14: Nolita

Welcome to Nolita, a.k.a. the neighborhood North of Little Italy. This week we enjoyed a short walk though a small neighborhood.

First stop is ... wait for it .... this is very exciting ... a Gas Station!! This was so not on the card but it has been a long time since I have had a delicious cup of gas station hot chocolate, complete with the yummy creamers, so we stopped in. Here is Meg, looking angry on my behalf that the hot chocolate machine was out of order.

Lest you think we are pulling your leg, here is another photo. :) This gas station may not be interesting to our suburban readers, but you don't often come across them on foot in the city. I've lived here for almost 3 years and this is my first visit to a gas station here! It is not everyday that you see a gas station and a subway station side by side. Ok - moving on.

Here I am in front of the Puck Building, which proclaims itself "One of New York's Most Celebrated Landmarks." Apparently, it is the happening place to throw your next wedding, social function or corporate event. I mostly just liked the little gold guy in the doorway.

Meg was especially pleased when we came across Otto Tootsi Plohound. She has a friend who adores this clothing store. Great name, Otto Tootsi Plohound!

Sometimes our tour card lies. This week's card directed us to the Firestation and promised us a "Fire and Police Store." We were so pumped about the store and were sad to find the Nolita location no longer exists. There is one in the Village, so we may head there for all our FDNY t-shirt and mug needs on a later walk.

Store or no store, the firemen were friendly.

This is Old St. Patrick's Cathedral, the first cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York. You can read more about it on the plaque below.

The best part of the cathedral was the pretty brick wall.

Megan peeked through the gate...

and found a neat old cemetary. The grounds were locked. Foiled again!

Here is a view around the other side of the gate. We wrote down the name from a particularly impressive grave, thinking you might have to be pretty important to be buried here. My most trusted research tool, Google search, shed very little light on Charles C. Cashman, though it appears an elementary school in Massachusetts was named after him.

This is Elizabeth Street Gallery, by far the most interesting thing we came across in Nolita. It is so rare to see a large amount of open space in the city, let alone one filled with a variety of sculptures. You should check out this guy's flickr set of the inside of the gallery. It looks amazing!

Curse you, Saturday mornings! Nothing is ever open.

Nolita is also home to the Eastern United States Taosist Association. Megan is looking very Napoleon Dynamite in this photo (in a good way).

This is where we let the crazy out a little bit. I had been having wardrobe malfunctions all throughout this walk - my sock kept sliding off my foot and down into my rainboot. So annoying! I was about to stop into the nearest Duane Reade to buy a new pair when Meg whips out a pair of spare socks from her purse. Because she's prepared like that. I am not as prepared, but have excellent balance.

It was really hard for me to admit that my Cat Cat Cat socks were past their prime, but we (I) bid them a fond farewell. Want a backstory on the Cat Cat Cat socks? Believe it or not, my beloved cat, Ciao, (may he rest in peace) actually mailed me these socks as a Halloween gift in 2001. I was a freshman at BYU, it was the first time we had ever been apart, and he missed me. Here is the card to prove it:

The back of the card says:

Meow! Just wanted to say Happy Halloween! It's kind of spooky here without you! Love, Ciao

I don't know what I love most - the fact that my mom sent me packages from my cat, the fact that I still have this card, or the fact that over 6 years later, I was still wearing the socks! (I really liked them!) Meg, hater of all cats and cat related items, was really happy to see them go.

We went the only place that could cheer me up - The Doughnut Plant. It is, after all, the most delicious way to end a walk.

See you next week, when I promise to do my best to post on time.