bRoOkLyN

...Or should I call it Broke-lyn? After my day and night yesterday, I'm scared to look in my wallet...

Innocently enough, I traveled to Brooklyn after the miscellaneous furniture had been removed from my apartment by anonymous craigslisters. My first stop was Beacon's Closet, a stupendous vintage store that has become too popular and well-known for it's own good. I heard about it almost 2 years ago, and good merchandise and deals can be found, but it takes a lot more effort. Neither myself, nor my friend Michele, found anything worth while.

Brooklyn Brewery is across the street, so naturally we went there next. We thought there was a tour, but perhaps that is only if you follow the brew kitty (featured below). We walked up to the bar for our beers, without tokens, which was the best decision ever. While we waited in line for our tokens we concurred that we could use them on the second beer, instead of the first. This tactic only works if the bar is extremely crowded, which it was, and you wait for a different bartender, which we did.

Feeling a spectacular buzz we walked up and down Bedford Avenue. We stopped into Catbird, an indie jewelry, nic-nac, and stationary store, as well as a handful more vintage stores. I left with a sparrow charm, but nothing else.

Food became our next mission. The beer was taking over and hunger pains were striking fast! We smelled a place called Peter's and were drawn in by the fabulous aroma! It was southern-soul food, had outdoor seating, and has been around since 1969, our choice was made. A food coma was induced shortly after devouring macaroni and cheese and a pulled pork sandwich...literally. We each went home for a nap (college style).

Several hours later around 10 pm we met in Union Square. Margaritas were calling my name and that's where we started, Mary Ann's in the East Village. Around midnight we discovered a non-crowded bar, especially one with music, wasn't an option, so we ended up at Rockwood.

Big Surprise?!

It was pretty late and started to empty out when we walked in. We watched Luke Wesley, a pretty good singer who plays the piano with a guitarist and a drummer. The band after them played a funked up version of Paul Simon's Graceland before we were ready to leave.

We decided on a really bizarre way to take the train home, which ended up pretty nicely. We ran into this guy I went to high school with on the platform. He was always the stoner-slacker kid in high-school and has since changed his ways. He worked on Bloomburg's re-election campaign and is now working with Charter Schools! When did he decide to change the world?! Oh, and he's got some good genes, an athlete and not bad on the eyes...at all. You could say I was excited to see him. I had just enough time to find all of this out before we needed to transfer. I spent the next half hour waiting for the train and thinking about how bizarre it is that I would see him now. Of course I am leaving next week. Typical.