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I celebrated my friend’s 21st birthday back in May, and I liked how he planned out his whole day to include different places with different people. I stole his itinerary, and filled in the blanks with my own hotspots. I started the day with brunch, then shifted to Happy Hour bar hopping, and finished at a cheap eatery. I knew my college aged friends all had their own responsibilities, so this game plan allowed the people I invited to ebb and flow with me as they pleased without feeling bad they couldn’t come at all.
I started the day with brunch at Cafe Mogador: a popular Moroccan brunch spot in the East Village. I was glad I only had a party of six, because I don’t thing this hole-in-the-wall could have handled more than that. I got a couple of blood orange mimosas with my eggs benedict, which gave me the energy I needed for the rest of the day.
I ruled out that I did not have the budget to party in Meatpacking all afternoon, so I stole an idea from Broad City to parade up and down St. Marks Place. This street in the East Village is filled with NYU students looking for a cool t-shirt and cheap tattoo, and the bars have a kooky atmosphere I was looking to be a part of.
My group made our way into Barcade: a bar known for its authentic vintage arcade games including Ms. Pac-Man, Mortal Combat, and Speed Racer. $10 got my group of 4 enough game tokens to keep us entertained while we drank beer and St. Marks Iced Teas, and we determined that I did learn a thing or two from my dad’s old Atari.
After we ran out of coins, we got two pitchers of beer at The 13th Step. There was no longer a chance of rain and the music was really loud inside, so we got a table outside. I thought it was a good idea to order a Colossal Nachos “for the table,” which was probably the closest I have ever been to competing in an eating challenge. They were damn good nachos though.
Later in the evening, I went to S’MAC with a group of friends that couldn’t make it to Happy Hour. After all of those nachos, I decided to just split a small dish with a friend while we talked about what they’ve been up to all summer. It was really great to see everyone and have a fun Saturday before the pressures of senior year start to build, and I hope now that I am of legal age I can relax with good friends and good wine after a long hard day.