Missed the tour, loved the dinner, thanks Dan.

It's over already???? I'm so sorry I missed it, but my husband had a wisdom tooth pulled and is currently in the whining stage. You know how men are .

One of these years I will make it

Glad to hear you had a good time.

Great tour, great food, great pastries - thanks Dan .... will be back !

The restaurant looked great but I had to run after the tour and prior to dinner. I hope you all enjoyed it. I grabbed a card so I can eat there sometime!

Joined the dinner and it was great seeing those I knew and finally putting faces on those I had never met. It was a large and lively crowd and great fun. Thanks Dan and all the wonderful people from these boards who were there.

Last night was the most I've eaten in a single day for a long time. And in Brooklyn, that's a good thing, as the food everywhere we went was just exceptional (well, save for my eggy Italian cheesecake)

Thanks for everything, Dan. See you next year.

Me too. Since I've been mostly on Atkins since Venice, I also pigged out yesterday in Brooklyn. The highlight for me was the big black and white cookie from Alliota's bakery. Actually the best that I ever had. Maybe I'll need to drive down there today or tomorrow for another (after I find out where it is).
Many thanks to Dan for a great day.

Sounds like a blast. Did anybody take any pictures for us poor folks who had to stay home and work?

Dinner was definitely good, and enteraining And an extra special surprise to have MarySunshine joining us, and your suggestion for a bakery alternative was ^

Wow! What an amazing day with Dan and a busload of absolutely terrific Flyertalkers. I never knew Brooklyn was so diverse and had such a rich history. I'm glad I went and look forward to meeting up with many of you again soon.


Until others load some pics, here is the website of where we ate lunch!

http://www.spumonigardens.com/

Still in Manhattan and packing to leave on Sunday but....

Want to get in our thanks to Dan for a wonderful, wonderful day; absolutely worth the trip out here

As others have stated the food seemed to be non-stop; well, actually it should be called Dan's Brooklyn Sightseeing & Food Tour. From Nathan's hot dogs on the boardwalk at Coney Island, pizza & spumoni for lunch, Italian bakery for afternoon snack, followed by the requisite, required & requested MJM Starkbuck's stop, and then dinner (was it just me or did the tables seem to keep getting larger ) followed by a drive to Little Italy and street-side gelato. And then we were at the Grand Hyatt and the Reality Tour was over -- or was it just that's when reality set in because we realized our next meal was on our own???

If you get the chance, sign up now for 2006........

Black and whites (I grew up on them) ^ ^ ^

Well, yes. But I think my camera is on the way to SEA as I type?


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Anyway, for those of you who missed the tour:

Did you know...

.... that a couple of yards away from Dan's boyhood home, the old man who lived there WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY..and this was in an apartment - not a house - had a live turkey in his big yard just before Thanksgiving every year?

.... that Coney Island still exists and - except for the beach, which is gorgeous - looks exactly like every Coney Island movie I have ever seen?

.... that a "coney" is a rabbit?

.... that there are TWO "Nathan's Famous Hotdogs" at Coney Island and the one that is near the bathroom is not the one that everyone else went to?

.... if you get some pastry at Aliotta'a bakery (as we did) that you get a "First Game Free" card for the bowling alley?

.... that the cute 7-year old kid at Aliotta's bakery who came out of the back wide-eyed ("Where did all these people come from?" and Dan starts saying and pointing, " Virginia, San Francisco, Culver City....") didn't have to do homework because "It's Friday."

.... that Dan had never knocked on the door of his boyhood home?

... that Dan has still never knocked on the door of his boyhood home?

... that several FlerTalkers got off a bus recently and knocked on the door of Dan's boyhood home?

.... that the people inside of Dan's boyhood home might have never opened the door if Dan hadn't tried to look in their living room window?

.... that, as a young man, Dan and some friends mistakenly went to an "alternative life-style" bar? (which, sadly, was not on the tour ).

.... that there is a King's Highway but no highway for the queens?

.... that str8 female Fters on a bus will think gay jokes are funny than str8 male FTers will, unless, of course the str8 male FTer is VPescado who will laugh at anything?

.... that Brooklyn Pizza has basically no cheese on it but actually tastes better than "real" pizza?

.... that people in Brooklyn will wave if a busload of people point a bunch of cameras at them?

.... that after your family comes to Brooklyn you live in the north (the north part of Brooklyn) and then your family and "your people" move south (the south part of Brooklyn) and then, apparently, you move to White Plains?

.... that being born a Brooklynite is like being born a Catholic - even to the Jewish Brooklynites, and believe us, there are a lot of Jewish Brooklynites? See, if you are born a Catholic, you are always a Catholic in the EYES OF THE CHURCH. Even if you say you are not Catholic. If you are born a Brooklynite, you are always a Brooklynite in the EYES OF BROOKLYNITERS. Even if you live in White Plains.

.... that noone on the bus has ever seen a MISSUS dhammer53?

.... that Dan is a fabulous host, a funny guy and an all around great person.


This thing was a blast. I was amazed at how every single person on the tour was funny and sweet and SMART! Including me, of course! Haha.

Thnak you Dan! You are the man!

F/T dining tip: I have only found two places in the world -- other than Brooklyn -- where black and whites can be bought.

The first is a supermarket in Wuppertal, Germany, and the cookies are known as "Amerikanas". (I presume they are available elsewhere in Germany but I haven't spotted them.)

The other is a very short drive from Monitor's Florida home -- at the big Flea Market on Sample Road. Right in front of the food court is a desert shop which always has black and whites.

and just look what has appeared inthe Chicago Tribune today ....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel...chi-travel-hed

too excerts as too long to post whole article :

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Where else can you ride one of the world's most famous roller coasters, then take a few wobbly steps and settle your stomach with a knish?

Brooklyn was funny. People from Brooklyn had this outrageous, hilarious accent. Sgt. Bilko came from Brooklyn. The Kramdens lived in Brooklyn.