Brooklyn

Hey, look what I'm finally publishing!  It only took me five weeks.  Sorry about that.  :)

My parents gave me a guidebook for Christmas in honor of our upcoming trip:

It turned out that the publishers took their "secret" and "unusual" claims quite seriously:

They bound the book on the wrong side!

It will live proudly on my bookshelf next to the second (correctly bound) copy my parents gave me.

The book was interesting the flip through, but there is something nice about knowing a place well enough that we can go there without outside guidance.

Since I talked Andy and Jenn into going to "Then She Fell" with me on this trip (it did not take much convincing), we decided to spend a day in Brooklyn.  I really enjoyed the quick trip Jason and I took there a year ago and was excited to revisit it with new people.

After a detour to secure tickets to various shows for the next few days, we headed to the Brooklyn Flea Market.

The market runs every weekend, and is located inside a large warehouse for the winter months.  The main part of the space is taken up with vintage stalls and the usual mix of things you'd expect at a hipster-filled event - handmade candles, mason jars, vinyl records, old keys, used parachute log books, things made from antlers, etc.

The main attraction for us was the food vendors.  We each bought whatever sounded delicious, then brought the items to the group to share and sample.  Lobster roll, grilled cheese sandwich made with three types of cheeses and apple slices, Thai-style green papaya salad, mac and cheese with bacon and wild mushrooms, blueberry soda, hibiscus doughnuts, miso rice balls, and more!




We then moved on to the second food hall (!) to sample the infamous Ramen burger:





I was not a fan.


Feeling quite full, we walked from the market to the Brooklyn Art Museum.




I was excited to revisit Emily Dickinson's vagina Judy Chicago's installation piece and check out some other parts of the museum that Jason and I didn't have a chance to see before.  Mom and Dad were excited to see their Egypt collection, which was strikingly displayed in what must have been a newer section of the museum:





I liked the ceiling mural and the bold choices for wall colors.  I also really enjoyed the quotes on the walls from non-Egyptologists, all expressing the same fervor for Egypt that infected my own parents after they went (seriously, Jason, we need to go).






This area was blocked off when I was here before.  You can see a tiny Andy, Jenn, and Mom at the far end:





Feeling artistically satiated, we decided to find an early dinner before dividing up for our shows.  We took the metro to the Flatbush area, a good spot for restaurants.  As we walked down the street, I noticed a familiar place.  "That's where Jason and I had brunch," I pointed out.

"Was it good?" the family asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Done," the family said.  We headed in for a delicious dinner.

After dinner, Mom and Dad headed back into the city to see a show.  Andy and Jenn and I had a couple extra minutes, so we decided to try the doughnut shop that was calling our names from across the street.




That little guy was the creme brulee doughnut.  It was fantastic.

From there we headed to "Then She Fell."  I very much enjoyed it the second time.  About 60-70% of what I saw was a repeat of my previous experience, but the new scenes were quite fun and the repeat scenes held different meaning with the larger context I had this time.  Like when Jason and I went, Andy and Jenn and I spent the entire journey home and part of the night discussing our different experiences.