I was in New York this weekend for a two-day writing seminar. Instead of paying many hundreds of dollars for a hotel room in NYC on an insanely busy weekend, I opted to stay in Red Bank instead, and take NJ Transit's North Coast line to and from the city.
This proved to be a smart move, even if I did need to get on the train just after 7am to be into New York by 9am.
At least I got a pretty sunrise on Saturday morning.
It was fine for a solution to getting to and from New York on a weekend, but I gotta admit: I can't imagine commuting that way every day. That's a lot of train time.
I stayed at the Molly Pitcher Inn, which was more than fine for the price ($109 pre fees and taxes as booked through kayak.com). The room was nice but small. If you must have a TV in your room, make that known. I didn't have one in mine.
My only problem wasn't with the inn but the guests: specifically wedding guests who decided to have an after party from the hours of three to four am in the room next to me. There was some making out in the hall, too. Apparently the drunk girl was really looking forward to biting the drunk guy. At about four am when two women decided to have a conversation outside of my door, I finally told them to shut up. This isn't a knock against the inn (I hadn't called the front desk), but oy what a mess.
On Saturday night, I had dinner at Basil T's, which was CROWDED. I had to wait for a seat at the bar.
I wanted to try one of their craft brews, but I was so tired from a long day of writing that I just wanted a big glass of red wine, which is exactly what I ordered. The food was good - service wasn't great (I have a feeling my server was just having an off day).
On Sunday, I skipped my afternoon session to meet up with Erin of Relax Concierge for lunch at Langosta Lounge in Asbury Park. It wasn't terribly warm, but it wasn't cold either. Nice crowd on the boardwalk though.
After lunch, we walked to Porta, which is a new place that opened this year. Can I admit that I'm enchanted? What a lovely spot. Here's Erin acting as a Price is Right model.
They have an outdoor area with a bocce court. That in itself is cool. But even better? This.
What an excellent idea! Especially for a new-ish business in a shore town that's busy but not exactly jammed this time of year. It really reaches out to locals, who I think is the crowd they want to be sitting at their bar.
Long weekend, but a good one.
On another note, I've been getting a lot of emails and tweets about my hair - specifically that I cut off 12 inches of it. So here's an update on that (as taken from the Molly Pitcher Inn).
Apparently the best way to style it is to sleep with it wet. Who knew? I don't hate it. It's just...different.
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