In the morning she heard her cousin M open up their bedroom door, and their sandy colored pit bull padded out and jumped on the pull out bed into her lap. She'd missed him a lot since the years they'd met in her cousin's Oakland Tidal Canal loft. The dog was the sweetest, and she snuggled with him for a bit before her cousin's came out of their room.
Her cousin's had thought ahead and bought some authentic NYC bagels to eat, but toasted them so she didn't really know if they were any better than anywhere else or not. No matter, as they decided to take a taxi to DUMBO and walk on the pier.
They arrived and she could see they were close to the Manhattan bridge, and they walked towards and then under the Brooklyn bridge. She could see how the Brooklyn Bridge was easily the most beautiful one she'd seen so far in New York. M informed her that no matter when you walked the bridge, it was always full of French tourists for some reason. "French is practically the national language of the Brooklyn Bridge."
They ducked into the Time Out Market to check out the food stalls. There were so many to choose from she became overwhelmed. She was shocked to find that some Jewish stalls were closed for the Sabbath. Because she'd left behind being religious when she was a child, she was surprised that there was a community still very much keeping up with it. She asked he cousin's about the Hasidic couples she saw the night before, and they said that Williamsburg was basically full of them, and that's why she'd seen them. She would've seen more if it hadn't been for the Sabbath keeping most of them inside. The assured her they'd go there tomorrow and check out the neighborhood. She couldn't wait.
They continued to walk along the East river; passing Jane's Carousel, stopping to take photos under the bridge as the snow gently began to fall. It didn't stick, didn't intrude, just added the the atmosphere. Brooklyn was different than NYC. She knew this without even crossing the bridge. People lived here, things were not as intense.
They walked around Pier 2, a park that was partially under some structures so that it could be enjoyed even with the elements all around them. It was charming to see that you could swing while staring out at NYC. She was shocked at how small the Statue of Liberty looked out on the water.
They looped back to the bridge and ate at Juliana's. They waited in line for a while, and when they got inside the place was packed and small. She was sensing a theme with the places they were going to, and hadn't prepared herself for the small spaces of the East Coast. She ordered an egg cream and they enjoyed authentic NYC pizza. No one back home would have forgiven her if she'd missed out on pizza.
They decided that even though it was late in the day, they should shoot over to the Brooklyn museum and sneak in a bit of time there before they closed.
They listened to an album by Mos Def while walking around a room with others also listening to the album at the same time. They walked around and were amazed by JR's larger than life art, and they ran through the rest of the museum before they could get kicked out.
They decided to go for a drink at Tooker Alley, and got a seat by the entrance and looked across Washington to the people in the Nancy Lincoln apartments coming home and starting their dinner. Because all three of them were writers, they improved a story about a couple as they moved through their nightly routine.
They decided to move onto Butter and Scotch, but found the place jam packed. They decided instead of drinks they would order some brownies to go, then go back and eat their Mekelburg's leftovers for dinner.
They ended the night with a comedy special on Netflix and wonderful food and conversation. It had been a perfect first day, even if it had been a day late.
