the grand adventure: day four

well, yesterday was the last day of our adventure. luckily the weather was perfect, maybe even a little too perfect. we dressed for the cold and ended up lugging around extra clothes all day. i decided on wearing my boots instead of sandals. about thirty minutes in i was regretting that decision. socks and boots are not fun in the heat. 

our day started off at doughnut plant where we met up with my adorable friend molly. it was quite an experience. the line to get in was filling the entire store so we had to stand outside for about 20 minutes before we could even get into the store. it was totally worth it though. molly and mackenzie got coconut cream filled doughnuts and i got a creme brulee doughnut. mine was significantly smaller (as you can see) but still very tasty. 

after parting ways with molly, we made our way across the williamsburg bridge. it always amazes me how far inland the bridges start. after about 20 minutes of walking, mackenzie looked over the side of the bridge and said, "isn't this supposed to take us over water?" 

when we got off the bridge in brooklyn and found ourselves in the middle of an entirely hasidic jewish community. we got quite a few stares. i blame mackenzie's red lipstick, although, it could have been the fact that we  we singing for half the time . i'm really interested to see the documentary a life apart now, as it documents the history and life of hasidic jews who live in brooklyn.

   

it wasn't too long until we entered a very industrial area. we probably saw a total of three people walking. coming from manhattan, it doesn't take long to feel uneasy when you are suddenly walking on the streets alone. finally, we come across a wonderful vintage warehouse called repop. they had lots of great stuff and it was all decently priced. unfortunately, my room is the size of a shoebox and i couldn't fit anything else in there if i tried. 

we were getting hungry by the time we got to clinton hill so we stopped at spot five. they had the best chicken fingers i have ever had. ever. and the mac and cheese was wonderful as well. we were the only ones eating there so we ended up staying for a while and watching 'i [almost] got away with it' on the television above the bar. (note: we looked up spot five on yelp later that day and found terrible reviews. we had a wonderful experience but it seems that they might be inconsistent with their service and food quality.) after leaving spot five mackenzie and i were approached by two random guys. one said, "i want to spend the end of the world wit you, baby." quite the pick up line.

while we were in downtown brooklyn, we came across some public art. the photos above are of birch tide by sam moyer. she covered the trunks of over 50 trees with images of the north sea that resemble the bark of birch trees from a distance. in doing this, she "transplants nature from sea to land, layering species over species and allowing numerous realities to co-exist harmoniously."

cobble hill was our favorite neighborhood that we visited out of all four days. it was so quiet. there were tons of little families walking around. the townhouse were beautiful. we even saw an old church and an old school house that had both been converted into apartments. so cool! if i could, i would totally move there. it was hard to believe that we were still so close to manhattan. there were also lots of cute restaurants and small parks. i will definitely be coming back here to do some more exploring.

after cobble hill, we were back to being surrounded by highways and warehouses. the picture above is one of the many sketchy walkways we had to use to get across the highways. 

we finally got to ikea around six o'clock. quite relieved that the world didn't end, we took a break to window shop and watch the rain outside. 

we got to watch the storm as it passed over the water. i love how you can see it moving east in this picture as the sun creeps in.

the ferry ride back was delightful, and quite windy. i always enjoy the ride from red hook to south street seaport. 

we ended the day with a well deserved meal at plump dumpling. what an adventure the past four days have been. i'm really glad we went out of our comfort zones and explored some new places!