Weekly Musings

2018 - Week Thirty

'She had that whiskey sipping skinny dipping smile.'

(Atticus)

I am writing this from New York in a very sorry state after a crazy few days with my boys Luke and Rollie in Washington D.C. The week started, however, with a flight from Toronto to Boston, where I checked into my first ever hostel experience at HI (Hostelling International). It was in an ideal location right next to the subway station in China Town, half an hour from the airport and a short walking distance to Boston Common.

First impressions exceeded expectations. It had a swanky coffee shop on the ground level, then on the floors above it were a huge games room and chill out area, well equipped kitchen and then the guest bedrooms. I was sharing a mixed sex dorm with five others, all of whom were students so they left early each morning and didn't return until tea time which was perfect for me. Everywhere was clean, staff were friendly, and the sleeping areas were laid out in long thin rooms which was a nice touch to add some privacy when in bed. The bathrooms were also in the form of private cubicles, which I much preferred to the open plan leisure centre style bathrooms that I encountered in later hostels. 

I had heard good things about a trendy seafood bar called Saltie Girl on Newbury Street which is my favourite area of the city, so I walked there that evening. It had an hour wait, so I put my name down and went for a wander. When the time came I took a pew at the bar as it is one of those joints where you order as you go along. I had a glass of wine and the snow crab roll, which in my travel weary state I totally didn't clock was sushi (despite having this roll in other places before) so when it turned up my super hungry brain was not best pleased, especially at its $24 price tag! It was very tasty though, and I took it as an omen to go across the road to Thinking Cup for a Boston creme pie for dessert rather than order more food there. 

I sampled my first free hostel breakfast the next morning. It was buffet style, with bagels, condiments, juice, cereal, hot drinks, yoghurt and fruit available, such a bonus to be able to fill up for the start of the day to save a bit of cash. That morning I was doing a 3 hour Freedom Trail tour, with a very eccentric Bostonian guide. It was really informative and showed me areas of the city that I'd not seen before despite a 3 week trip previously. It finished right near Quincy Market which again I hadn't visited so I grabbed some Greek food from its huge hall and sat in nearby Christopher Columbus Park to eat it, watching the marina and dozing in the sunshine.

On my walk back to the subway I bumped into a guy called Drew who stopped me and asked if he could take some pictures of me as he was into photography and he 'liked my style'. I was a little dubious at first, but after chatting for a while he seemed legit so I thought why the hell not. He got some pictures of me (that I actually like) at various points around the area, and even bought me a drink as a thankyou at the end before he went on his way. Not all randomers are creeps it would seem! 

On Wednesday I caught the train to Providence to meet up with my buddy Nilton. In the morning I treated myself to a proper American breakfast at the South Street Diner, which I had found on Trip Advisor and realised upon arrival that Aum and I had been to a few years ago. It is a very basic joint (when I asked for a skinny latte the waitress blinked and said they only did filter coffee with whole milk!) but the food is out of this world, and my huge dish and drink was only just over ten dollars. I had the Boston Creme Pie pancakes; a stack of 3 fluffy pancakes the size of my face smothered in chocolate sauce and rich custardy cream, I could barely move afterwards. I still had ample time before my eleven o’clock  train, but it arrived early so I could board and get onto the free wifi.

Nilton met me at the train station and after stopping by his lovely apartment we drove for lunch at a restaurant called The Salted Slate. It was pretty high-end, although we waited for ages for our food. I ordered a glass of wine and a jumbo shrimp Caesar salad which was gorgeous, and we caught up on what we had both been upto for the past two years! We dropped the car back home and walked into town, picking up a lavender coffee from a cafe called Dave's on the way. He showed me all around the town of Providence, which has some cool bits of history as well as great shops and a trendy riverside area. For tea we grabbed Mexican food from California Taco and then I caught the train back, shattered after such a jam packed day!

On Thursday I was up and checked out of the hostel early, to prepare for my flight to Washington D.C at 1pm. I had another slight delay (yet to have an internal flight on time) but the subway system was the easiest yet to use so I was at my hostel, another H.I, in decent time. This was slightly more the type of thing I had imagined a hostel to be, a twelve person bunk bed dorm that was very prison chic, with scratchy blankets, bashed old lockers, communal shower rooms with weathered curtains for privacy and a rather pungent smell! However, I didn’t actually stay there all that much in the end, so it didn’t have a great impact on my stay.

I dumped my bags and wandered around until I found a cool bar called Pennsylvania 6, that had an outdoor area facing the park perfect for a bite to eat and a couple of ciders in the scorching sunshine. That evening I went to a Japanese ramen bar called Daikaya Izkaya that I had seen recommended on Alice Levine’s Instagram and as it was in my neighbourhood I thought I’d give it a try. The vegetable option was the most delicious ramen I have ever had and as it is set out communal bench style (a la Wagamama) I chatted to another solo traveller for the duration of my meal which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also got to soak up the atmosphere in the bar above beforehand whilst waiting for my table; a sultry den with pirate vibes serving quirky cocktails and unusual beers; I tried a cherry one and wasn’t disappointed. I headed back to the hostel for some sleep afterwards, knowing I had a busy weekend of partying ahead!

On Friday I wasn't meeting the boys until 4.30pm, so after breakfast at the hostel I tried to pack in as many monuments as I could beforehand. I visited the National Archives, United States Capitol, and the Supreme Court from the outside to take a picture and ventured inside the Smithonian Museum of Natural History which was incredible! I love a good museum and this was up there with some of the best I have visited, full of interactive displays, ancient artifacts and even an aquarium with penguins.

I caught the subway to The Intercontinental on the Wharf where the lads were staying, and as I arrived early I went to a funky dessert bar nearby called Milk where I had a 'Crack Pie Milkquake' - basically ice cream made from cereal milk with bits of cookiedough, caramel and pretzel in, it was to die for! Afterwards we chilled at the rooftop bar in the hotel having a couple of cocktails (strawberry margaritas) before sprucing ourselves up and heading to the in-house restaurant Kith and Kin for tea where I shared the lobster and crab slider and then had spicy shrimp with rice and brioche for main.

We were in a bit of a rush as we were going to a Sofar Sounds gig, but we just had time to grab some booze before jumping in a taxi to watch three really talented acts - Neffy, Rorie and Ryan Johnson. We then made our way to the lively area of the city and ended up in a dive bar called The Codmother which was churning out the old school tunes including the classic above; multiple tequilas mean it all goes a bit blurry from there!!

The next day I felt like absolute garbage! Luke and I went for an early morning swim (Rollie was entertaining a lady friend!) to try and shake off the cobwebs before we got changed and went to Del Mar next door for brunch and a much needed hair of the dog bloody Mary. I had a tasty dish of poached eggs with baked aubergine, tomato, courgette and manchego cheese which really hit the spot, and then I toddled off back to the hostel for a couple of hours kip before doing it all again!

The second night out was a bit more reserved to begin with, as I hadn't fully recovered, but after forcing a couple of ciders down me in a rooftop bar called 801 I gained a second wind and we met up with some of Luke and Rollie's friends from back in Raleigh where they live who were in the city for the weekend. They recommended a club called Decades which was as stereotypically American as you can imagine - dance offs, neon lights and bottles being paraded around with sparklers in, but it was a laugh and fun to mix with some new people.

Today has been a struggle! I felt relatively perky when I left the boys' hotel this morning, but after packing up my bag and checking out my energy slumped. I crawled my way to a vegan fast food place called Hip City Veg for a Kale lemonade and chicken nuggets with sweet potato fries which was exactly what the doctor ordered, and am now tucked up in my third hostel bed of the trip in New York, admitting defeat - I can't do two big nights in a row anymore!