From 207th to South Ferry, We Walked, We Saw and We Ate

The roommate and I did something kind of crazy last weekend.  We walked and we walked.  Starting at 207th street, we walked past two University campuses, four parks, one Times Square and one on-going protest until we finally reached the South Ferry terminal, 7 hours later.  And along the walk, we ate at two oldies and favorites and discovered two new places so here is a little sample and taste.

Every weekend day starts at Cafe Grumpy in Chelsea with a low-fat cafe latte and that Saturday was no different.  To make up for the fact that we were about to walk a half marathon, I stashed away a slice of their banana bread, spiced with cardamon.  One delicious piece of breakfast.  The roommate grabbed doughnuts from the Doughnut Plant to give us a little more energy.

A little motivational start was waiting for us when we emerged from the underground.  It was as if the A train station at 207th street was meant for this particular walk.

My first time at Columbia (I know, weird right considering I have been living in New York for 3 years now) so the obligatory campus picture.

Two hours later, we stopped for the first time at Luke’s Lobster, the UWS post for a little nourishment and to rest our feet which had started to ache.

We each scarf down a Luke’s Schooner combo, a lobster roll, chips and soda.

Here is a closer shot of the lobster roll so you can get a nice look.  The roll was soft nd toasted, still warm with a nutty taste of butter.  The sweet tender lobster pieces were chunky and drizzled lightly with butter, really allowed to shine on its own.

After lunch, we were on the road again, but not before hitting Epicerie Boulud for a jolt of caffeine and of course, a little taste of canele.  These had a great flavor but not quite enough of a crisp on the outside for the perfect canele.  Epicerie Boulud had an open door concept with a bakery on one side and an oyster/tapas bar on the other side.  I will have to keep it in mind for next time I am around the Lincoln Center area.

From there, we carried on downtown with a little more pip in our step.  This lasted around Chelsea area when fatigue hit us.  In order to motivate us and keep ourselves from making the oh-so-easy right turn to our apartment, we kept our eyes on the next food stop, Molly’s Cupcake in West Village.

This new comer to the cupcake party is situated in a great spot, right off of 6th Avenue.  There was a throwback to the childhood with board games and vintage lunchboxes on display and a DIY sprinkles bar as well as adorable swing chairs.  If we weren’t so tired and eager to end this never-ending walk as soon as possible, I would have broke out a game of Life to accompany the cupcakes.

Molly’s offered quite a few choices of creative cupcake combinations and after much debate and consulting with the girl behind the counter, I went for a butterscotch caramel cupcake.  This little number was piped full of salted butterscotch caramel with a light buttercream frosting.  The surprise was a good dose of salt to counter the sweetness of the cupcake.

The Roommate ordered a chocolate mousse cupcake.  It was a wonderfully dense chocolate cake filled with a light chocolate mousse and topped with a dense ganache as frosting.  The cross-section was quite beautiful, isn’t it?

These treats gave us just that smidgen of energy that we needed to push ourselves forward as the sun started to set.  At around 6:45PM, we had finally reached South Ferry and nearly collapsed onto a 1 train uptown.

Cafe Grumpy | 224 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011| http://www.cafegrumpy.com/

Luke’s Lobster | 426 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10024 | http://www.lukeslobster.com

Epicerie Boulud | 20 West 64th Street, New York, NY 10023 | http://www.danielnyc.com/epicerie.html

Molly’s Cupcakes | 228 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014 | http://www.mollyscupcakes.com/ny/home.php