New York City - Day 3

Every good road trip requires a visit to the laundromat, and today was our day. The laundromat is just around the corner, luckily not too far from Raven's apartment. While the clothes were washing, we all enjoyed a latte at Minibar, a tiny coffee house just 2 doors down from the entrance to the apartment. We also shared a green tea muffin, coffee cake, and yogurt with blueberries & granola. Interesting observation: we were enjoying breakfast at 1 pm. I think we have slipped in to a good New Yorker's schedule.

The plans for today took us to Williamsburg, an artsy burrough in Brooklyn. We road the L train into Brooklyn, getting off at the first stop. From the east village it was actually faster to get to Williamsburg than Uptown. We wandered the streets and shops somewhat aimlessly, simply enjoying being out of Manhattan. At Spoonbill & Sugartown Booksellers, I did buy a couple of old magazine-like books featuring Kathe Kollwitz for just a couple of dollars while Rainy bought "2012 The Return of Quetzalcoatl". We walked to Grand Ferry Park which put us at the waters edge near the bridge into Manhattan. From this point, we could look across the river and see the Manhattan skyline. We sat for a while enjoying the breeze coming off the water and the beautiful view. We left the park and walked to Radegast Hall & Biergarten to enjoy a nice cold beer. Julie ordered a St. Peters IPA. Rainy had a Fruli, a strawberry beer flavored with coriander and orange peel. Raven drank a refreshing Belgian wheat beer, Weihenstephaner Kristal.

We took the L train back to East Village for an early dinner at Grafitti, a contemporary Indian-fused American restaurant. The restaurant was extremely small, probably 10' wide 30 ft deep and 4 tables. In the city, communal dining with strangers is the norm, so having such an early dinner was great because we didn't have to share our table. We started our meal with the Watermelon Feta Salad with Mint Sorbet; a refreshing start to the wonderful dishes that followed. Next we shared the Green Mango Paneer, an exciting cheese dish with unusual flavors. We ordered the Pickled Ginger Scallops, Candied Red Chili. Julie doesn't eat scallops, but was brave enough to try just one thin slice. Both Raven and Rainy thought the scallops were delicious. Next we shared the Zucchini Hummus Pizza which was hummus and thinly sliced zucchini on pita.....Yummy! We ordered two more plates of food; the Chickpea Crusted Skate with Mint Yogurt Sauce and the Duck Portabello Gratinee with Mustard Onion Confit, both were outstanding. Raven orderd a bottle of Gruner Veltliner German wine for the table, it was smooth and dry with a great acidity that balanced out the spices in the dishes. For desert we shared the Coconut Macaroon with Dulce De Leche and the Warm Truffle Almond Strawberries with Pepper Ice Cream. Overall, it was an Exquisite Meal.

Raven had reserved seats for all of us at a Taxidermy Lecture out in Williamsburg at a place called Third Ward, the second stop off the L into Brooklyn. My knowledge and experiences of taxidermy comes solely from the hunting world. It was really interesting to learn about taxidermy from a young vegetarian contemporary artist's point of view. She had gone to art school and completed a four week course at a taxidermy school, so she was a bit of a novice in the subject but her view was fascinating. She had an impressive fox mount with her that she had made in school. She used slides to navigate throughout the lecture and we discovered some interesting Taxidermy Artists - "Animal Artists." Raven was familiar with one : Polly Morgan.

Our next stop was off the G train to Boerum Hill at Char No. 4, a whiskey and bourbon specialty bar that served BBBQ as well.

Julie hates whiskey but thought she should sample it... Raven and Rainy ordered 3 different kinds all at 1oz each. Two Japanese whiskeys: Nikka 21 yr & Suntory 18 yr. As a recommendation from the bartender we also sampled an American Whiskey, Pappy Van Winkle 20 yr. Rainy's favorite was the American whiskey and Raven's was the Japanese Nikka. Julie boldly sampled each, then disgustedly went back to her sparkling Prosecco. Rainy spotted a specialty cocktail that looked really intriguing: The Spicy Buck- it was made up of spicy ginger beer,whiskey and she said it was a fancy version of her usual drink, but this one was so much more amazing and delicious; definitely a treat. Char No. 4 were having a bbq special that highlighted three different kinds, our favorite was the pork ribs with a mustard barbeque sauce. As an appetizer though, the Lamb Pastrami really impressed us! We finished with a toffee pudding and butter pecan ice cream drizzled in Bourbon! Rich and delicious.