Red Hook

This weekend we were finally blessed with glorious, spring-appropriate weather: sunny, cloudless skies and downright warm temperatures. An outdoor adventure was definitely in order, so my dude and I headed to Red Hook, Brooklyn. We had no actual agenda—other than to eat a mini key lime pie—but some of my favorite days have begun this way, and Saturday was no exception.

I've explored Red Hook a few times, mostly before or after a trip to IKEA. Once, I went to IKEA for nothing more than a $1 cinnamon roll, which is really as good a reason to do anything, in my opinion. Despite being very close to Lower Manhattan, Red Hook is pretty isolated in terms of public transit. The closest subway lines are the F/G, which we took to the Carroll Street stop and walked the rest of the way. There are buses, and of course the IKEA ferry from downtown, but the walk was lovely.

We headed straight to the waterfront, where we creeped on a old trolley car outside of Fairway, and I finally got to the Waterfront Barge Museum. The museum has very limited hours and isn't necessarily a destination on its own, but definitely worth a stop if you're already in the neighborhood. There are a few interesting pieces in their nautical collection, but it's really the barge itself that's the main attraction. The Lehigh Valley No. 79 "represents the only surviving all-wooden example of the Hudson River Railroad Barge from the Lighterage Age (1860-1960) that remains afloat and accessible to the general public."

There are no shortage of food / drink options in Red Hook, and I'm excited to come back and try some of the things that we didn't have time for, like a drink at Sunny's Bar (RIP Sunny). I had heard good things about Brooklyn Crab, but it was

SO

crowded (like college-spring-break-bro-crowded) that we only paused briefly to admire some vintage cars parked outside before moving on to Hometown BBQ, which was fantastic and totally worth the wait.

We eventually did make it to Steve's Key Lime Pies, our one pre-determined destination, and the chocolate-covered individual key lime tart, aka "Swingle," was every bit as delicious as I had remembered.

We walked back to the subway a different way than we had come, down the charming Coffey Street, past a chocolate factory and whiskey distillery and along Van Brunt Street, which is basically the Main Street of Red Hook. I love the mix of Civil War-era brick buildings, cobblestone streets and adorable little row houses—all with a view of the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan, but just out of reach enough to feel like a bonafide adventure.

Red Hook: Part Two

I went to Red Hook, Brooklyn

for the first time this past February

, when I took the ferry to IKEA, ate a  dollar cinnamon roll, walked over to Baked for brownies (

I'm fat

) and that was pretty much it. The area was still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, and a lot of the businesses were closed. Since I've

recently found an apartment

and very much need to fill it with stuff, I decided to go to IKEA last weekend to begin to get a feel for what was available.

My friend Alisha agreed to go along, and the night before we went I texted her our itinerary because

I'm a crazy person

: Ferry > Fairway Market > Brunch > Waterfront Museum > Steve's Key Lime Pies > IKEA. Luckily she wasn't intimidated and we ended up accomplishing most of what was on

my

our list.

We took the IKEA ferry, which has added a stop at Fairway Market/Van Brunt Street if you're more into exploring Red Hook than shopping for Swedish furniture. The stop was a pleasant surprise and much more convenient for our itinerary.

Fairway Market was one of the businesses that was closed for months, so it was my first time seeing it up close. The pre-Civil War building is amazing, but inside it's, well, a grocery store. They had some good free samples, but you'd never really know you were in such a beautiful building from the inside.

From there we made our way down Van Brunt Street, the main drag in Red Hook. There are a ton of cute brunch places, bars, galleries and shops, including Baked where I ate "Oprah's favorite brownies" last time I was there. We had decided to eat brunch at Home/Made, which was really, really good. We both had scrambles and the portions were huge, even if the prices were a bit higher than the menu currently shows on their site. Definitely sit in the garden if there's seating available. If there's not, at least you can sip a complimentary cup of coffee while you wait (flashbacks to Tom's Restaurant).

After brunch we walked along the waterfront, through the more industrial areas, ending up at Louis Valentino Pier. The pier has great views of the Statue of Liberty, fishing and free kayaking. As we were walking around the park, we ran right into Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies, without even trying. I had read nothing but rave reviews, and like Fairway, the shop had been closed for months for repairs. They eventually moved to a new location, and the shop feels like you've stepped right into Key West (or what I imagine Key West is like).

I'm pretty sure we were waited on by Steve himself, who was drinking a beer at 1pm which is exactly what any owner of a Key Lime Pie shop should be doing at 1 in the afternoon. We both got a Swingle, which is a Key Lime Pie tart on a stick, dipped in chocolate. It was amazing. We ate it under a shady tree with a view of the Statue of Liberty and talked about how lucky we felt to be New Yorkers.

We eventually made it to IKEA, but managed to browse the entire store without buying a single thing. I'm glad to have a better idea of what they have, and I've started a list of potential purchases. I'm trying to do this whole "experiences over possessions" way of life thing, but I'm going to need a few essentials —like a bed— and IKEA is a great place for the tiny things that are necessary for tiny apartments.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to tour the Waterfront Barge Museum because it's only open on Saturdays. I had actually thought it was Saturday and felt incredibly stupid when Alisha pointed out that it was actually Sunday. Now we have a reason to go back to Red Hook, for the museum, as well as wine tasting at the Red Hook Winery — we were so full from brunch + Swingles that we couldn't even look at wine but the place was awesome and we vowed to go back.

Red Hook is a great neighborhood to spend a day (or two) exploring. It's filled with great old warehouses, beautiful storefronts and vintage, nautical details everywhere you look. I'm glad it appears to be finally recovering from Sandy, and seems to even be thriving. With such delicious brunches, IKEA AND my new best friend the Swingle there are more than enough reasons for me to keep coming back.

Red Hook: Part One

Saturday I had made plans to go to the Bronx Zoo, but when they got rescheduled, I found myself with an entire day free to myself. I consulted my New York to-do-list (growing longer, yet also receiving checkmarks daily) and decided to spend the day exploring some neighborhoods in Brooklyn that I had never been to before.

For whatever reason, I wanted to start the day in Red Hook, a neighborhood that is notoriously hard to reach by public transportation, unless of course, you take the IKEA express shuttle. The IKEA shuttle is a ferry, actually, and is technically for those intending to spend the day shopping at, you know, IKEA, but it takes you from lower Manhattan to Red Hook in about 20 min. and is free on the weekends. I misread the schedule (they come less frequently in the winter) so I had to wait about 40 min. for one, but once you're on it the views of lower Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn are pretty nice, and it was pretty comfortable (and warm!).

Once inside IKEA I realized that I really didn't need anything — I'm subletting the apartment here, and only for a few more weeks — but that didn't stop me from grabbing a $1 cinnamon roll on my way out. As many times as I've been to IKEA (the Pittsburgh store, mainly) and had my mouth water at the delicious smell of cinnamon rolls on my way out, I'd never actually eaten one. Cinnabon it was not, but it was definitely worth a dollar — especially because the line at the cafe was about a billion times shorter than the cafeteria upstairs, and I was pretty hungry.

Would it be fat of me to admit that as soon as I finished my cinnamon roll, I headed out of IKEA and straight to a... bakery in Red Hook? I came across the website for Baked while I was researching cupcake sites for work (I swear) and I'd wanted to try their famous brownies ever since. The walk from IKEA to Baked was a bit sketchy, but once I was on Van Brunt Street I began to see the appeal of Red Hook — I don't know if I could live there with its limited access, but it does have a certain old-world charm.

[source]

Baked was really cute inside and I bought two brownies (sweet + salty and a brown sugar blondie) and a latte. They serve Stumptown coffee which everyone raves about, but I've found it to be a bit over-hyped and over-priced. I guess I would say the same thing for the brownies. For something that is touted as "Oprah's Favorite Brownie" I guess I expected more. They pretty much just tasted like... brownies. Not bad, of course, but definitely not something I would trek all the way to Red Hook for again.

I'm sure I'll be back to IKEA if (when?) I move here for real, and it's nice to know there's one so close. I'd also like to come back and visit the Fairway Market, which is closed because of damage from Hurricane Sandy, but scheduled to reopen in March. Have you ever been to Red Hook? What are some other places I should try if I'm ever in the neighborhood again? I hear Steve makes a mean Key Lime Pie...