12: Greenwich Village 1 - The West Village

"Despite the erratic course of most streets in the West Village, you can't get seriously lost, only pleasantly so."

This card rarely lies. I pride myself on being a pretty good navigator, but I got us pretty lost at the beginning of this walk. Who knew that Bedford Street (a major street bisecting the village) could be so elusive?

Luckily, we came across some great sites. Take this giant teak lion, for instance. It was just hanging out in the deli next to the Houston subway station. James, our special guest of the week, was the first to spot it, but Meg had the honor of growling beside it.

Then we found this sign, explaining the beast:

In case you don't want to click on it to enlarge, it asks, "What's up with that ginormous wooden lion at the Getting Hungry deli?" which made us laugh, because that is precisely how Megan would have worded it. I'm convinced she writes into Time Out New York under the pseudonym Jay Demaio.

Meg and James wanted to climb inside of the sphere. You can't see me, but I'm shaking my head with disapproval.

The Village has some awesome architecture. Here we are looking especially pious in front of a beautiful church (p.s. still lost).

These walks bring out the recklessness in me. I'll do almost anything on a dare. So James says, "Run through that sick flock of pigeons!"

and off I go...

This is pretty shameful. There are few things in life more disgusting than a NY pigeon.

Still lost, but thrilled with our finds, we come across this theater putting on a musical production of the Adding Machine. There is nothing in this world that Meg loves more than musicals, except perhaps math - she's a real live {fun-loving, fantastic to be around, best-girl-I-know} nerd.

I'm so glad we got lost so we could find Cafe Wha? Meg and I have long loved to say, "Wha happened?" (do you love Fred Willard, too? - more Christopher Guest movie references to come).

Another photo from Cafe Wha? This place was made for us!

And we're baaaack! Back to the tour route that is - we finally found our way. Megan has eagle eyes and spotted this creepy skull (see it?) in some lucky fellow's rooftop garden, a rare commodity in NYC.

One of the hardships of our weekly walks is that it can be so difficult to capture the awesomeness of any given neighborhood. First of all, we are not photographers. Secondly, we have to stick to a schedule (we can't take 15 shots at each location). My point is, I am sometimes disappointed that we cannot effectively show all of you how amazing this place is. This is St. Luke's Place, a most beautiful line of "Italianate brownstones." I really loved this street!

This white brownstone was a favorite. We wonder how often it gets painted to maintain its pristine appearance? New discovery: thanks to our friend Becca - we have discovered that the house just to the left of this white beauty is the Huxtabul's house on The Cosby Show. I love that we took a picture of the unimportant house, while a real gem is right next door.

James, who was visiting from Wisconsin, sometimes pretends he is a scientist.

The West Village has an abundance of red doors, which is quite possibly my favorite feature to have in a house. The best part of these particular doors, however, are the street numbers above them. Undoubtedly, the residents of 449 1/2 have oodles more fun than lame-o 449.

This secret garden is part of St. Luke's Seminary. Megan and I were reminiscent of a certain set of twins (Benthany Gardener) from our freshman year at BYU, who sang, on more than one occasion, a dramatic rendition of "Lily's Eyes" from the Secret Garden Soundtrack. (Fugal girls - don't pretend you don't remember what I'm talking about!).

Still at St. Luke's Seminary - the courtyard was a pretty little place, and oh so funny.

I felt blessed just to be there.

Megan can do a mean heel-click. Here, she demonstrates her talent in front of one of the more beautiful subway entrances.

All of your favorite off-Broadway playwrites can be found at the Lucille Lortel Playwright Star Sidewalk - Mbongeni Ngema, Athol Fugard, Bertolt Brecht. I'm all aflutter just thinking about it! I jest - there were actually a few recognizable names there, like Langston Hughes and Tennessee Williams.

We were fans of the Christopher Street clothier that sported this purple sign.

This is my favorite spot in all the West Village: Grove Court. Grove Court is "a row of shaded mews houses set within a deep courtyard, built as laborers' housing in 1854." The place looked really lovely.

Here's a little more about Grove Street:

This house won my heart with its crumbling outer wall and giant stovepipe. Not sure what is going on with the creepy expressions on Meg and James' faces.

more beautiful and historic west village homes

Here comes that reference I promised. The Cherry Lane Theater was where Beckett's Waiting for Godot has its American premiere. We youngins might know the story better from Waiting for Guffman.

Can you find Meg in this photo?

This is the Isaac Hendricks House, built in 1799 and the oldest surviving house in the Village.

This is Washington Irving's house! (lie - it is actually Washington Irving Jr.'s house, but Megan didn't think that was as cool)

Meg looked into the future at Zena ClairVoyant, a local fortune teller (we didn't plan on the cabbages matching her hat).

We love reoccurring themes around here. Remember the last time we found over-sized school supplies? (hint: it was at the Tenement Museum gift shop)

Good times at the Riviera! Very appropriate since the two of us first met James at The Riviera apartment complex in Provo, UT.

It is looking as dilapidated as ever.

James is a brave soul and ventured down into this scary hole.

When we found this giant map of the west village, we became very ashamed of how difficult it was for us to find Bedford Street. It practically intersects the entire neighborhood!

Another shout out to Megan's sister, Bonnie, who despite not really reading this blog, gets referenced in most posts. We love Labonna Jean.

Wha?

We are so curious to find out what that tower in the distance is (perhaps next week?). James was so disappointed that he wouldn't be here to see it up close, but is counting on us to not only find out what it is, but to also go to the top of the tower. Only time will tell.

more love for the interesting things you can see in ano 2008, west village

It appears I am not the only fan of iron dragons...

This is one of the many very-pointy buildings you can find in the west village. Megan was absolutely baffled by them - I mean, what will fit in that tiny corner space?!! Her best guess for this Laser Hair Removal place was tweezers. Gotta love her.

Tiles for America (a 9-11 memorial) was touching.

More West Village house love - this one had a red door, red windows, a swirly iron gate AND a vine-covered wall. Love it!

Last but not least, Meg and I attempt to recreate a disturbing statue. Gut-busting laughter ensues.

But WAIT ... you didn't think we would skip out on the Doughnut Plant, do you? Not when it was a mere subway ride, cab ride and brief walk away! This was James' maiden voyage to the DP.

This is Mark Israel, the owner of the DP. We have always wanted to meet him and lo and behold, there he was! Standing only feet away as we devoured doughnuts like animals. I got the courage to speak to him, and when he recommended the Rose Petal doughnut, we went back for more. After all, the Rose Petal doughnuts are only offered once a year. They were suprisingly delicious for something that tasted exactly like what you would expect a rose to taste like. Thanks, Mark!

We left happy.

and a feeling a little sick.

See you next week!