escape from new york.

today we shoved a visit to the etsy offices into our departure plans. it was quite a whirlwind of a visit - meeting people, seeing the space. it has been almost exactly a year since our last visit (when we were sleeping in the loft and feeling like we had the best loft in brooklyn for a weekend). things have really grown. gone are the days of taking in wayward craftspeople - the lawyers and fire inspectors put the kibosh on both that and the loft we slept in (that apparently blocked the sprinkler system). it was such a whirlwind visit, in fact, that i didn't even snap one picture. i hope to have a somewhat more easy going visit if we manage to get back to new york later in our travels. although, that place is such a hive of action it's hard to ever imagine subdued moments transpiring there.

at the suggestion of some etsyians, we ate across the street at junior's before shoving off. you get complimentary beets, pickles, corn bread and slaw when you sit down. i was full before i even started into the tuna melt i ordered. the melt was pretty disappointing and gross, actually; processed cheese = my american enemy). but they have a six dollar slice of cheese cake that makes you think it might be worth it, so they are clearly capable of minor miracles.

after filling our bellies with jewishy foods, we braved the bridges and tunnels to make our escape. we got lost in jersey city (as i think we always do) but finally made it out of the sphere of new york with its yelling drivers and disheveled signage. we drove into the more amish & quaker climes of pensylvannia, made a pit stop in east stroudsburg to mail some letters and finally settled into a cheap motel in clearfield, pa.

the maid was nice enough to leave this note for us on a dirty envelope:



i'm turning its insides into buttons.