Yesterday, on a very frigidly cold afternoon, Brendan and I headed to Manhattan in NYC to enjoy part of the day together. We made our first stop in Chinatown where we enjoyed a really great lunch at a small local mom & pop type Chinese restaurant. After that we walked down to the Financial District. Along the way, just across the street from the back of the federal Building, Brendan stopped to look at a statue of whom he thought would have been Thomas Paine. I guess his assumption about the statue was a natural one, after all, we were in Thomas Paine Park - a tiny triangular island amid three NYC streets. Not all that surprisingly, the statue had nothing to do with the namesake of the park but was instead a statue of fat cat politician who was a former mayor and governor of NY - Abraham de Peyster. You would think there would be at least a plaque mentioning Thomas Paine in Thomas Paine Park - but of course not in this leftist stronghold would such be the case.
After stopping for a quick pic, we continued our trek to the Financial District. I had recommended a stop for a drink at historical Fraunces Tavern if only because I wanted to have Brendan get to see some things I figured he maybe had never seen before relative to the history of not only NYC but of these United States. The tavern is one of the oldest, if not the oldest building in NYC. Thus it likely is the oldest tavern there too. Although it does have a colorful history, my motive to head to the Financial District was not so much to see the tavern and get a history lesson on it or have a drink there as it was to see some another historical building - Federal Hall.
After Federal Hall, we stopped for a pic with the NY Stock exchange in the background. Then we were off to Fraunces Tavern - where I forgot to take a picture of Brendan in front of the building! At least we enjoyed a drink there. Sadly we kept it to one apiece. I had an Ommegang Nirvana IPA (6.5% ABV) and he had some concoction of a mixed drink. While both were quite tasty and to our liking, the reason we kept it to one apiece was that while my ale was fairly reasonable, by NYC prices, at $8 a pint - Brendan's mixed drink was $15 for nothing special and with at most one shot of booze and too much ice. It was off t Greenwich Village after that where we stopped and settled in at The MacDougal Street Ale House. Great bar, very good happy hour prices, fair prices after that and excellent barmaids. We had quite a few drinks and then were met by a few of Brendan's friends, the really good ones. of course we continued drinking for awhile until I decided to head home and they decided to move on to another watering hole.
All in all a good afternoon and evening with my son.
All the best,
Glenn B
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| The 'or not history' statue in Thomas Paine Park because it wasn't in his likeness! |
After stopping for a quick pic, we continued our trek to the Financial District. I had recommended a stop for a drink at historical Fraunces Tavern if only because I wanted to have Brendan get to see some things I figured he maybe had never seen before relative to the history of not only NYC but of these United States. The tavern is one of the oldest, if not the oldest building in NYC. Thus it likely is the oldest tavern there too. Although it does have a colorful history, my motive to head to the Financial District was not so much to see the tavern and get a history lesson on it or have a drink there as it was to see some another historical building - Federal Hall.
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| Outside of Federal Hall. You my have noticed the babe up above was smiling for my camera, some friggin women just crave any attention. |
I am not sure if Brendan was previously aware of this fact before our visit yesterday - and I am certain that the great majority of American citizens would not have a clue (although I would think many of my readers know) - that New York City was the first capital of the United States of America. In fact, the building I wanted us to see - Federal Hall - was in effect the first capital building and was the place in which George Washington was sworn in as our first president. It was a good feeling to share the experience of being there with my son.
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| He is not merely smiling for the camera, that look on his face was in part due to being there in that hallowed hall, learning some history of our great nation. That's the stone on which Washington stood while being sworn in as president. |
After Federal Hall, we stopped for a pic with the NY Stock exchange in the background. Then we were off to Fraunces Tavern - where I forgot to take a picture of Brendan in front of the building! At least we enjoyed a drink there. Sadly we kept it to one apiece. I had an Ommegang Nirvana IPA (6.5% ABV) and he had some concoction of a mixed drink. While both were quite tasty and to our liking, the reason we kept it to one apiece was that while my ale was fairly reasonable, by NYC prices, at $8 a pint - Brendan's mixed drink was $15 for nothing special and with at most one shot of booze and too much ice. It was off t Greenwich Village after that where we stopped and settled in at The MacDougal Street Ale House. Great bar, very good happy hour prices, fair prices after that and excellent barmaids. We had quite a few drinks and then were met by a few of Brendan's friends, the really good ones. of course we continued drinking for awhile until I decided to head home and they decided to move on to another watering hole. All in all a good afternoon and evening with my son.
All the best,
Glenn B
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