I heart Hoboken!

Friday night, we ventured across the Hudson to Hoboken, NJ. We had not been to Hoboken yet but had heard a lot about it from other New Yorkers - mostly slagging it off. However, when we got to Hoboken, I was pleasantly surprised at how vibrant and cute the city was. Of course, the city that is home to Carlo's Bakery (aka The Cake Boss) can't be bad, and it wasn't. I think most New Yorkers slag it off just because it is in Jersey. I liked Hoboken so much that I think Matt was afraid I wanted us to move there ;) But, seriously... it was a very cute, inviting kind of place, and I really liked it. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to stop by Carlo's Bakery, but I will definitely go back as I LOVE The Cake Boss and Hoboken! :)

Anyways... why were we in Hoboken? One of Matt's favorite singer/song writers, James McMurtry, was playing at Maxwell's, a restaurant/bar/concert venue. We got there in time to have dinner before the show, which was really good. I had spicy tilapia, sweet potato fries and sauteed green beans.- all yummy :) And, one of the great things about small venues - James McMurtry was sitting only a few tables away also enjoying dinner. The concert venue part of Maxwell's was cozy, intimate and a great place to watch a low-key performer like James McMurtry. We will be keeping our eye on Maxwell's upcoming show list to see if there are any other interesting acts we can catch in Hoboken ;)

The Rest of the Weekend...

This past weekend actually had great weather, and we made sure to take advantage of it! On Saturday, we visited the new section of The Highline, New York City's architectural park above the city on the lower West Side of Manhattan.

Then, we wandered into the West Village to find a 'British row' that we had read about in one of the daily papers. We had afternoon tea and scones at Tea & Sympathy, and then went to the British grocery store next door where we bought some chocolate digestives (a very yummy British biscuit - aka cookie - that we used to eat all the time in London). The afternoon tea was very British, with flowery tea pots, cups and saucers, real scones with clotted cream and jam, British flags and paraphernalia crammed into every nook and cranny of the restaurant. Plus, the owners and many of the other patrons were British, which means it must be an authentic British tea experience, right? ;)

Then we decided to continue our British theme, and walked a few blocks to a bar called Windsor. This bar was airy, open and a great place to hang out for a beer or two on a sunny afternoon. This bar passed our 'good bar test' as we went in thinking we we would have one but stayed for three ;)

Sunday, we picked up a picnic lunch at a local restaurant and took it to Central Park for a lovely, lazy afternoon. We enjoyed apples, caesar salad, pita/hummus, bbq chicken sandwiches and cookies. It was a wonderful afternoon :)