The Standard Biergarten

Day 74 of the T-90 Project:

A couple of weeks ago I received the following email from JB:

"Greetings, friends.

On Friday, April 9th, I will be asking CrewCutie to marry me. This will come as a shock to her for two reasons. The first is that she thinks I will be in Baltimore at work this weekend. The second, and I have heard this from several independent sources, is that she is expecting me to pop the question in a U-Haul on the way to Baltimore."

Friday night I got to celebrate two firsts in NYC. First I got to celebrate the engagement of two very good friends. Well played, JB. Well played! Second I got to drink beers at The Standard Biergarten. It was a bit nippy that night, but we all huddled at a picnic table under the space heaters (dangling from the ceiling). Personally I think they should be on the ground next to the tables, but what do I know? The space was very cool -- a surprising departure from the rest of the bars at The Standard. I vowed never to go back to the grill because I felt like I was in an episode of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." The night we went we were surrounded by some pretty tasteless B&Ters (and I have the photo evidence to prove it). But the beer garden was chill, the crowd was eclectic and they even had ping pong tables. I didn't understand what the point of the beer tickets was. It was a hassle to not be able to buy beer with cash. You had to buy tickets instead.

We stayed at the beer garden until we couldn't bare the cold anymore and snuck off to Brass Monkey down the road. The place was a zoo and we didn't last very long. My plan to go to bed early was quickly squashed by Fashionista who shouted, "Let's go to SING SING!" The girl is cuckoo for karaoke and now that I'm leaving, saying no to anything is just not in the cards. I couldn't tell you a single song I sang, but the next thing I knew it was 4 a.m. and I was supposed to be meeting my parents in eight hours at Giants Stadium...

Day 73:

The UVA men's lacrosse team played in the Big City Classic this weekend at the new Giants' Stadium (the first event ever in the new, fancy digs) and my parents organized a big crew to go. Fashionista, LittleMissSunshine, JerseyBoy and I were supposed to be on a 1:55 train to Secaucus Junction where we'd then transfer to the buses and meet my parents at their tailgate. My mom instructed me to pack clothes I wanted to leave in Connecticut so I left my apartment with about four bags dangling from my shoulders. I walked out the door at 1:15 and didn't get to Penn Station until 2:10. It was one of the worst Manhattan experiences of my life: just missed a train on the platform, the next train that came was too full, snuck on a third train only to have it move slow through construction zones, squashed till I could barely breathe with my bags, opted to get off at 79th street a half an hour later and took a cab the rest of the way. My friends made the train no problem, while I missed two and met them at Secaucus (where I found them drinking a Long Island iced tea at the bar). I'm not sure what's more impressive -- the drink they chose or that they found a bar at the Secaucus train station.

The day was glorious. JerseyBoy couldn't get enough of the tailgate and he summed it up for us every five minutes, "God, what a great day. I love this tailgate." I think at one point he even said he'd wished he'd gone to Virginia instead of Duke. If that's not a sign of a successful tailgate, I don't know what is.

I was so proud of my parents and the party they threw I just couldn't believe it. Mom made incredible potato salad and ambrosia (mandarin oranges, coconut and marshmallows), while the fried chicken from the Village Market and Crumbs cupcakes were also a huge hit. Dad got an A+ for his packing, bartending and DJ-ing skills. They lived in Tokyo while I was in college so we never got to tailgate at football games, but they sure made up for it yesterday.

Virginia (11-0) crushed UNC (10-1) so before we left for home we grabbed a few more beers at the car to celebrate. Fashionista, JerseyBoy and LittleMissSunshine actually went out after we got back to the city. I don't know how they did it. I could barely make it home quickly enough to pass out. I woke up this morning stunned. I'd slept for 11 hours.

Here's a first glimpse at the Giants' new home:


Day 72: This brings me to today and I'll be brief. Even though I got 11 hours of sleep last night, I feel I could still sleep for another 11. Today marked the last day of my distance training for the marathon. With the help of FoxyLady, I mapped out a long run that would take me up to the Cloisters and back. A couple of weekends ago I did the southern part of Manhattan and today I enjoyed the northern part. I ran across the George Washington Bridge, something I'd never done before, and stopped for the view at the Palisades Interstate Park. I came home totally wiped out and excited I had nothing to do for the rest of the day but rest and relax.

What adventures are in store for me this week?

*Standard Hotel Beer Garden
848 Washington Street, at West 13th
(212) 645-4646