Good Memories Of A Trip

[smallbearelec]

This actually happened in late autumn, but Mark had some issues with getting files uploaded. As you can tell, we had a marvelous time, notwithstanding the government shutdown that kept us from visiting the Lady.

We gave Mark and Mary-Anne a look at some of Brooklyn, which many tourists never get to. Prospect Park, which is very close to us, is the one that Frederick Law Olmstead designed after he had figured out how by doing Central Park. They happened to have an exhibit of exotic insects going on while we were there:



Coney Island is, of course, best known as a summer destination, and it is typically a mob scene. The crowds are gone by Labor Day, and the beach and the boardwalk become easier to enjoy in some ways:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/mhammer/100_7576_zps6bf67456.jpg[/img]

The Coney Island Aquarium is world-class, and we got a to see a cool performance by Osborne, the Sea Lion:




If New York is about anything, it's about food. If you visit Manhattan, try to stop for delicatessen at the Carnegie (below), or Lindy's or Katz's on the Lower East Side. What passes for Corned Beef and such elsewhere is usually a pale imitation of what these places offer. Doing cured meat right is difficult, slow and expensive, and the "pickle man" needs to have learned the trade from his Romanian grandfather.



Another culinary "tidbit", you should excuse the expression: When Judy and I visited Canada, Mark offered us bagels with breakfast. I remarked at the time that they were very good, though a different texture and slightly different taste from what Judy and I are familiar with. He brought some of the local product with him, and we got to do a side-by-side compare. So what's an "authentic" bagel? Cut to the Wiki article: It turns out that there is a New York style AND a Montreal style! What you get depends on which shtetl (village) in Eastern Europe the baker's grandfather came from. And apparently, until recent years, people in the Northeastern U.S. had no idea that a bagel was anything but the more dense, slightly less sweet version that they knew. Live and learn...

While we don't have the space to do the kind of musical get-together that Mark arranged for our tour, we had a lot of fun continuing to get to know each other. Also, we were able to share drinks with a few forum-ites who met up with us at a local bar.

Next trip for Judy and me wil be Anaheim for NAMM in January. If you will be there, please let me know so that we can maybe arrange to meet up.

Regards
SD

[Mark Hammer]

The sandwich pictured is "The Woody Allen"; so named because of the segments from the film "Broadway Danny Rose" that were filmed there.  How they can call it a "sandwich" I don't know.  It was two piles of meat with some bits of bread pinned to the side.  What you can't see is a sign across from Steve that provides instructions on what to do if someone is choking.  On those sandwiches?  NEVER!



And this is how a Nathan's hot dog should be eaten..outside, on the boardwalk.  (mustard added for comic relief)



It was hard work leaving Steve and Judy's spare bedroom each day.  Although it is not "the store" anymore, do you have ANY idea how well-stocked that bedroom is?  At home, I have a parts drawer labelled "knobs".  Steve has a drawer for yellow, a drawer for red, a drawer for green....  Normal people would wake up thinking "I'm just a subway ride away from NYC!".  I'd wake up thinking "Oh man, the things I could make here!".  

SBE is bigger than I'd imagined it to be, but a busy happy place with friendly people, in a weird old converted factory building with meandering hallways, and old school freight elevators.  I would have loved to spend an afternoon there filling out people's orders, going "Heyyyyy, I know that guy!", buuuuut they have a system for doing things that would have taken all afternoon to learn, and the laser-beam stares from spouses who would not consider that to be a "vacation", struck that from the list of things-to-do-while-in-town.  So we had to make do with Times Square, Central Park, Wall Street, Broadway, museums, blah blah blah.

A wonderful trip, with many good memories.  Thanks, Steve.

("Montreal-style" bagels are the one true bagel.  All others are pretenders to the throne!  Seriously, though, what distinguishes a real bagel from pretenders is that there should be no identifiable top or bottom.  This results from the boiling in honey-water that precedes the baking.  Whatever puffy thing you've purchased that has a flat bottom is basically a bun with a hole poked in it.  Accept no substitutes.)

[Mustachio]

Wow awesome pic's ! Looks like you guys had a great time!

Also, Epic Mustard shot! Haha now I want a Coney island dog!

That corned beef looks amazing, when can I come over for dinner!

I didn't know there was a Montreal style bagel , sounds tasty!

Seriously this post has gotten me hungry.

Forum get together sounded great and I hope you guys have fun at NAMM and meet up with some more. Wish I could make it to some guitar shows again, maybe some time in the distant future!

[bwanasonic]

Absolutely fantastic!

[tubegeek]

It appears you neglected one important Brooklyn food group: pizza. So we'll have to get you back.

In a related vein: when my wiseass brother (who has moved out to the nearby suburb of Montclair NJ) heard about the flooding Red Hook suffered from Hurricane Sandy, his heartfelt concern for the artisanal pickle makers was truly moving.

[midwayfair]

Oh, man, I want that corned beef sammich....

I'll have to make some montreal style bagels ... sadly, without a woodfired stove. But boiling anything in honey is a decent way to pique my interest.

[haveyouseenhim]

This reminds me there is a whole world out there that I haven't been out of the woods enough see yet. 

Looks like a good time.   I was hoping for a picture of Mark on the phone with a puzzled look on his face   

[pinkjimiphoton]

this is an awesome thread.

[Bret608]

Jimi is right! This is a good thread. I ate at Katz's Deli the night my wife and I realized that we were in love. The places you show here in general bring back a lot of good memories from my NYC days.

[CodeMonk]

You all should come up to the Lake Tahoe/Reno area.
I could show you around, but as for living accommodations, you'll be on your own.
Its really only about 500 miles north of winter NAMM.

You could pick up Paul on you way up here (Isn't he the one here that lives in Las Vegas?).

[tubegeek]

You could pick up Paul on you way up here (Isn't he the one here that lives in Las Vegas?).

Which Paul?

Not PRR - he lives Down East quite a ways, ayuh. Yah can't get theyuh from heayuh.

[Mark Hammer]

It would be my honour to put a smile on Paul Marossy's face.  He could use a grin or two these days.

[CodeMonk]

It would be my honour to put a smile on Paul Marossy's face.  He could use a grin or two these days.

Yeah, that Paul.

Bring snow chains.
Roads can be a bit icy here till around March/April or so.
Although in the 20+ years I have lived up here, I have yet to feel the need to use snow chains.
Late spring/summer would be better.

[bwanasonic]

Mark, that picture of you and Eric Clapton eating hot dogs is the best! 

[Jaicen_solo]

Mark, that picture of you and Eric Clapton eating hot dogs is the best! 

I don't know about anyone else, but I still find it odd that Mr Hammer ( ) and Steve don't look at all like I imagined they would.

[tubegeek]

M. (C.) Hammer was forthcoming about the fact that he was wearing overalls, but what he didn't mention is that they were gold lamé.

[Mark Hammer]

And they still only cost me nine bucks at Giant Tiger!

Funny thing about "the overalls".  Every time I see somebody wearing something I think is nice, when I ask them where they got it, it's always somewhere exotic.  "Oh, this sweater?  Yeah I picked it up in Namibia."  "So you like the hat?  Yeah, we were in Iceland last year, and when I saw it I just had to have it.".  "I picked up the belt when we were backpacking around Nepal last year."

Well, when I attended a conference in Nashville in 2009, and a visit to the Country Music HoF was scheduled, I just had to bring my overalls, figuring that if they were good enough for Junior Samples, they were good enough for me.  I wore them on my last day there.  On three separate occasions on that day, women approached me and declared "Ah just luuuuuuv yer ohverawls.  Where'd you git 'em?".  And I got to say "Those old things?  Nine bucks at Giant Tiger in Ottawa."  Finally, *I* got to be "the exotic one".  (Giant Tiger is a Canadian budget-conscious store-chain that is just a notch up from Dollar Giant, and a notch or two below Target or Wal-Mart, catering to much the same crowd.)   

[Ice-9]

That's a really cool picture shoot, looks like you had lots of fun. It's also really nice to put a couple of faces to the names here.

[PRR]

> Down East quite a ways, ayuh. Yah can't get theyuh from heayuh.

And you can't get good bread (much less bagels) round here. It's all soft foamed sugar/starch. Growing up between Philly and NYC, assorted Italian Jewish and Hungarian bakers, I really miss bread.

I've resorted to bagged Lenders as the least-pathetic thing to wrap my meat. I bet you can find bagged Lenders in a goy supermarket, down the street from a Russian-grandfather bagelmaker.

Another thing: paprika! We used to get fresh paprika in pints. Here a tiny-bottle is $6 brand-name. $1 at the Dollar Store but I'm not sure what's in it.

> Giant Tiger is a Canadian budget-conscious store-chain

You may like Mardens. 6 or 7 outlets in Maine. Huge place, everything an odd-lot. Even the shopping carts are a collection of failed stores. Reading-specs 3/$1.

Chains are no substitute for experience, 4WD, ample clearance, and a TON of ballast.

On ice, use Blizzaks. Nite-and-day difference from Comp T/A (which were excellent for Jersey rain-dumps).

[tubegeek]

Reading-specs 3/$1.

Damn! And I thought .99/each at Ocean State Job Lot in Belfast was the price to beat!