Pretzel, please!

My brother visited the city recently, and we had an absolute blast! As we often do, we crammed as many great things into his trip to NYC as possible. In between all of the fun we were having, we ate quite a few delicious meals. One of my favorite was at the Sigmund Pretzelshop.

Located in the East Village (on Avenue B), this humble shop bakes some of the tastiest pretzels I've ever tried... and I consider myself somewhat of a pretzel connoisseur! 

Sigmunds offers a number of different flavored pretzels and complimentary dipping sauces, in addition to a sandwich and hot dog menu. Since we where there for a meal, and not just a snack, we placed our order and waited for it to arrive. While waited, I enjoyed checking out all the details in the shop (like the pretzel-fly-distractors)...

While I sipped a Cranberry Iced tea, which was full of real cranberries and slices of lemon...

And my brother enjoyed his first Hell or High Watermelon Beer. (If you ever see this seasonal brew somewhere, you should buy it- it's so refreshing!)

After we had enjoyed our drinks for a few minutes, our meals arrived: sandwiches on fresh Sigmund pretzels!

I ordered the BLT...

And my brother had the turkey, apple, brie and mustard.

All I can say is: these sandwiches were amazing! (And my mouth is watering as I look at these pictures- how about you?)

So if you like pretzels, either for dinner or a treat, you should definitely stop by this great place...

You won't regret it!

Thank you for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Trains, trains, and... TRAINS!

Yesterday I showed you the first floor of the NY Transit Museum.

(Which, you may remember, is located in an old Subway station in Brooklyn.)

And while the first level of the museum is pretty amazing, the second level blew my mind.

You see, the second level is a subway platform full of antique and vintage subway cars.

It's incredible!

The subway cars are lined up, end-to-end, and museum guests can walk through each car...

Guests can try the seats and grab the hanger-straps...

Or check out the vintage (and "period" to each car) advertisements.

In addition to looking cool, some of the cars were pretty noteworthy. This one, for example, was the first subway in NYC to receive air conditioning... and it broke 2 weeks into service!

So interesting, right?

From beautiful, antique cars with a warm glow of light...

To blue, more industrial designs...

There were so many awesome cars to explore!

In case you haven't guessed yet, the moral of this story is: visit the NY Transit Museum the next time you're in town... you won't regret it!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

This makes me appreciate "takin' the train"

Remember those photos I teased you with last week? Well, let me show you where I took them...

That's right, I took them on the subway.

But not just any subway- rather, the Transit Museum!

Located in Brooklyn, the museum chronicles the histories of the various methods of transit in NYC.

Upon entry into the museum (which is actually a converted subway station itself), are artifacts and informational tidbits about the digging of the subway tunnels.

There were so many interesting factoids, including this sign of rate comparisons for the folks who worked in the tunnels.

A little later on in the museum...

There were displays about the various bridges throughout the city.

From my neighbor, the Queensboro Bridge...

(FYI: There are mini displays placed child-eye-level explaining the same information that's in the 'adult' display, which I think is a great way to incorporate kids.)

To the newly names Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (a.k.a. the Tri-Borough Bridge)...

There were lots of cool things to look at (like this 1936 Harlem Lift Bridge control panel).

One of the other things that I really enjoyed in the museum were the various turnstile/entrance displays.

From the current system of MetroCards...

To token machines...

And turnstiles...

Both recent versions...

And whole time-line of historical models.

A little ways further into the museum, there were even more cool things to see!

From buses...

To model trains and trolleys...

To an educational area (for class field trips)...

There was a whole lot to explore! There was even a bus that kids (and maybe a few grown-ups) could pretend to drive!

As you can tell, this museum is absolutely incredible... and I learned so much while I was there. But believe it or not, all of these photos only showed what was on the first level! So please feel free to visit tomorrow, as I'll have even more cool photos to share from the Transit Museum.

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

A step back in time

The other day I visited a pretty cool place in NYC, and I felt like I had gone back in time!

I'll have lots more photos to show next week, but here are a couple to enjoy until Monday.

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great weekend!