A Visitor, Not a Tourist

Abby Dora NY
Over the long weekend I took a trip to my former city of residence, New York City. I consider myself a visitor to NYC, not a tourist. A tourist does the tourist things—Times Square, Empire State Building, and eats in Little Italy. Not D and I. No, we still have an insider’s map of New York. We walk the smaller streets and sought out the tucked away patches of green grass to sip our ice coffees. D and I had 4 days of “the best of our NYC”—a good portion of that “best” involved food. Our days were structured over where we would have breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and drinks. We didn’t want to waste any food opportunity! The consensus between us is that good Asian cuisine is difficult to find in Rochester. For this New York trip we focused our taste buds on Thai in Park Slope (Song), Korean in the West Village (Do Haw), and thanks for a great tip from an even greater friend, we had top quality Sushi in Crown Heights (Gen). Thinking about all those places now makes my mouth water. Go to any of them, next time you are in the area.

My absolute favorite dessert place is the famous Magnolia Bakery. Whether it was a good thing or not, my office used to be very close to this bakery. Just walking into the shop is a treat with its pastel palette and ultra feminine retro vibe. I just adored this fabric triangle flag banner hung above the counter. D and I shared a cup of Magnolia’s Banana Pudding in a small park diagonal from the bakery. Yum!
Abby designer
AbbyDora rochester
Abby Dora New York

Without the stress of having to be somewhere at a certain time D and I strolled the streets people watching and reminiscing. At my slower walking pace, I found examples of great typography on signs, on windows, and even in tag sale in East Village.
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AbbyDora graphic
Abby Dora design

I was happy that the neighborhoods I once walked through on a daily basis still remained familiar. I had no problem navigating around sans map whether it was on the street or in the subway. Just walking around Park Slope and the West Village was like seeing an old friend, each street corner had a memory to tell. There’s much more to share! In between our food extravaganzas, I did visit a couple of museums. I’ll tell you more about those adventures on Friday.