BRT

This year the bus was a manageable 20-something passenger
one - an ideal number, as we all got to intermingle and
get to know one another (not that we needed to - the vast
majority of us are recidivists). There was some planned
divergence from previous itineraries as well as a couple
improvisations, owing to obstacles not of our own making.
We started off with a whimper - our planned exit from
Manhattan was blocked by a street fair or ten, and it
wasn't for a while that we managed to get out of town.
The lunch stop was early and lengthened: the Smorgasburg
collection of food stalls in Williamsburg, of which I
made full use. It's not that huge of an area, but there's
plenty of variety, and the quality is good.

I made a quick tour of the area, making note of promising
spots for later, but even at 11-something on the first
round, Mighty Quinn's aroma was mighty enticing, and I got
there just as the guy in back was slicing up the first of
the briskets, so I asked for a fatty brisket sandwich hold
the bread, with a garnish of pickled jalapenos. It was good,
especially if as I do you appreciate that slick glistening
translucent pinguitudinity ... encountering a few of our
number, I offered tastes (it was a generous enough portion),
and some chose to head down there for more.

My next stop was Bite Size Kitchen, whose offerings included
buns filled with duck, chicken, or pork belly. Again I asked
for a pork belly one without the bun, and it was good - not
the tenderest, but the Chinese-style braising sauce was good
- soy salty and just a bit sweet, with aromatics peeking out
here and there. I liked it so much that I asked if I could
get two more at a buck off (one was $5, but if you get two
or more, the subsequent ones are a buck off). I got another
pork belly and a duck, again without the bun. The duck was
good but not as good and came with cucumber and assorted
distractions. Again I gave away a couple tastes, and my
friends immediately got in line to buy their own.

Hurray, the beer area was open! I'm glad I had my GE card,
because they were checking ID, no exceptions. I tried two
offerings, both from Brooklyn makers - the Other Half IPA was
a citrusy but somewhat less hoppy than usual version; Kelso
Brewing's Smorgasbeer was a hoppier than usual lager. Both
were good but not worth the $7 per glass.

At some point jswong went over to Brooklyn Oyster Party and
bought a dozen on the half shell, which he shared with all
comers (I was the only acceptor). Fresh, briny, good.

A stop new to me - a close view of the Verrazano Narrows and
its bridge (which when I was a kid was one of the new wonders
of the world and the longest single span in the US).

Green-Wood Cemetery is the highest point in Brooklyn and
offers panoramic views; in addition it is the resting place
of numerous heroes and antiheroes of New York lore, from
Boss Tweed to Leonard Bernstein (pronounced "steen"). Sadly,
we were turned back by a security guard who deemed us to be
too rowdy or something, so we didn't get to see anything but
the elaborate front gate. Later, I read the cemetery's
official brochure, and there's nothing about tours not being
allowed.

We went to the familiar haunts, the oldest house in town,
the historic old Dutch church, the dhammer53 ancestral home,
and so on; then to Coney Island, where we had a rest and
refreshment stop - I went to Nathan's and instead of a dog I
got some fairly costly cherrystones on the half shell, which
price was partially made up for by the fact that a quart of
Sam went for only $8 something.

I was a little anxious because all that beer might tend to
cause problems later on, as our bus didn't have a restroom,
but the sweat-inducing weather made that a nonissue, and
further, during the Starbuck's break in the later afternoon,
a bar-restaurant called Tutta Pasta lured several of us in.
We had more beers, which CMK10 paid for when we weren't
looking.

L&B Spumoni Gardens is an annual stop, and though I far
prefer the thin-crust style (earning raised eyebrows from
the Brooklynites), I bought a slice from the enterprising
CMK10, who had bought a flat. A Budweiser helped me choke
that down; after which I picked up a large spumoni for
people to taste; some did. It wasn't the most popular thing
on the tour.

Dessert at Cuccio's Bakery (Teena's having gone out of
business) - I got a few mini-cannoli and offered them to my
friends. Again, my taste in sweets seems to go against the
public.

And on to a spectacular sunset on the promenade, after
which our esteemed colleague jackal, who had not been on
the bus, caught up with us bearing gifts of Di Fara's pies.
I had a slice of sausage and pepper. It was good, more to
my taste than the thick Sicilian of L&B. Then back into
Manhattan and home.