Slim Shady Does NYC - Day 1 - Part 1

Huh?

Guess who's back, back again
Shadys back, tell a friend
Guess who's back, guess who's back,
guess who's back
Guess who's back

Well I didn't create a monster but I was back to NEW YORK CITYYYYYYYYY. 16 months of withdrawals and I managed to get a dose of the greatest city in the world. It was a surreal experience. Just hours before flying in, Tracy had had a little hot auction adventure and picked a pad up, our future home, and here I was feeling like I was coming home.

I landed at some crazy hour on Saturday morning and busted back to the hotel to get some slumber. You know what my first meal was in NYC? No it wasn't from one of the finer dining experiences but rather was a cup of 2 minute noodles. It was 3am in the morning and freezing and I didn't really feel like heading out.

I didn't sleep much as I was so looking forward to getting out and about. I was torn on what to do but I ended up deciding to head to Williamsburg. I headed down to 14th Street to get the L train over but it was not working due to construction. I ended up getting the M train over to Marcy Ave. I started making my way to some spots near the Williamsburg bridge where I knew there would be heaps of graffiti and stumbled across a place called Pies N' Thighs. I was due for breaky so thought I'd stop in here. It was really good and was soon to find out it was a bit of a destination spot. Really well know for it's fried chicken and donuts. I went with corned beef hash and cwoffee.

Now I was carbed up to the nines I continued on my walk. I headed down to South 5th and Kent. There was lots of Graffiti on South 5th which was really cool. I was saddened to see that they are in the process of ripping down the old domino factory on the river. I thought this would have made an excellent urban renewal project but I think the renewal was more of the knock down variety.....which is where a lot of the neighbourhood seems to be heading. More on that in another blog.

I wandered aimlessly for hours taking in Bedford Ave, The Brooklyn Flea Market and went as far as North 15th St. There is something I love about wandering around this part of the world. It's like an ever changing canvas of people, buildings and nothing ever feels the same. I used to love coming over here on the weekends and doing exactly what I did on this day and I still got the 'I'm in NYC' feeling which makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

After a solid dose of Dub-Burg I headed back over the river to the West Village. I headed to Washo's a.k.a as Washington Square Park. Another spot where we spent countless hours hanging around at the dog run. As always the palce was buzzing and it was amazing to see that they have almost finished the renovations. These have been underway for years. They had been going since we started coming to Washo's in 2010. It's quality stuff they are doing and it really will be an incredible space when finished.

I wandered back up Greenwich back to 8th Ave and our old hood. Wow cannot believe I'm back here. The laundry guy from across the road was still standing there. The pet shop around the corner still smelt the same...like dog food. The deck, yep it was there in all it's glory. Oh how we miss the deck. The main change was Crumpler bags has moved out and is now a beauty salon. They'd be glad we'd moved as Dash running up and down the hall would have done their heads in.

The servo around the corner had reopened and they got rid of the bike lane on 8th. There was also a resounding amount of crap on the roads and footpaths. A legacy of the salt and grime build up from winter.

Ahhh how I missed it. Anyway I'll move onto the night time in the next blog. Adios.