thanks, punxsutawney phil

[ursamajor]

Last week, we had a brief stretch of warm weather, a glimpse of ephemeral spring before we retreat behind blizzard warnings and snowboots for another month.

So, I:

- Walked to Alewife and got on the bus to NYC without a jacket.

- Watched Long Island Sound melt into the wintry sky:

- Got off my bus, walked north, and lucked into a less-than-10-minute wait at high noon at the Shake Shack. (Pics sadly blurry.) Burger was juicy and flavorful and perfectly sized for me; pretzel concrete (chocolate custard, peanut butter sauce, chocolate covered pretzels, and marshmallow sauce) was delicious but massively oversized, and now I know to share.

- Hopped the A train to 190th Street (heading to the Cloisters on kazulrw's suggestion), and promptly went out the wrong exit.

- Got lost looking for a way to climb the hill to Fort Tryon Park, and eventually found these stairs:

- Skidded around the mud and the ice taking pics and vids in the park.

- Encountered some slightly icy paths where the sun hadn't shone enough:

- Found the Cloisters between these trees:

- Saw snowmelt on the lawn at the Cloisters:

- Walked through the enclosed gardens:

- Encountered an unexpected camel:

- Coveted the opulent journals, especially this one (though there was a similar turquoise one I wanted more that doesn't appear to be available online, alas).

- Caught the M4 down the hill to 175th (having learned my lesson from skidding on the icy path), then the A back to Times Square.

- Walked around the Times Building, ended up in Muji, and found a wool cloak for 70% off (the last one in the store and it was MY SIZE; I am in LOVE; this will be so much easier to wear while biking than my peacoat, and I've wanted one for about three years now!)

- Snagged a wafel met dinges from the Goesting cart, with strawberries and spekuloos spread (like a gingerbread-cinnamon Nutella). I have got to order some spekuloos spread for home use ... that sounds saucy.

- Headed back to my bus, sated and muddy and content, and devoured said Liege waffle on the bus as the sun went down.

- Walked home through Russell Field the same way I'd come that morning, sporting my new cloak, singing along to Snow Is Gone. (Not quite, but the sidewalks were passable for the first time in months.)

And now I'm going to finish off my bowl of chorizo grits and rewatch this week's Amazing Race, mostly for the lulz, somewhat for the pictures of Australian summer on my TV until I can get more good weather here. :)

Comments

[connie]

I saw on Twitter that you'd made the day trip to NYC, but not until after you'd already left for the day, which is too bad because if you were at the Shake Shack near Times Square, you were only a block away from where I live! We'll catch each other one of these days!

[ursamajor]

*facepalm* D'oh! I was totally in "There's no way there'll be enough time to coordinate with anybody" mode, but one block should've been easy enough to work around. Alas! But next time, DEFINITELY, especially because NYC is so close and I've been there so ridiculously little. :)

[ephemera]

that sounds like a most fabulous day ;D

[ursamajor]

It was a lot of fun! So sad so short, but I think it helped distill down my "I want to do EVERYTHING" impulses and made me pick a path while still allowing for some serendipity. :)