our anniversary weekend in nyc - part 2

we had such a great time celebrating our anniversary in nyc over the weekend.  it was an awesome trip.  (you can see part one of our trip here with pictures from our day spent in manhattan on friday.)

we stayed in the financial district on friday night (i'll share more about the hotel where we stayed soon).  it was cool and rainy when we woke up on saturday morning, but by the time we were done eating breakfast and checked out of the hotel, the skies cleared up and the sun came out.  the temperature warmed up quite a bit too.  it ended up being a really nice day.

we spent most of the day in brooklyn on saturday, strolling around and checking things off our brooklyn to-do list.  we absolutely love brooklyn, especially the williamsburg area.  it is so charming.  there is a pretty awesome bike scene in brooklyn too.  bike lanes and bikes everywhere you look.  totally our speed.  here's what we did on saturday . . .

^on saturday morning, we had breakfast at the pearl street diner.  it's an old-fashioned diner right in the middle of the financial district, and it was in walking distance to our hotel.^

^after breakfast, walked to the elevated acre park at 55 water street.  this little park is such a hidden gem right in the middle of the financial district.  even though it was overcast and cloudy, there were some amazing views of the east river, the brooklyn bridge, and brooklyn.^

^we strolled around the financial district, and then checked out of our hotel.  we left manhattan and jumped on the subway to head to brooklyn for the day.^

^when we got to brooklyn, we headed right to the fort greene location of the brooklyn flea.  we walked around looking at all sorts of interesting things at each vendor's stand.  there were so many unique treasures, we wanted to take everything home with us!  the whole atmosphere was great.  while we were there, we did buy two really awesome wood prints from sheepshead design.  we can't wait to hang them our house as a nice little reminder of our anniversary weekend in nyc.^

^there were a few food vendors at the brooklyn flea.  we weren't quite hungry enough for lunch, but we did have room for a cafe au lait doughnut from dough.  oh my goodness, that had to be the best doughnut i have ever had in my life!  it was huge and it was so unbelievably fluffy.  the coffee glaze with the pecans and crumble topping was so good!^

^we left the brooklyn flea in fort greene, hopped on the subway, and headed toward greenpoint to visit our friend brendon's bike shop.  it really is the coolest bike shop.  we needed new brake pads for our tandem bike, so we picked up a pair while we were there.^

^we walked down to williamburg to check out smorgasburg which is the brooklyn flea's food market.  what an awesome place!  there were a ton of food vendors set up right along the east river.  the nyc food scene is always great, but when you get a whole bunch of food vendors together in one place it is extra amazing.  it's hard to pick what to eat because everything looks and smells so wonderful.  we had mac and cheese with rosemary breadcrumbs from milk truck and a strawberry ginger popsicle from people's pops.  so good!^

^since we were in williamsburg, we walked down to the mast brothers chocolate factory.  the smell of chocolate hits you as soon as you walk through their front door.  it smells great in there.  there are so many different types of chocolate (and their chocolate wrappers are so colorful and pretty).  while we were in the store, one of the workers told us that they had just opened another store a few doors down specializing in chocolate beverages, and they were giving out free iced chocolate drinks to celebrate their opening day.  of course, we went to check it out.^

^we left brooklyn and came back to manhattan.  before heading home, we grabbed a pizza for dinner at john's pizzeria in midtown.  it's an iconic pizza place in nyc and i remember eating there when i was little with my parents after we saw the phantom of the opera for the first time, so it was nice to take ryan there too.^

love, laurie