I am sitting in the Stockinette Cafe, using their WiFi. I took all my telecom modems and cable boxes back to Comcast this morning after I watched the Tour de France. I had my last burrito (Tex Mex Fajita of course) at Bubby’s Burritos. I did my last load of laundry in the venerable Maytag Neptune in the basement. i went for drinks at Bar Majestic for the first time on a night when drinks were full price. I ate my last meal at Ox before my birthday. Ox is now closed so that’s a true last. I updated the last place online for the address change and made my first Amazon order for shipping to the new address. I made my last cup of tea using a pot to boil water on the stove so you can probably guess what the order from Amazon might be (electric teakettle). I threw out two mysterious frozen things from the freezer. That is not a last unless I start putting dates on things with a Sharpie. I am going to French class for the last time tonight. I have gathered up some basic clothing and cleaning items to be loaded into Mazzy Star come morning. I have put up “No parking” signs for the move. I have had what will probably be my last decaf iced latte at the Stockinette. I will have finished my last bottle of Bedell 2007 Cabernet Franc tonight. I will also need to pack up the rest of the wine tomorrow. it’s going with me in Mazzy Star. I am leaving Jersey City, something I would have never thought would have happened. But it’s making a lot of sense. I have a job interview next week I am excited about (part-time but immensely up my alley). I have Calle 13′s new one in the car CD player and XM at the ready. I guess it’s time to go.
Archive for July, 2009
Clo, the Modern, the Metropolitan and saying goodbye to NYC
July 6, 2009
The bar at Clobar
The Negress is in her cousin’s dining room after having found (and hopefully getting) a good apartment in a great building in North Bethesda. Before coming down here on Sunday, she headed out on a goodbye trip to some of her favorite places in New York. First stop was the Whitney Museum for Claes Oldenburg and Dan Graham. You can’t go to the Whitney without a pumpkin muffin and a omelet at Sarabeth‘s so that was required. Then it was a few blocks over to the Met on Fifth Avenue. Took a leisurely stroll through the Francis Bacon centenary exhibit, then headed over to an ’80s images show featuring some of my old faves like David Salle, Robert Longo and early video of Eric Bogosian. Finished up with the Model as Muse fashion exhibit, which was like a nice dessert after it all.
My MOMA membership is inexplicably paid up through through next May, but I wasn’t in the mood. However, the bar at The Modern is always convivial and it’s right next door. So I stopped in for a couple of glasses of Momo Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and a decaf latte. The server recommended a book (Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer) and only charged me for one of the wines. Only in New York.
Before heading to my evening French tutorial, I stopped in at the Time Warner center to visit Clo, a wine bar with a serious gimmick. All the available wines (and one or two that aren’t available any longer) are projected on the bar, which has a motion-sensitive screen you activate by moving your hands and fingers. I had a Malbec and a Rhone and could easily have spent more but wisely stopped. Once you find your wine, the bar babes take your credit card and give you a swipe card with the bar logo. You stick this card in the wall in the bank where your wine is located, and take the glass they’ve given you and it gets filled for you. One of a kind experience but human bartenders can often be more generous methinks.
I also took one of my favorite bike rides along the waterfront in Liberty State Park in Jersey City. I stopped for a few pictures to remember the place. When the breeze blows off the Hudson and everyone is out flying kites, fishing or hanging out, it’s lovely.
Well, goodbye to this and hello North Bethesda. Wine tonight at Chef Geoff’s in downtown DC with an old friend.
New Jersey's view of the ass end of Liberty
