New York City: Brooklyn Bagel, Spa Castle & Southern Hospitality

Hi friends! I hope you are having a great week so far. What is it, Wednesday? It sure is a challenge to keep track after being in exploring and vacation land for half a week.

Need to catch up? Here’s what we’ve been up to:

• Surprise 30th Birthday in New York City

• Queen of the Night & New York City Shows

 

Scott and I arrived back home right before it was time to turn in last night, and I have been catching up with life since the moment I woke up this morning! That has to be the only negative thing about taking a mini-vacation. I meant to check in with y’all hours earlier, but, alas work and life happened instead.

Better late than never, right? Let the adventures in New York continue!

 

Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company

Our Monday started with a brisk walk in Astoria over to Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company.

My friend Lauren told us to order the breakfast sandwich with bacon, egg, and cheese on “everything” bagels. Who were we to argue with a local?

We walked into about fifty flavors of cream cheese spreads that all looked phenomenal.

(Yes, you read pad thai tofu cream cheese correctly. What?)

Lauren also hinted that the mini-bagels were more than plenty, so I listened to her suggestion when ordering.

The mini-bagel was anything but mini! I ate half of it and went back to order a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice alongside my coffee instead of stuffing myself. They have a fancy orange press machine that whips up a glass in seconds, and it was just as cool to see being made as it was tasty to sip!

That did the trick of holding us over until snacking later on in the day. We had a casual day of relaxing planned, and I was looking forward to spending it stress-free with Lauren and Scott.

(I wish I had an explanation for this photo… but I just don’t. Enjoy the randomness.)

 

Spa Castle

I thought Scott was joking when he told me to pack a swimsuit on this trip. As it turns out, we all needed them for a day at Spa Castle!

True to the name, Spa Castle is the ultimate relaxation destination for New Yorkers. There is a general admission fee of $40 (that you can usually find discounted on Groupon) that includes access to a variety of steam rooms, saunas, indoor and outdoor heated pools, meditation rooms, sleep rooms, and much more.

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You are given an stellar uniform (ladies in pink, men in blue) that is required to wear in all of the rooms, with the exception of outdoors.

Stylish, right?

You also wear a waterproof watch to access a locker, where you are asked to keep your belongings.

We spent about an hour going from room to room, and I almost forgot how relaxing steam and sauna rooms are! It felt so good to sit, soak, and stretch when there was enough room and only a few staring eyes!

It wasn’t long before we were all drenched in sweat, so we moved up to the rooftop pool to cool off and enjoy the jacuzzis and water jets.

 

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Holy geez, those were intense! There were so many stations that positioned jets in the perfect angles to massage your calves, hamstrings, shoulders, head, feet, everything. I could have planted myself there all day!

We skipped the extra massages, facials, and body wraps this trip, but I would have enjoyed checking those options if our wallets and time allowed.

We spent a half a day there, but we could have easily stayed much longer. They offer a variety of healthy food options and a juice bar to tempt you to do just that. It was a wonderful and tranquil experience I would recommend to anyone in the area. I’m sure loved ones would appreciate a gift card or ticket entry for a special occasion as well!

 

Southern Hospitality BBQ

We drove back to Astoria and had just enough time to get changed and ready to head back out to meet a friend of ours in Manhattan.

No matter how many times we visit the city, the sight of Times Square never gets old.

There’s just something so magical about it. I’m sure the majority of the people passing through are tourists, but hey… I guess that includes us. We love you, NYC!

We met a good friend of ours that Scott used to work with in Orlando just a couple of blocks away at Southern Hospitality BBQ.

Have any of you heard of this spot before? I’d be surprised if at least some of the girls reading this didn’t recognize it as Justin Timberlake’s restaurant!

We pop in for a visit every time we’re in the city. It’s so good!

This NYC BBQ joint features real Memphis-style barbecue, unique drinks, and a great atmosphere. Our friend, Shawn, is a regular here, so we had our own little place in the back corner to watch the NBA Playoffs and indulge in some serious Southern eats.

We started things off by splitting an order of the Fried Green Tomatoes.

I ordered the Not-So Cobb Salad with Pulled Pork. It was super filling!

Scott ordered the Pulled Pork Dinner with a side of creamed corn and macaroni and cheese.

Everything made the Southern critics in us very happy!

We were all too full for dessert, but decided to stick around to finish watching the game and chat for another hour or so. Eventually, we got talked into ordering their Pecan Pie.

Umm, it’s worth a train ride over to the restaurant for that alone. If you ever find yourself near Times Square, I highly suggest you dine at Southern Hospitality and save room for dessert!

All right. I better get going. I’ll see ya back in the morning with a tropical smoothie recipe.

 

Stay tuned for one final post covering our last day in New York City…