, who hadn't ever been there either. So weird.
Once I left here, I wandered down in the direction of greenpoint beer and ales. It's by the waterfront on east river, so I detoured to try and get to the water. It's an industrial area, sink had to climb through a gap in a wire fence and walk across an industrial site to get to the river. It was so peaceful and quiet and beautiful. Who says you can't find solitude in NYC?? I sat by the water on a concrete slab looking out over r Empire State Building and the new freedom tower (new wtc building) as the sun set. Was beautiful. From here headed back to greenpoint brewery and ordered a tasting flight. So far 2 beers in and the beer is amazing. In a big industrial area, but the space is really rad. Next stop after I finish here is screamers vegan pizza joint, then back home. Trying to do it all on foot today, no subway. This is my 2nd last night in NYC and money is running tight. Hard to believe I have only 2 more sleeps and one full day left in the USA. It's gone so quick, but on the other hand feels like forever ago I was in Yosemite hiking half dome. Don't think my fitness level right now would let me do that! As much as I don't want to go home or for this holiday to end, in looking forward to sleeping in my bed, seeing Vinnie, catching up with my besties and exercising and having a break from booze. Been an amazing life changing, memorable trip. I just thank anyone that has been part of it. From random strangers at bars who made me feel like a local, to people I met after knowing online for so long, to friends I've had for so long and got to connect with again. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Anyway enough mushy stuff, I have beer to drink! THANKYOU MURICA!
Friday 14th October
Official last day in NYC. Got up relatively early, 8am to repack all my bags and sort through all my shit. That was quicker than I thought it would be. Ate the last of my cereal, made some sandwiches for the day and got rid of some rubbish. Pretty sure my bags are going to be over the limit, but guess we’ll see. Had a pretty cruisey day planned, which was going to finish up with Leon & Christy at Jazzfest at Bric in Brooklyn. Once all sorted, I headed out about 11am to grab another bagel, this time only one. I had Spinach & Artichoke on an everything bagel and it was fucking delicious. I really could have eaten more, but thought better of it. Once I finished the bagel, I grabbed a coffee from Oslo coffee and headed down to the East River. First stop was the ferry terminal, where I got some good photos of the Williamsburg Bridge and Manhattan. I laid on the bench here for a while just soaking up the sun and listening to podcasts. After about an hour, I got up and headed back to Van Leeuwen ice-cream, which I’d passed on the way. I had 2 scoops on a waffle cone – salted caramel and butternut squash and pecan cookie. It was so good. From here I was heading to the East River Park, which is where Smorgasburg is hosted on the weekend. Laid down on the sandy beach area then on the grass for an hour or so, just soaking up rays and listening to my podcast. Such a super chill relaxed last day in NYC & Brooklyn. Next up from here I was walking up to Queens/LIC to check out the waterfront there and then find some breweries. On the way passed a pretty cool looking craft beer bar called Kent Ale House so popped in there for a beer. Good draught list and the bar was already decorated for Halloween. Took me about 45min to walk to the Long Island City (LIC) waterfront, but it was so nice. They had some lovely boardwalks, parks and a tonne of chairs, benches and lounges to sit on. After taking some photos of the Queensboro Bridge and the area, I laid down on a bench, and you guessed it listened to some more podcasts for about 45min. Also ate my sandwich here that I’d made earlier. Left here just before 4pm and headed to Transmitter brewery, which was just under the bridge that crosses over from Brooklyn to Queens. This brewery was absolutely tiny, and only offered samples and bottle sales. I certainly had no room in my case for any more beer as much as I wanted to take some. I tried 3 samples and they were all fucking delicious. They had some great sours, and interesting flavours. Next time I’m here I’ll definitely be back as they were awesome. They had a cool dog there too! After some tips from Leon, I headed to check out a bar called The Creek and The Cave. It is a Mexican restaurant, comedy venue and pinball bar downstairs. Headed downstairs, had a beer and played some pinball. Super cool venue, wish could have stayed longer, but had 2 more breweries to hit. Next stop was Big Alice Brewery, which was about 15min away. It was in a warehouse area, super close to the Queensboro Bridge. They were quite small, but had plenty of space in the brewery to sit down. I got the beer flight of 6 beers, and they were all pretty good. They even had free spent grain peanut butter cookies and apple slices which the bartender had made from the spent grain. So cool. The bartenders were all lovely and friendly and I really enjoyed this place. From here my last stop in LIC was the LIC beer project. Again this was only another 15min walk away, so got there in no time. This brewery was a little bit bigger and again had some awesome beers on draught. I had planned on drinking 3, but I was running out of time. Also the beer I finished with was 9.5%, so probably didn’t need any more! After finishing up my beer here, I ate my second sandwich on the way to the station. I was heading down into Brooklyn to go the Jazzfest at Bric. Had planned on being there about 8pm, but didn’t get there til about 8.30pm. Luckily, Leon, Christy and their other mate (who I have forgotten his name already), were late too and arrived 5 min after me. The setup of this place was pretty cool. They had one big room, and about 5 or 6 little rooms where different musicians were playing. Christy and Leon really wanted to check out one artist called Jose James, so we hit the mainstage first. The band on before him was really good even though we only caught about 10min of their set. Jose James came on, and he was definitely looking all rock star. It was just him and a drummer. He crossed boundaries between jazz, hip hop, sort of blues, but he was very entertaining. He even had a guy join him on stage to do some beatboxing which was awesome. After his set had finished we saw some music in different rooms, then came back to the mainstage for the big act, which was old school jazz musicians just riffing off each other and doing solos and telling cool stories.
From here, we left to go get some drinks. I can’t remember the name of any of the places, but we hit up one venue for a drink, then left to go catch some music at a different venue. The second venue was super fun. They had good drinks, good vibe and the music was awesome. We danced and chatted and had such a fun time. By about 2am I realised I really needed to get home, as I was flying out the next day. I really didn’t want to leave and I wanted to stay and party all night with these guys, but common sense got the better of me for once. It was hard saying goodbye to Leon & Christy as they were so fun, accommodating and showed me an amazing time in NYC. I grabbed an uber home, went up to the rooftop one last time, sat on the fire escape one last time and tried to delay going to bed as I knew that when I woke up it was time to go home. Tiredness got the better of me and I fell asleep about 3am. Such an amazing last day in NYC, it really is such a cool place.
Saturday 15th October
For the first time in a long time my alarm woke me up at 7.30am. I showered, finished packing and threw out all the stuff I didn’t need anymore. I packed a sandwich for my trip and used the last of any shopping I’d bought. Once I was sure everything was set, I headed down to the Bagel Store, for one last amazing Brooklyn Bagel. I got the wholemeal everything with the spinach and artichoke tofu cream cheese, as it was my favourite. I took it back to the apartment, ate it on my bed whilst contemplating the flights ahead. Once it got to about 10.30am, I lugged both my suitcases down the stairs which nearly killed me, then got my backpack and satchel. I met my cab driver out the front about 10.55am. He loaded my bags in the car and we set off for Newark airport, which was in New Jersey. The traffic was terrible and I didn’t really realise how far it was. In hindsight, even though the flight was cheaper, I should have got a flight from JFK or La Guardia. The cab ride took about 75min, which was so long and cost me a small fortune in toll charges too. Got to the airport at 12.15pm, weighed my bags and realised one was 30kg and one was 27kg. No way I’d get either of them down to 23kg, as my backpack was already chockers and weighting about 15kg. So I sucked it up, pad the overweight luggage fee ($100 per bag) and off loaded some items from my backpack into my suitcase. I checked my bags, then headed to the terminal. I changed into shorts, as I’d only worn jeans as they were heavy and didn’t have to wait long to board the flight. It left at 2pm, and was a 6hour flight. But due to time difference, I was due to arrive in LA at 5pm. On the flight I napped, ate my sandwich and finished off the dill pickle chips I’d bought a few days before. I’m gonna miss dill pickle chips they are so fucking good. No dramas on the flight, and no dramas collecting my bags at the other end. Only pain in the arse, at LAX had to get on a shuttle bus to take me to the other terminal, which meant lugging my suitcases onto the bus, which was a pain. Even when I cleared security, I got to go in the TSA precheck line, which means I don’t have to take of shoes, belts or remove laptop from my bag. Not sure why I got to skip the big line, maybe I looked trustworthy? Got to the Delta terminal at about 6pm and my flight was scheduled to board at 10pm. Checked my bags no problem, had to pay excess weight again as different flight, but they were checked to Melbourne now. Found a beer bar, sat down typed up some blogs, uploaded some photos, had a couple of beers. Then grabbed some dinner across the way at a salad kind of place. It was pretty nice, but fucking expensive as all things are at the airport. From here stopped in at the farmer’s market café, which had all kinds of food, but mainly Mexican. I sat at the bar, ordered a couple of margaritas (which were delicious), typed some blogs and got some free corn chips and salsa. Went to the bathroom one last time and boarded my flight at 10pm. The flight was pretty uneventful, I had an aisle seat thank god. The food wasn’t great, but better than nothing. I didn’t’ even watch one movie, I listened to my podcast, managed to sleep about 6 hours all up, but only an hour or so at a time. I drank a few red wines, which I’m sure helped. It was all over with pretty quick. Got in to Sydney at 7.30am local time on Monday morning, cleared customs OK (despite the automated machine not recognising my photo), declared my beer but thankfully didn’t have to pay excess or taxes on it. Re-checked my baggage onto my flight into Melbourne, caught the transfer bus to the domestic terminal and only had about 30min to wait to board. Flight left at 10am, I got a window seat and whilst I didn’t sleep at all, I certainly dozed. Got in to Melbourne a little later than expected at 11.50am. Got my bags, headed out to meet my ride and arrived home about 12.45pm. All my beer survived and it was awesome to see Vinnie, even though he totally snobbed me off for the first few hours. Hard to believe that 8 weeks of vacation is over. It has been an amazing experience. I met some amazing people and saw some amazing sights. I’m so glad that I did it. I’m glad I did it alone. I can’t wait for my next vacation (a long time away once this one is paid off!!)














