Bagels, Mummies and Dirty, Dirty Puppets

40 Days in Brooklyn - Day 39 

Friday, Oct 28th. I started my last full day in Brooklyn the way many people do—at the Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe.  

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of ordering a gluten-free everything bagel. I do not recommend this. Ever.  After one bite, I traded it out for a regular everything bagel. 

Gluten free. Blech.

Chock full o' Gluten. Yum!

Then, I went back to the apartment to continue the packing process and send a few final emails. And in the afternoon, I finally made it to the Brooklyn Museum. I’d walked by it a hundred times and at last, this was the day I went in.

It's quite an impressive building. And inside, there are many impressive things.

An extensive Egyptian Collection

Some amazing sculptures

A whole section on modern design that I really enjoyed.

A bicycle produced in 1969 that I'd love to buy right now.

The famous Wiggle Chair by Frank O. Gehry. It's made of cardboard.

And a few famous paintings.

Me and George.

After a few hours in the museum, I headed back to the apartment and on a whim, I decided to stop into another place I'd passed many times before.

A soul food cafe

The grilled portobello and brie sandwich.
Not really soul food but delicious nonetheless.

After that, I went back to clean the apartment and prepare for my last night in town.  

Yeah, this is exactly how I do it.

At 7 pm, I met friend Stephanie on West 49th St for a libation at Lillie's Victorian Establishment. Named after the famous actress Lillie Langtry, this place was, as Stephanie so aptly described it, "lit." (Meaning on fire. I know. I had to ask too.) 

Best part? 80's music and videos playing on the big wall, including Hall and Oats, Cyndi Lauper, and an awesome mashup of Madonna's Like a Prayer and Michael Jackson's Beat It. This place felt like my high school dream.

Lillies on 49th. I highly recommend it.

But we only had half an hour in this spectaculicious environment because we had to go pick up our theater tickets for the evening. Our show? Avenue Q.

Yeah, it's 13 years old but live-on-stage puppet sex is
still appealing to, you know, everyone.

This lively and profane show with puppets had Stephanie and I rolling in the aisles. It may be a little dated—one of the characters is supposed to be Gary Coleman, now the super at the apartment building where all the characters live—but it's still very funny. With songs like "It Sucks to be Me", "If You Were Gay", "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist", "The Internet is for Porn", and "You Can Be As Loud As The Hell You Want (When You're Making Love), it was right up my alley. The in-seat beverage service was also a plus—drinks were waiting for us at our seats after intermission. 

And at the end of every show, the cast passes the hat to raise funds for charity. That night was for an organization that helps support aging actors who may not have insurance or pensions, etc. To raise money, they let people take photos with the puppets. And that night, they had Hillary and Donald puppets.  

This was obviously a gag because no one in this town in voting for Donald.

I'll admit that my subway ride home is a bit of a boozy haze. It was late and I was tired but I remember marking the occasion in my mind as "My last subway ride for I don't know how long." I vaguely remember feeling a little sad.

This is probably how I looked.