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
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.
