http://www.sitebits.com/usa/ USA en Copyright &copy; 1999-2008 Gromco, Inc. Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:18:22 EDT Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:00:00 EDT info@sitebits.com info@sitebits.com This past weekend, we're wandering around Dumbo — that neighborhood that takes place between and beneath the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and seems comprised almost entirely of organic food marts and upscale designer baby clothes boutiques. <br/><br/> I was in the mood for a hot dog and beer, which is only a healthy meal when compared to my previous idea of a meal of ultra-rich chocolate. But there were surprisingly few hot dog vendors about the place, and in stark contrast to my own neighborhood, no guys wandering around offering to sell you a Corona for a buck fifty. However, while walking up <b>Jay Street</b>, I suddenly caught a whiff of…is that…is that taco? Yes it is. And suddenly all I wanted was tacos and beer. Luckily, <b>Pedro's Spanish American Restaurant and Bar</b> was waiting on the corner of Jay and Front Street (73 Jay St., between Front and Water) to give me exactly what I wanted. Keith http://www.sitebits.com/2008/pedros-spanish-american-restaurant.html Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:00:00 EDT <img ALT="Strand" class="fullill" src="http://www.sitebits.com/images/2008/strand-inside-1.jpg"> <div class="attribution">photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/newyork808/">newyork8080</a></div> <br> I have a love and hate relationship with Strand. The "hate" part, for those interested, will be explained at the end of this posting, but let me start with the "love" one. For a hardcover-loving bibliophile rat I am, Strand is simply a great place - one of the best in the world. It's big, cavernous (they claim to offer "18 miles of books") and full of surprises... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/stranded-on-broadway.html Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:00:00 EST Somehow, I ended up celebrating the first half of St. Patty's sitting in tapas bar Las Ramblas. Nothing says Ireland quite like tapas and white berry pomegranate sangria! Keith http://www.sitebits.com/2007/st_patty_las_ramblas_tapas.html Mon, 30 Apr 2007 15:15:00 EDT The Mutter Museum, nestled inside a perfectly noble looking old academic building, is a gloriously jumbled collection of medical specimens exhibiting the dizzying number of horrible things that can go wrong with the human body... Keith http://www.sitebits.com/2007/mutter_museum_philadelphia.html Fri, 13 Apr 2007 02:30:00 EDT Being in the art field, I wouldn't normally think of Denver as a leading art center. But thanks to their new museum, they've secured themselves on the art world map... Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2007/denver_museum_of_art_2007.html Sat, 31 Mar 2007 00:55:00 EDT Last month, I got to check off one of the seemingly silly items on the list of things to do: going to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Maria http://www.sitebits.com/2007/131_westminster_kennel_club_dog_show.html Thu, 22 Mar 2007 22:30:00 EDT American Dime Museum is an example of and homage to the old dime museums and sideshow displays that were a staple of traveling carnivals and circuses during the late 19th and early 20th century. Keith http://www.sitebits.com/2007/american_dime_museum.html Sat, 17 Mar 2007 00:05:00 EDT About 32 miles from Denver sits a tiny hippy oasis called Indian Springs Resort. Mud baths! Mineral Springs! "Private jacuzzis with beautiful mountain view!" This sounded like the makings of a relaxing vacation! <br><br> When we arrived at Indian Springs, my first impression was "this is it?"... Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2007/indian_spings_resort.html Wed, 14 Mar 2007 02:50:00 EDT The museum experience in New York is often overshadowed by the hard-hitters: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenheim, The Museum of Modern Art and the Natural History Museum. A step below these museums are many other worthwhile institutions, although not as "famous." The Museum of Art and Design, across from MoMA on 53rd Street has an incredible collection of contemporary objects, innovative furniture, package design, ceramics and other design elements... Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2007/museum_art_design_2007.html Sat, 10 Mar 2007 12:35:00 EST In a brutal dance of acrobatics and fierce headlocks, the wrestlers tumbled and flipped each other across the ring, stopping now and then to turn to the cheering audience and flex their muscles. They ranged in age and size from youthful bodybuilders to small but quick, middle-aged firecrackers, and all wore shiny face masks and colorful spandex pants that sparkled under the outdoor lights. The commentator kept up with all the action, dramatically rattling off the moves in Spanish over blaring loudspeakers. The referee bounced around the men in the ring, fielding insults from hecklers in the audience... <br><br> This is Lucha Libre, or Mexican wrestling – a mixture of sport, drama, comedy and sheer showmanship... Noelia http://www.sitebits.com/2007/viva_lucha_libre.html Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:00:00 EST I've always loved the Museum of Modern Art. Even during its brief hiatus in [<a href="http://www.nybits.com/queens/" target="_new">Queens</a>] (which is now PS 1 Contemporary Art Center). The powers that be behind MoMA have a way of presenting work in an exciting and original manner, and I mean, how many ways can you really present art in a museum context? And of course, I'm impressed again with MoMA's latest project by <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/people/doug_aitken.html">Doug Aitken</a> Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2007/doug_aitken_moma.html Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:20:00 EST I'm a typical New Yorker. Art lover. Cultural fanatic. Subway enthusiast. Chain restaurant hater. Drag queen lover. When I visit other cities, I'm always afraid of what boring restaurants I'll have to dine in. On a recent trip to <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/usa/tx/">Texas</a>, I realized how absolutely spoiled with culinary delights my life has been in <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/usa/new-york/">New York</a>. I was also crippled being a vegetarian...let's just say I ate a lot of baked potatoes at Texas BBQ joints. <br><br> So I went to <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/usa/denver/">Denver</a>. Bars are plentiful, as well as bar food. Which is fine, but not exciting. Then I was taken to brunch at the Bump and Grind. A rainbowed interior filled with pop art and collectibles greeted me. How cute! - I thought... Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2007/bump_and_grind_cafe_co.html Thu, 01 Feb 2007 23:30:00 EST If you've read the New York Times recently, you can't help but notice the craziness going on at the auction houses in New York. Paintings are selling for all time highs- I'm talking hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars. Meaning, the richest jerks get to enjoy the world's finest art- all to themselves. Imagine a Picasso or a Cezanne hanging in your living room?! Unreal. Unfair! <br><br> Well, thanks to a trip to Sotheby's with my grad school class, this outsider art lover found out something I'd wish I'd known years ago... Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2007/secret_museums.html Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:55:00 EST The Lower East Side is a great area to spend an evening, peppered with divey bars, music venues, boutiques and cafes. The West Village is home to more French Cafes, but The Pink Pony on the East side is one not to be missed... Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2006/pink-pony-2006.html Thu, 23 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST Window dressing seems to be an art form that is taken very seriously only in New York. Bergdorf Goodman's window design department not only occupies an entire floor of their 57th Street store, but also inhabits a large warehouse across the river in Queens. <br><br> Each season, Director David Hoey's elaborate visions enliven the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street- adjacent to Central Park and the Plaza hotel. The windows have become more than just a place for showing off the wares for sale at Bergdorf's, but a venue for exquisite installation narrative art. Using designer clothing, antiques, original art works and other borrowed props (this Halloween features a skeleton horse!), the windows are somewhat of an art gallery on their own. I am a big supporter of art for art's sake, which seems to be less common in the United States as opposed to Europe... Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2006/nyc_windows.html Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:30:00 EST The title makes it sound as though you are about to view some B-movie about a perverted Dr. Frankenstein who gives life to zombies on other planets, but in actuality it was named by a German scientist who pioneered the process of plastination, which essentially means turning corpses and body parts into something more permanent. So basically, not too far off from my initial impression. <br><br> This exhibition at the museum of science in <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/usa/boston/">Boston</a> is not something i would have gone to a few years ago. I've never had a strong stomach and I am a sympathetic barfer. I even threw up at the alter during my own wedding! In recent years I've toughened up, to the point where I can clean up after the dog, bandage a wound, and scare away wild animals (well, at least the odd moth or two). And so I thought I was ready for Body Worlds... Ree http://www.sitebits.com/2006/boston_body_worlds_2.html Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:55:00 EST When you look at a list of the world's top paddling spots, it's unlikely that you'll find Brooklyn, New York. And it's even less likely that you'll find the Gowanus Canal, a narrow sliver of water that cuts its way from Gowanus Bay through the industrial zones of Red Hook, South Brooklyn, and Park Slope. It's not exactly what you might call scenic, at least not in the traditional sense of the word. It's lined by crumbling warehouses, generating plants, shadowy factories, Coast Guard fuel depots, and even a Home Depot. It meanders beneath the Gowanus Expressway, one of the busiest highways in New York City, and has been referred to as the most polluted waterway in America. A slick, rainbow film of oil and other chemicals gives the water in the canal a colorful, shimmering candy coating that would be beautiful at sunset if it didn't smell like cold metal and gunpowder and leave a disturbing acrid taste in the air. Visibility in the water is almost zero, and any trip across it is highlighted by an overpowering fear that you might get some on you. And yet still, people put paddle to battery-scented water and get both a unique view of New York and a first-hand understanding of how a neighborhood and an ecosystem can flourish, die, and then struggle to be reborn... Keith http://www.sitebits.com/2006/drifting_through_brooklyn.html Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:30:00 EST Thanks to Sex in the City, Magnolia Bakery in the West Village has a permanent line around the block. I'm not joking. The first time I attempted to go there, I assumed because of the line they had table service. Nope. Just a line to get cupcakes! $3.50 cupcakes. Beautiful, big, amazing cupcakes! <br/><br/> But seriously, what local would wait in an hour line for a sugar fix? OK, probably me, until I decided to seek out other sources to satisfy my sweet tooth in this town.... Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2006/cupcake_quest.html Sat, 18 Nov 2006 11:00:00 EST Forget the Alamo. <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/usa/san-antonio/">San Antonio</a> is about Mexican food. Specifically: Tex-Mex. More specifically: the indulgent bliss of the #3 lunch plate special for $4.99 – two cheese enchiladas, one beef taco, refried beans, rice, two flour tortillas and iced tea. Chips and salsa come free. <br><br> When friends come to visit <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/usa/san-antonio/">San Antonio</a>, the proud epicenter of Tex-Mex food, it is usually their wish and certainly my duty to introduce them to the local flavors. I promptly direct them away from the River Walk and into one of the older neighborhoods of San Antonio, where the best restaurants are – the ones that serve handmade tortillas with that perfect fluffiness-dusted-with-flour texture. Noelia http://www.sitebits.com/2006/tex_mex_food_of_the_manteca_gods.html Thu, 16 Nov 2006 08:25:00 EST Probably one of the most famous bridges in the world, The Brooklyn Bridge totally lives up to its reputation. Many of my friends who have lived in New York for years have never journeyed over it. Tourists from around the world come and walk it, why don't we? So I decided it was my time to do the deed. I took the E to the first stop in Brooklyn, High Street, which is literally next to the entrance to the bridge. In no time, I was approaching the famous lines of cables that support the suspension. Unlike other <a href="http://www.nybits.com/manhattan/">Manhattan</a> bridges, the pedestrian walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge is in the center, rather than on the sides, providing an expansive view of the city in front of you... Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2006/walking_over_the_brooklyn_bridge.html Tue, 14 Nov 2006 08:25:00 EST One of the most beautiful drives in all of the Americas: the Blue Ridge Parkway in autumn... Keith http://www.sitebits.com/2006/mount_mitchell_and_the_blue_ridge_parkway.html Sat, 11 Nov 2006 07:40:00 EST The Conservatory Garden is a great place to go with a book on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Philip http://www.sitebits.com/2006/conservatory_garden_nyc.html Fri, 10 Nov 2006 07:10:00 EST Anish Kapoor's mirror installation in Rockefeller Center. Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2006/sky_mirror_rockefeller_center.html Tue, 07 Nov 2006 14:30:00 EST Union Square Farmer's Market is a place to shop for those who hate grocery shopping. Lori http://www.sitebits.com/2006/2006_union_square_market.html Mon, 30 Oct 2006 02:30:00 EST North Carolina's coast in October offers more than just a change of scenery for tired New Yorkers. Keith http://www.sitebits.com/2006/nc_outer_banks_in_autumn.html Tue, 24 Oct 2006 00:30:00 EDT