Duck and Crabs...

One of our complaints recently has been that we really haven't seen as much of America as we wanted to. That was the point of being here, exploring all those places that you wouldn't ever go to if we lived in London. So a wedding in North Carolina provided the perfect opportunity to visit somewhere small and off the beaten track called Duck. It had all the traits of a seaside town, sun, beach, wooden houses and an abundance of seafood. Activities included traditional good clean family fun including mini golf and go carting. I have to say that this is not somewhere I would have chosen to go to but I fully enjoyed my experience there.

Now let's talk about the people of Duck, I couldn't get enough of their sense of humor. As we approached the town we had to do our best to ignore the names of the food establishments that included  signs saying "we've got nice legs" for crabs, "try my nuts" which is the actual name of the nut company. The amazing sign declaring "I got my crabs from Dirty Dick's Crab House" and where we ended up "I got your crabs". Hipster Dufus was obsessed with fresh seafood and insisted on getting a bucket of boiled seafood. Nothing else would do except maybe the delicious Duck Doughnuts, I had a beignet style powdered sugar and of course rufus went for the calorific maple and bacon (which had real bits of chopped and fried bacon sprinkled on top, check out the photo below).

I also played my first ever game of mini golf and came away with an impressive two holes in one and yes that is a photo of my first hole in one below. Hello! I am a geek! Finally I wouldn't be a super geek if I din't manage to find a museum or two to visit…. I am a little embarrassed, actually I'm NOT. I love it, I even started the hashtag #museumoffthebeatentrack so that I could track my adventures. Don't hate me.

Vacationing Upstate

While I sit here and wait for the apartment to get fixed, the lack of my usual attractions has made me revisit old favorites. Mainly letting my friends and family know what we're up to and really because it gives me an excuse to take photos. I REALLY MISS IT! I've been so useless recently with picking up a camera but will definitely make more of an effort. I usually rely on my poor iPhone, which is where these photos came from. 

So we recently tried to get away from the city (before all the drama) and I have to admit stupidly thought the weather would be warmer. Yeah it's called upstate for a reason and we went to the bloody mountains. While we freezed our butts off we discovered a new favorite place to escape the city. Phoenicia was beautiful and picturesque. We went hiking and Paco obviously loved it the most. The town was teeny but what was there was perfectly formed and of phenomenal quality. Including wood oven pizza, the most incredible fudge that I had far too much of and the Phoenicia Diner was absolute yum. There are also options for sporty activities, which we kept away from as we went to relax. The rest of our time was taken up with making fires to try to stay warm. 

Riding High

So last week Tuesday, as you well know, it was my birthday. On the Tuesday I spent the day exploring the city filling the space between the mooching/shopping with eating. I started my morning in the Flatiron District with a gorgeous brunch at Nomad. Followed by afternoon tea at the new Laduree Teahouse in Soho, ending with dinner at Tertulia in the West Village. It was a fantastic day.

The Saturday before Hipster Dufus' friend very generously offered to take us on a plane ride to celebrate my old age. However it turned out to be somewhat of a disaster. While I'm starting to settle in very well, every so often the city throws me a curveball and reminds me that I still have a long way to go. So what happened? Well I allowed myself to think that I could invite enough people to my house for drinks. This gathering was supposed to follow a quick whiz in the plane, making for quite an epic day. The morning of, it decides to snow. So the plane was out. And during the day the inevitable cancellations started pouring in. Feeling like a Susie-no-mates and NOT dealing with the whole "it's my birthday" thing very well, I decided to do everyone a favor and cancel. By this point I was waiting on 3 people...

However this weekend Hipster Dufus' friend followed through on his offer and off we went. This time the route would take us all around New York. Starting in Coney Island, circling the Statue of Liberty ending up in a full on approach towards Manhattan. I think the photos really speak for themselves, there 's no better way to see the city. The view from up above is breathtaking. It's like seeing your very own opening credits to a film set in New York except this time, after two hours the screen doesn't fade to black.

An ode to Nina

Birds flying high, you know how I feel, this is the opening line of Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good', and perfectly summed up my feeling today. Hipster Dufus has a friend/colleague who is a trained pilot and offered to take us to the beautiful Block Island which is part of the U.S state of Rhode Island. This obviously fitting in with Hipster Dufus's need to always get out of the city meant that we jumped at the opportunity. The island itself was your typical quaint, gorgeous, seaside town. Ice cream shops, fudge shops and lots's of nautical related souvenir stores. Nothing particularly new but a perfect escape from the intensity of the city.

The real experience was the flight. I've never been in a little plane and was really scared. But the journey was smooth and Hipster Dufus' friend was an excellent, reassuring pilot. In a little plane the sensation of flying is heightened, if only because you can look out of a window on both sides. On the way back I got to fly in the front! THAT WAS AMAZING. I got to control the plane a little, moving left and right, and trying to maintain the plane level (there were obviously two steering sticks and he was always ready to steer the plane in the right direction). The best part was the view upfront, being able to look directly ahead really felt like you were flying. At one point we punched through some clouds with clear views on the other side. It was incredible. It literally felt like you were flying.

This is the best part of being here, it's the opportunity to have all of these different experiences, exploring new places as well as the people that you meet. As we pulled back into New York greeted with the view of the skyline it really hit us all. This city is amazing, I just feel so blessed to be here. And yeah, I'm feeling really good.