For me, the 4th of July used to mean a BBQ followed by lighting up fireworks bought from some shady part of Chinatown, followed by a meat hangover the next day. Oh, how times have changed!
This year, we decided to have a low-key, upstate trip to Kingston, NY. Our main motive was to go to a “Twin-Peaksy” type place with plenty of nature, (hopefully) vegan yumminess and hiking. I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed my trip!
For transportation from NYC, we had two options: Amtrak ($41 round trip economy) or Trailways Bus Line ($52.50). However, being that I booked on a Monday leaving on Saturday, there were no cheap Amtrak tickets left, so we went with the Trailways Bus option. BIG mistake.
First of all, I neglected my investigative consumer instinct on reading the yelp reviews for Trailways. If you click through, you can see all the jilted customers they’ve left in their trailway (sorry couldn’t help myself). I took a look at yelp during the long 40 minute wait on line at the Trailway Penn Station gate, which BY THE WAY I ran through the station to “catch” since I thought we would miss the bus. Should’ve taken my sweet time to enjoy a vegan Auntie Anne’s pretzel instead 😒
In order to really enjoy our getaway, renting a car was essential. Since the stupid Trailways bus made us miss our Enterprise appointment (they close doors at 1:00 PM up there, nice, huh?), I quickly used the wonder of the internet to find a rental car business that would be open by the time we arrived on Trailways time. Ron at Sensible Car Rental, thanks for saving our behinds!
Also, we were super lucky that Uber just started operating the same week of our trip, or else it would’ve been a 40 min trek to the rental car joint.
We stayed at a cozy Airbnb that had a horse stable right next to it and the sounds of the forest waking us up each morning. As much as I love nature, I didn’t enjoy being woken up by chickadees mating. SHUT UP YA BIG FAT FEATHERED BLOBS! #newyorker
Vegans in the UK are pretty much like the ones in Brooklyn: hipster, punk-ish and fond of fair-trade anything. The only real difference is that they have an English accent (which really makes all the difference). As I strolled about the trendy Carnaby Street ‘hood (also known as SoHo in the UK), I was struck […]
Ahh, caramels: that little pleasure in life that is just indulgent enough to not make you feel fat if you eat one, but what about six? Six is the notated serving size on the packaging of Cocomels, a delightful, chewy vegan version of Werther’s that I chanced upon at my local CVS. The impish makers […]
2016 has been quite the year for me. I moved out of my house, I lost my dog and, most importantly, I was able to reflect on the important things in life: like not taking our president-elect seriously. It’s only apropos that I ended the year in one of my favorite countries: Spain, far far away […]
Normally I don’t frequent restaurants-attached-to-hotels, but this one caught me unawares. It didn’t really look like a hotel-restaurant with its design, outdoor seating and no indication in its name (usually these type of restaurants would say “Hard Rock @ The Four Seasons) or something. Ambiance: Urban Meadows looked like your run-of-the-mill modern-chic Anthropologie-esque sustainably sourced […]