Five Trips in Five Years...NYC May / June 2016 - Day 4: Brooklyn Bridge, High Line, Pommes Frites

[moosha]

Day 4 - Tuesday 31st May 2016

This morning we were heading to Brooklyn. We walked down to City Hall which is where the pedestrian entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge is. We stopped somewhere for pastries or something but no photos or receipts, sorry. From memory I think it was a health food cafe, and I think the muffins got mixed reviews from the three members of the family eating them. I believe I got a juice from a Juice Press juice bar somewhere nearby. Being able to walk from our hotel in TriBeCa to the Brooklyn Bridge was another benefit of staying downtown, as previously we would have had to take a subway downtown before starting our walk over the bridge.



It was a hot, sunny morning and we were out nice and early so the bridge was fairly quiet. Anyone who has ever walked over the Brooklyn Bridge knows that it can be quite frustrating especially when it's busy. Everyone is supposed to stick to a certain lane on the bridge (pedestrians and then cyclists in each direction) but in practice lots of tourists don't stick to that and either block the entire walking path to take photos so you have to briefly step out into the cycle lane to get around them, or they wander out into the cycle lane and face the wrath of the speedy cyclists who ring their bells and shout at people to move over. Lots of fun .

With it being quiet and early we didn't encounter too many tourist / cyclist issues on the bridge, but we did come across a large school party who were doing worksheets as they crossed the bridge so kept stopping. We managed to get ahead of them though before it got too annoying.

Usually we like to take the subway to Brooklyn and walk back over the bridge to Manhattan because the view is better, but today we were mixing things up. We took the obligatory photos. Unfortunately some of these are out of order as they've come from three different cameras, apologies.

With the Manhattan and then the Williamsburg Bridge in the background:



We were told on a Circle Line cruise on our first visit in 2005 that the way to remember the bridges is that after the Brooklyn Bridge at the bottom of Manhattan (the one everyone remembers) and then the next one round to the east is the Manhattan Bridge followed by the Williamsburg: B M W



















Looking back towards Manhattan:





We always exit the bridge at the first set of steps rather than walk to the end, as this brings you out into Brooklyn Bridge Park. The first couple of times we walked the Brooklyn Bridge, we got in a right pickle the other end and even once ended up coming straight back over the bridge because we couldn't find the right path. We now have the route between the bridge steps and Brooklyn Bridge Park down pat, it's an easy couple of minutes walk when you know the right way.















We took photos down by the water and then started walking along Brooklyn Bridge Park which is really a series of 'parks' one after the other. We let the girls have a go on the swings in the swing park and then we briefly stuck our heads in the slide park but being so hot we decided the metal slides would be a bit painful today. We carried on walking around BBP towards Brooklyn Heights. It's a nice little walk, very picturesque as you're walking along the edge of the water for most of it. There are usually joggers out, and as it's very new, everything looks good, clean and tidy. We passed a little terrace where they have a drinks kiosk in the summer, and there's also a little book trolley there set up for people to read or exchange books. Lovely.

Eventually we reached our destination, Brooklyn Heights, which is one of our absolute favourite parts of New York City. The brownstones are so beautiful and it's lovely and quiet, and right by the water with fantastic views of Lower Manhattan. I could definitely live there if I had a spare couple of million. The plan was to pick up bagels from Montague Street Bagels which are pretty much our favourite bagels in the city, and then bring them back to the Esplanade to eat them, so that is what we did.







We always try to fit a bagel on the Esplanade into every trip as it really is special to sit there with such an amazing view, and as I've said, these bagels are good. All of us except Freya had lox cream cheese on ours, Freya just had cream cheese as she doesn't like smoked salmon.

While we were sitting there we discussed the plans for this afternoon, as we were going to be separating for a bit. Mat is a music journalist on the side of his proper job and he was off to do a face to face interview with Vince Clark of Erasure at his house further into Brooklyn. My plan had been to head in the same direction as him and take the girls for a cake or juice while he went off to do the interview. I had come up with a list of possible cafes but while we sat here on the Esplanade, I decided I didn't fancy doing that as I don't know that area of Brooklyn at all so we were likely to get lost. Instead I decided we would head back to Manhattan as I was much more familiar with the place, and Mat could catch up with us back over there whenever he was ready.

I felt much happier with this plan and we all walked round to Clark Street to take the subway. Mat went off one way to head into Brooklyn and we took the elevator to the other, Manhattan bound platform. We took a 2 or 3 train to Chambers Street and then walked the couple of blocks west to Barnes & Noble on Warren Street. I had a vague idea of where I was going in order to get there as we've been there before and it's above our favourite Whole Foods.

This Barnes & Noble is massive and the girls were happy to spend ages looking at the children's books. It was a good way to get out of the sun for a little while, and Seren in particular is such a bookworm she could have spent the rest of the day there. We all had a little sit down while they flicked through a couple of books. I had told them I would buy them each a book, and Seren immediately spotted the one she wanted. It was called 'Finding Serendipity' about a girl called Serendipity, and as that's what we call her, it was a no-brainer that she would choose that one. She's usually the indecisive one (she gets it from me) and Freya usually makes a brilliant choice straight away but today she was struggling to decide. In the end she chose an American Girl story book and we paid and left.

Once downstairs we went into Whole Foods to get some water, and as they have such a vast selection of bottles of water, I said we could each choose a different one. Seren had been moaning that she doesn't like the taste of Poland Spring which is a local bottled water and is available most places, so this was a good opportunity for her to find one she preferred. I can't remember what the girls picked but I chose Fiji. We took them a couple of blocks west to Battery Park and sat and chilled for a bit. Battery Park is at the bottom of the Hudson River Park and is also lovely and pretty with views over to New Jersey.

Continued below...

[moosha]

...continued





My plan now was to walk up the Hudson River Park to Chelsea and to finish up at the High Line. Seren needed a bit of persuading to walk the two and a half miles up to Chelsea, and the carrot I was dangling was ice-cream at Ample Hills Creamery inside Bubby's by the High Line. I had thought about taking the girls to the original Ample Hills in Brooklyn when we were following plan A as we'd had some fab ice-cream there in 2013, so this seemed like a good idea.

We reapplied the sunscreen and then embarked on our 50 minute walk up the Hudson River Park, telling stories and playing word games to pass the time. It really didn't feel like long before we were arriving at Ample Hills Creamery, which in Chelsea is just a little counter with two booths inside Bubby's restaurant. It's more geared up for taking ice-creams away, but we were hoping to sit in. I can't remember what the girls had but Freya's is likely to have been something chocolatey / cookie based, and Seren more than likely picked something featuring strawberry. I think I had a little scoop of something too. The staff were really friendly and they offered us tastes of flavours before expecting us to commit.

Both booths were occupied so we hovered for a bit and then the nice American lady with her young son in the nearest booth offered for us to sit down with them. She didn't attempt to make conversation so we just talked amongst ourselves while the girls devoured their ice-creams. I would definitely recommend Ample Hills and I hope the branch that's opened up at the Boardwalk at WDW is as good. We'll definitely be testing it out this Easter when we stay at Boardwalk Villas.

Next we headed up onto the High Line and found a bench for another rest (we'd done a lot of walking today already). The girls read their books for a bit while I chilled out and people watched.



Mat was walking down the High Line towards us as he had gone too far north before finding out where we were. He took these photos:



Art:



We took a walk along the High Line to where we had eaten our salads a couple of days before, and found another bench by the W16th Street stairs. The park was pretty busy and the benches were mostly occupied so I decided we would just stay here and wait for Mat. He had also taken this photo on the way back from Brooklyn:



We were only sat there five or ten minutes before he arrived, beaming after a brilliant interview and chat with one of his musical heroes.



The plan now was to head into the Village for some food which was about 20 minutes walk in the right direction for home. We had decided on Pommes Frites on Macdougal Street as this was most definitely on our list for this year. We'd visited Pommes Frites in its old location a few streets away in 2012 and had loved it, but unfortunately hadn't made a return visit in the next three years. This was partly because the place was gutted in a gas pipe fire in the building a couple of years ago and it had taken a long while for them to get set up again in a new location. We'd been following what was happening and knew the new location was opening around the time of our trip. Luckily after some delays, the place did open just before our holiday so it definitely on the menu for us while we were here.

Pommes Frites basically serves Belgian style fries with lots of different sauces. Simple but very well executed, and our kind of 'quick pit stop' meal that we tend to favour in New York. When we arrived about 5.15pm, there was quite a long line. The new location is very small, as the old one was too, but this one is down some steps in a basement. We managed to get a table but by the time we were sat down, the queue was literally up the steps and out of the door, with people eating their fries standing around in any available space. Busy:





We got two large fries for Mat and I, and two regular for the girls. This was way too much and we left loads, but when we'd arrived we felt really hungry so had massively over-ordered. They offer a couple of choices of free sauces including ketchup and mustard so the girls just had ketchup. Mat and I chose three sauces as part of an offer which were roasted garlic mayonnaise, sweet mango chutney mayonnaise and the third one I can't remember but it will have been some sort of spicy sauce and it was definitely red according to the photo. Mat and I also got half a bottle of red wine which we thought was pretty reasonable at $14.



When we had finished, we walked back down to TriBeCa. I think we did half the walk down the streets of Greenwich Village and then walked west to join the Hudson River Park slightly further down this time.



We had decided to grab a little drink at Sarabeth's before going back to the hotel since it was still happy hour. We sat outside today, and I had a Cuba Libre again ($6) while Mat had a glass of white wine ($7). We got tap waters for the girls and Seren got stuck into her book.



The only downside of sitting outside at Sarabeth's is that there are a lot of rubbish bags piled up along the pavement next to the outdoor tables, as you can see behind me in the photo. There were bags there every day as far as I recall. It didn't smell or anything but it just didn't look particularly appealing which is a shame because Sarabeth's is such a pretty restaurant.





All finished with our drinks, I think we went across the road to Best Market again so the girls could have another piece of fruit and we could stock up on water, and then we went back to the hotel to chill out and head to bed.

Pretty TriBeCa buildings:

[Goldia]

I'm loving your NYC report. Great pictures and really helpful tips about the b3st way to get on and off of Brooklyn bridge.

Also we love a cocktail on holiday so we will have to try and find your happy hour bar.

Can't wait for the next instalment,

Thanks

[DisneyDaffodil]

We are visiting New York for the first time in July this year. Really enjoying your trip report. My 16 year old daughter will want to visit Kinokinuya, she loves all things Japanese too.

[flo-tinka]

Wow a real live famous person :
Recognising lots of places as we stayed down near ground zero last Easter!
It was cold and quite wet when we were there (except for the day we sat on those benches on the Highline near Chelsea Market eating brownie) but it looks lovely when the sun is shining!
We considered Sarabeths but didn't know about the happy hour cocktails! Next time...

[dozy]

Really enjoying this

[moosha]

Originally Posted by Goldia

I'm loving your NYC report. Great pictures and really helpful tips about the b3st way to get on and off of Brooklyn bridge.

Also we love a cocktail on holiday so we will have to try and find your happy hour bar.

Can't wait for the next instalment,

Thanks

See more...

Thank you Abby for reading and commenting . Glad to hear you're picking up some tips! If you go to Sarabeth's website and look at the TriBeCa 'bar' menu (under menus) they have their special Happy Hour food items and a full list of the Happy Hour drinks. Looking at that was what swayed me to try it .

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

We are visiting New York for the first time in July this year. Really enjoying your trip report. My 16 year old daughter will want to visit Kinokinuya, she loves all things Japanese too.

See more...

Thanks for reading and commenting, I'm pleased that you're finding the report helpful in planning for your first trip (how exciting!) .

I'm sure your daughter will love Kinokinuya. The ground floor is pretty much all books I think but the downstairs has fab stationery / nik-naks / toys and magazines. I'm sure it will be a welcome air-conditioning break for you .

I would recommend popping into Bryant Park while you're there too as it's one of the more shady parks, and they have free wifi too . Oh and a new Whole Foods has just opened next door to Kinokinuya according to my husband who is currently there for work! So you can get a nice cold drink to take into the park with you .

Originally Posted by flo-tinka

Wow a real live famous person :
Recognising lots of places as we stayed down near ground zero last Easter!
It was cold and quite wet when we were there (except for the day we sat on those benches on the Highline near Chelsea Market eating brownie) but it looks lovely when the sun is shining!
We considered Sarabeths but didn't know about the happy hour cocktails! Next time...

See more...

I know, it's a bit mad that Mat actually went to Vince Clark's house while we were there .

We've been in April a couple of times and had a real mixed bag of weather, sorry to hear it wasn't great for you . I bet you really appreciated having one good day weather wise. We've been more times when it's been really hot and sunny than cold now so I always think of it as being a great place to visit in summer. You'll have to go back and see it all when the sun shines . We are going in October half term this year so it'll probably be quite a shock for us this time .

Thanks for reading and commenting .

Originally Posted by dozy

Really enjoying this

See more...

Thank you for reading along and commenting .

[abiknox]

Lovely day again, I must find Brooklyn Heights on this trip!

[LOU LOU DISNEY]

Loving your report, we go in June for our 2nd visit but this time we'll have our 19, 15 & 8 year olds with us!
We loved Brooklyn bridge park & BH last year & cant wait to bring the kids there.
Never got to greenich village last year so that is a must this year. Love all your pics, we can't wait now!

[moosha]

Originally Posted by abiknox

Lovely day again, I must find Brooklyn Heights on this trip!

See more...

Thanks for reading and commenting Abi . My tip would be take the subway to Clark Street and you'll be right in the thick of Brooklyn Heights when you exit the station. Finding BH from the Brooklyn Bridge can definitely be a challenge .

Originally Posted by LOU LOU DISNEY

Loving your report, we go in June for our 2nd visit but this time we'll have our 19, 15 & 8 year olds with us!
We loved Brooklyn bridge park & BH last year & cant wait to bring the kids there.
Never got to greenich village last year so that is a must this year. Love all your pics, we can't wait now!

See more...

Sounds fab . I'm sure the kids will love Brooklyn Heights and Brooklyn Bridge Park, mine certainly do. My girls (10 and 8) really like a quick pit-stop at the swing park, it has a couple of those big swings that you lie back on. Your youngest might like that too but you might need to check a map to find it as it's a bit hidden .

Yes, you must do Greenwich Village this year, it has a great feel to it, plus so many delicious snacks / foods. Oh and the Friends apartment building too of course .

Thanks for reading along and commenting .