Marty After Dark - Almost Live...From New York

Entries in Wandering (2)

Saturday

Sep172011

September 17, 2011

What a fucking week this has been. At least I didn’t have to stay as late as I thought I would, but it was just ten hours of pure stress. And it was that way pretty much all week. Crazy deadlines, crazy work, crazy peole, crazy glue...Crazy Eddie where are you? Yes, I’m losing it. So I thought tonight I’d just wander around and have a few drinks on the way home and take pictures. Ready? Set! Wander...

And off we go. It's getting chilly out here, time to get the jacket out of the closet.

I wonder if that pizza place sells beer. I've walked by it probably thousands of times and have never gone in. Let's go check it out.

Biff alert! They have Miller Lite in here, let's go get the first beer of the evening.

Here's the pizza, now where's the beer?

Here we go, they've got a nice selection of bottled beers here.

I chose a bottle of Peroni and this friendly fellow not only sold it to me, but posed for a picture. Cheers!

I'm sitting at a table and relaxing while watching people buy pizza slices.

Okay, the Peroni is drained and we're back out on the road again.

Hey here's the Green Tomato, one of my less frequented Fortress of Solitude stops.

Tonight they're speaking my language, let's go on in.

And here we are at my usual streetside table. Gumby's hiding as he's still a little paranoid after that "prank" he pulled.

It's really nice sitting here, drinking beer and watching the world go by. A great people watching spot for sure.

Obligatory window reflection shot!

Here's a guy practicing his ATM moves.

And yet another getting cash for ATM. Are these people porn stars or what?

Okay, I"m really tired, time to get one for the road here.

And here it is, bagged and strawed and ready to go.

Ha, I like this graffiti on the phone booth of a stickman flipping the bird.

And check out the Snapple bottle, that doesn't look like Kiwi Strawberry to me!

And I've got a feeling this isn't lemonade in the Subway cup. Yeeesh!

And here we are, the last stop of the evening, my corner deli, The Blue Valley.

Sip Ahoy! ("Sip Ahoy is a patented Uncle Waltie catch phrase, please get permission before you use it.) Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.

Further reading: Psychology Today, Pub Med, Walking and Drinking Beer and If I Had A Child, This Would Be Him.

You Might Also Like: Lois Lane, Penny Lane and Denny Laine.

I’m on the road again,
Just as sure as you’re born.

(Surprise link...click on it...I dare you!)

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Bonus Link: St. Mark’s Buy A Book Weekend!

Jeremiah Moss put up a great post and challenge over at his blog, Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York. I’ve written about St. Mark’s Bookshop a few times here on this blog and have encouraged people to buy a book there and help keep this East Village independent landmark bookshop in business. All the information is over at Jeremiah’s blog, just click here: Buy A Book Weekend! And then go buy a book, as Jeremiah notes, you can buy one online, so even if you don’t live in New York, you can help out and get a great book by doing so. There’s no downside, so do it now!

20 Comments | | tagged

Chelsea,

Fortress of Solitude,

Wandering,

beer

Saturday

Jul022011

July 2, 2011

I was going to meet MAD commenter Jason Hwang tonight, but he bailed on me at the last minute because he’s super busy this weekend. The reason he’s so frantic is that he’s moving to France this Sunday to be with his wife, the infamous, Zioum Zioum. I know how it goes to uproot yourself and how at the last minute there’s a billion things to do. It was that way when I moved here and I can’t imagine what it’s like getting ready to move to a new country. Anyway, I just want to take a second and wish them both the best of luck and please keep in touch!

Alright, since I have no plans and it’s the start of a holiday weekend, I thought I’d just shoot some pictures on my way home and maybe stop and have a drink somewhere. No plans, just my camera, my feets and a somewhat powerful thirst! Let's go wandering.

And we're off, we'll travel down 7th Avenue in search of something to do and more importantly, something to drink.

Look at this, a few blocks into the journey and I've stumbled upon a brand new deli on the block called the Green Tomato. Let's check it out.

It's nice and streamlined in here and I can guarantee you there's beer in those coolers.

There's lots of wooden tables in here and the gentlemen behind the counter told me it's open 24 hours. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Fortress of Solitude number three! I think I'll sit at the table up front with a nice view out the door of the people on parade at the sidewalk.

Gumby's all settled in...

And I've got a giganzo 24 ounce can of Budweiser, so all is well in my world.

It's relaxing in here just drinking beer and watching the world go by outside on the sidewalk.

There goes a hipster couple...

There's a woman talking on a phone and gesturing wildly. At least 75 percent of the people walking by are talking on phones or doing the Zombie text walk. I always wonder what the fuck everybody's talking about.

Fuck, I didn't get a shot of this, but a one-armed man just walked by and made eye contact with me. Whenever I make eye contact with crippled or disfigured people I feel like I've been hexed. I hope I make it home now. One time I was in midtown about five years ago and at the corner of 55th and Broadway a nun in an electric wheelchair whizzed past me and not only made eye contact with me, she scowled at me. I was so freaked out, first of all you rarely see a nun in the oldtime penguin habit, but she was decked out in one from head to toe. And to make matters worse, you know who she looked like? Burt Young, the actor! It took me a couple minutes to figure it out after she had rolled past me, but then it hit me, she was a dead ringer for Burt Young. I remember leaning against a building with chills running down my spine and feeling like I had been hexed for life and I still wonder if I am. I mean, Burt Young as a crippled nun in an electric wheelchair? In midtown? Sheesh!

Okay, enough of creepy memories. The beer is empty and Gumby's getting antsy, so it's off we go.

Further on up the road we go.

This block is always lit up like it's Christmas time, it's a cheery little block in Chelsea.

And smack dab in the middle of the block is Salsa y Salsa. I came here on the bar crawl last year. And now I'm craving a Michelada. Let's go inside.

It's crowded inside, but the bar is wide open, let's go snag a seat.

Hey, there's a familiar face behind the bar...

It's Rubens the bartender who was on duty last year when I was there. He remembered me and after a brief reunion, he set to work making me a Michelada beer cocktail.