nyc, day two (june 19, 2012), pt. 2

[Maddison Square Park, Union Square Park, West Village, Chelsea Market, High Line]

After the Financial District, we headed back towards the subway to our trusty 23rd Street station. Only this time we headed east instead of west and found ourselves at Maddison Square Park. If there was one thing that I had picked up from my abundance of blog reading, it was that we had to try Shake Shack. And let me tell you: it was 150% worth the approx. half hour line. Both Bailey and I agreed that it was one of the best burgers we had ever had (and not just 'best fast food burger'. best burger.) We each got a Shack Stack, split some fries, and split an Arnold Palmer. If we were to go again, we each agreed we would probably get two burgers (I mean, you only live once). And maybe our own fries. Maybe. Apparently there are a bunch of Shake Shack's now but the Maddison Square Park one is the original and I recommend going to it for no other reason than, how cool is this building?

Plus, you get to eat right next to the Flatiron building. And that is pretty darn neat.

After gorging, we made our way towards NYU. Bailey wanted to find the Brown Building (the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire). We found it eventually. I guess it isn't much of a tourist attraction, and so it is quite hard to find. We read the plaque (it's now a chemistry building for NYU?) and moved on.

We wandered Union Square Park just a little, since we were in the area. I didn't take any pictures of it, but there was some sort of art exhibit going on in the Park so it was quite busy and there was lots of cameras/filming. We rested by the fountain for a bit and just enjoyed the life of the city around us. It was surreal.

Next we headed to the west village (hereafter simply the village). Oh the village! The village is the place of my (and many others I am positive) dreams. If I had a million dollars (actually it would probably cost more?) I would move to the village. It was just the right amount of busy new york mixed with secluded charm. We checked out the sites of some gay rights activist locales and got lost in the magic of the village. It's impossible not to get lost, I've decided. Especially once you get used to the grid. Because the village is not on the grid... and I believe that makes it all the more charming? An outsider to the order of the city.

Anyways, after wandering the village f.o.r.e.v.e.r., we made our way to the Chelsea Market. It was terrific in the sense that it was air conditioned. Actually, it was pretty fab but we weren't in the right mood. We wandered and then got quickly bored and didn't actually buy anything. So we made our way to the Highline (which is actually connected to the Market but there was an event so we couldn't get to it that way and instead had to go outside and up). We ended up walking the Highline from Chelsea Market right on to about 23rd Street (and our hostel!). It was pretty neat... maybe not as much of a highlight as it's often made out to be but maybe that's just because it was so hot and we were so tired (remember, we'd been walking 7 hours easy at this point). I found it really interesting how they converted those old railway tracks into an urban oasis.

For dinner we intended to go to Eataly (and actually walked all the way over there) but couldn't really find anything that was appealing to us and we ended up getting some fast food Mexican across the street. Sort of tragic, sort of awesome. We also had some beer and mango salad at some Thai place nearish to our hostel. I have no idea what it was called anymore but it was awesome. Andddd, at some point that day I discovered the Doughnut Plant (the one next to the old Chelsea Hotel, which, by the way, was under construction and I couldn't go in!). GET THE PISTACHIO GLAZED DONUT.

daily costs: coffee, etc: ~$10, shake shack (for 2): $16, donut $3