I used to live the The Heights, one of the sections of Jersey City that is "up and coming." Unfortunately my experience there tells me that "up and coming" actually means "place where your car gets stolen." Granted, it wasn't my car, but it hurts all the same. RIP Stryker. May you rest in peace in that tow pound in the sky...
Anyway, whenever we went out in the city or to Hoboken while living in the Heights and took the PATH home, we had 2 delightful food options to assuage our drunken hunger when we returned home. The first was Deli Plus, a wonderful delicatessen inside the Journal Square PATH Station. Option number 2 was White Castle, just a few steps from the train and on our way home. At Deli Plus, you can get the most excellent turkey sandwiches found on God's green earth, while at White Castle you could either gorge yourself on sliders that smelled and tasted the same coming out the next day as they did going in, or feast on a tasty sack of chicken rings dipped in White Castle's signature honey mustard. Suffice it to say, those two places hold a special place in the hearts of those of us who lived in the Heights, and ever since we've moved to a different part of the JC, we've spoken about one night bypassing our PATH stop and going all the way back to Journal Square and re-living the glory days of yore. Well, since I didn't have to work all last week, that night finally arrived for me. Of course, I documented the whole night in photographs. Please enjoy my photo essay.
The night began for the woman and I at the Rangers - Columbus Blue Jackets game at Madison Square Garden. It was a rousing 7-4 victory for the Rangers; a fantastic game to watch. Too bad they suck now.
From the Ranger game, we continued on to McSorley's, the greatest bar in New York City, hands down. I'm not kidding. It's that awesome.
After a long night of drinkin' some of NYC's finest, we headed back to the JC on the PATH, going all the way to Journal Square in search for the Holy Grail of food.
With a half hour between trains to get back home, we had precious little time to make our dreams come true. First we left the PATH and ran to White Castle.
We suffered our first setback here, as the restaurant proper was closed; only the drive-thru remained open, and White Castle doesn't allow walk-ups. So we did what we always used to do in this situation: we wait for someone to drive up, and we convince them to get food for us if we give them money. This delightful young man in my blurry photo was kind enough to help us out.
The kind gentleman placed our order: 6 cheeseburgers, 4 chicken ring sandwiches with cheese, and a sack of chicken rings. My mouth was watering, and my pants grew ever tighter. We walked around the building and sat on the curb, waiting for the goods to be delivered. When our bag of gold was given to our friend, he flashed his headlights at us and we went to the car to receive our prize. 1 down, 1 to go.
With our first bag of happiness in hand, we headed back to Journal Square to complete our mission. We got to the station, headed down the escalator, and entered our deli sanctuary.
Turkey Sandwiches of Ecstasy in hand, we headed down to the platform...
...just as the train was arriving. Perfect timing, for the perfect night of perfect culinary treats.
We got back to Newport, and headed up the tunnel from the platform...
...walked down the street past the classiest adult beverage establishment in the JC...
...and arrived at home to feast.
Post-gluttony, we retired to our slumber at around 3:00 AM. It was the slumber of champions, the kind of slumber that you only read and hear about in great tales of mythology. Suffice it to say, I was happy. Suffice it also to say, I shit my brains out at 6:30 AM. And yes, it smelled like White Castle.
Wow that was a thorough blog. I felt full just reading about all the food
ReplyDeleteEPIC! Stryker was a kind sir. He will always be missed.
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