A Weekend in New York City: Sundaes & Cones and the Tompkins Square Park Farmers Market

Since I've been off of school, I've been up to New York City twice to visit my best friend Yasmina. This is called me making up for the fact that I only went twice during the rest of the school year and I'm off for Nice soon. Plus, since I've discovered the wonders of the BoltBus, it's easier than ever. For those of you in the dark about what I call the greatest invention of our time, BoltBus is a busline that offers free wifi, outlets at every seat, AND (as if that wasn't enough good news) 3 extra inches of legroom. Also, in the DC <--> NYC routes, it doesn't bother stopping in Baltimore or Philadelphia, making the trip much faster. Finally, as if you weren't already sold, the prices are comparable with the ever-sketchy Chinatown buses (about $40 roundtrip). I definitely recommend it for anyone who's traveling between DC and NYC by bus (Yes, surfing tastespotting on the way DOES make time go faster.).

Before I tell you all about Sunday's farmers market extravaganza, I have to do justice to what a might be the most delicious ice cream in the East Village (look, I'll be honest, I didn't actually try anywhere else...): Sundaes and Cones. So delicious! It's a really cute ice cream shop on E 10th street, which makes it only a couple of blocks away from Yasmina's place (dangerous...). When Yasmina and I first went on Friday, I had two scoops of Cherry Vanilla. Incase I haven't already explained this, I love cherries. Almost as much as lemons. In fact, if the two of them dueled for my affections, I'm not sure who would win. Anyway, that was (needless to say) delicious. Here is the adorable Yasmina with her Rocky Road/ Butter Pecan combo, ice cream dripping all over her hands because I took forever to find my camera.

The next night when we took a family friend of Yasmina's out to dinner, I suggested going back for dessert. The second night, I think I had something like cookies and cream. They actually had a lot of interesting flavors, like corn, but I was too chicken to try them. Well, and I wanted whatever I was craving... He had Rocky Road and was raving the whole way home.

Anyway, on the last day I was there, I got to visit the Tompkin's Square Park Farmer's Market with Yasmina. It's only a couple blocks from her apartment, so for her, it's super convenient. It's only open on Sunday's, unlike the Union Square Farmer's Market which I've noticed is open four days a week (MWFSa). It was a great size, big enough that there was different selection and small enough that you could easily stop and chat with the growers. One of my favorite stands which I've never seen at a farmers market before (I really haven't been to that many...) was a fish stand. Fresh, organic, local, wild caught fish? Yes, please.

These green/yellow(?) beans looked so good, I wanted to buy them to munch on raw on the way home. But then I thought about trying to wash them in the bus sink and walked away.

We got some greens, beets and fresh tomatoes for a beet salad. I must say, the Dupont Circle farmers market spoiled me with its selection of at least 10 different types of salad greens. This market didn't have too many this day, but Yasmina got some delicious baby arugula anyway. Beets must be in season, because I've been seeing/eating beet salads everywhere recently. For some reason, I always thought beets were in season in the winter...

Yasmina's favorite stand is probably a dairy stand from which she returns last week's milk bottles for a discount on this week's milk bottles (it's ridiculously cute to me to pour milk from a glass vessel). I must say, after sampling the chocolate milk she bought, I can see why it's her favorite. Milk is one of those things you can really taste the difference in when it's fresh, organic, etc. They also sold these yogurt drinks I wanted to take home with me (but I forgot...whoops...). I bet the Mango one (orange) tastes like a Mango Lassi. Anyway, the farmers market was a perfect way to end a lovely weekend in the city. I recommend it to anyone in the area looking for some fresh, local goods on a Sunday morning.