Summer Weekend in the City

Bobo Terrace

Friday night a girl friend of mine took me to Bobo in the West Village. One of those hip restaurants that was once an apartment and has the quirkiness of your typical Village haunt. I was early and sat at the bar in the basement chatting with the bartender about different Rye's -- although not the drinker I once was,  not even close, I can still talk for hours about my favorite whiskeys . Then for dinner we were seated up on the terrace outside. A great location and the service was terrific. From their list of vegetable appetizers (all quite small) I had them make a vegetable entree for me. It was good and interesting, but my friend's scallops looked much better! My one form of decadence was the ordering of the fried pickles with crab dip - we were told it was a crowd favorite, and although not tops on a nutrient dense scale, they were pretty incredible.

It was a tourist-busy Friday night down in the Village and I got rather annoyed with more than a few people - sadly, not all of my impatience slipped away with my excess weight over the last half year. My friend then took us to a cabaret show that, oddly, featured no singing. It was just actors doing a modern, edgy, comical interpretation of classic fairy tales. Now, one would think with the abundance of creative people in NYC this would be hilarious, but it was so average that it could have been staged by a part-time theatre group in Kansas City. OK, apologies to all my friends in KC.

Saturday morning I took a bike ride in Central Park - part of it with my friend the nurse (who asked me for advice on dealing with unruly patients--yes, a salesman giving advice to a nurse on dealing with angry people in an over-crowded emergency room).  But mostly, it was just me solo cruising around the outer-loop of the park (which is just over 6 miles).  Now, there is the 97th Street Traverse which cuts across the park so you can eliminate the Harlem section - thus the incredibly steep hills - and that is what many of the faint of heart do.  My first visit to the hills of Harlem in Central Park was when I first got roller blades about 16 years ago. I had no idea of the landscape past the 97th Street Traverse and I was soon zipping down a hill which starts at around 100th Street and ends at 110th. So basically a half a mile down a hill that if covered in snow would be categorized as a Black Diamond ski slope! And what goes down must come up, so once you cruise over to the West Side of the park, it is a steep climb back up. More than a few people on bikes were walking them up the hills on the West Side - not I.

I went one and a half times around the park pedaling madly as if I was in the spin class and it was a rather decent, if not quick, work out. Then riding back to my apartment I cruised down the broad street of Park Avenue which was closed this Saturday to all but bike and pedestrian traffic. To ride down Billionaires row with a thousand others was pretty cool - although it felt like China sometimes.

It was lunch time so I parked my bike and sat at the sunny table on the sidewalk in front of the Pig 'n' Whistle. Since I have lived on this street for more than 11 years I know all the merchants and others who live and work on this tiny stretch of 3rd Avenue between 55th and 56th. The Uzbekistanian owner of the frame shop next door calls me "Senator" and is afraid I am getting "too skinny." Then the assistant super of my building walked by holding his arm - he pulled a muscle as we dragged my new TV up my four flights of stairs the other day. I felt really bad for the guy, but I did tip him quite handsomely for the gruelling climb up 67 steps with a 250 lb TV (it took 3 of us). I only bought my buddy a jar of beer for the same effort.

Soon the Irish manager, and the Polish waitress were outside chatting with me about my morning bike ride, and other gossip about 3rd Avenue. I then complained in mock-anger about the lack of healthy choices on the menu. Her logical response was quite sound, "Jaysus Terry, its an Irish pub!" But, still. So, I petition to have a healthy wrap made. And they were great...they did! In a whole wheat tortilla they threw in guacamole, avocado, mushrooms, broccoli, lettuce, onions and tomatoes. It was brilliant! However, my petition to have the wrap on the menu and named after me fell flat.