Getting Lucky on Long Island

Every night I pray that the next morning I am woken up by Mother Nature's avian alarm and that the sun's warm fingertips will caress me out of dream world. My sundresses are hanging in the closet aching to be worn and flip flops have emerged from underneath the passenger seat of my car. I think I've been hiding from my blog for the past two months because I've been too busy counting down the days until I feel the sand between my toes and the smiley face stickers plastered to my face (reference to the Boardy Barn for those of you who haven't experienced its glory). Its April and I still have on wool socks, my Eskimo boots, and turtlenecks. But even though the monotony of my weekends hasn't been blog worthy, last weekend was definitely worth sharing with the world.

Luckily I don't have to board a plane to see any of my friends from college, so we usually try to plan a monthly get together. Months earlier we had purchased tickets to see Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj at Nassau Coliseum on March 27th, so last weekend four of my girlfriends boarded the legendary double decker train for a fantastic weekend on Long Island. Since my friends and I seem to have a serious infatuation with food we tend to base our gatherings around where we will be stuffing our faces. For all of you who have a similar obsession you must indulge a few meals in Huntington. 

First stop on our culinary journey was Pancho Villas home to the most amazing pomegranate margaritas that have ever graced my taste buds. We started off with a pitcher of pink frozen goodness and I welcomed the brain freeze. It had just enough tequila to leave you warm and tingly but not too much that the valet has to help your friends carry you to the car. Even though Pancho Villas' claim to fame is their "sizzling fajitas" I abided by my meatless Catholic boundaries and got the vegetarian combination. A crispy taco packed with creamy fresh guacamole and crunchy lettuce, a warm flour tortilla stuffed with smooth refried beans and melted cheese accompanied by a heaping scoop of rice, salsa and endless tortilla chips satisfied my Mexican craving for under ten bucks! Is your mouth watering yet? Keep reading. 

After burning those calories off bar hopping, we soon replaced them the next morning at Toast & Co. Tucked on a side street of Downtown Huntington, their menu offers a funky twist on comfort food and classic dishes. Since I have only ever been there for breakfast I can vouch for the first page of their enormous menu, although their creative sandwiches such as "Shrimp and Guacamole BLT" and inventive entrees such as "What a Crock of Mac 'n' Cheese" seem like they are definitely worth coming back for. 

My friend that lives in Huntington walked in like she was the Queen of England; Toast was packed with people eating, tucked in the nooks and crannies of the restaurant, but magically a table for five opened up. We were ushered to the neon orange table like royalty. We sipped on chocolate milks, coffee and tea and analyzed each item with growling stomachs and aching heads. The options were endless- Ricotta Lemon Pancakes with chocolate ganache and hazelnuts, Blueberry cream cheese stuffed French Toast or Eggs with Scallion Bisquits were just a few of the tantalizing options listed on this mouthwatering breakfast menu. As usual, I was overwhelmed with options and opted for a create-your-own omelet (which thinking about it now sounds like an oxymoron). But next time I am going for the veggie skillet, a hodgepodge of steaming vegetables, sweet potato homefries, and over easy eggs all blanketed in melted cheese. Oh, and a mimosa!
Still not drooling?

We continued on our edacious endeavor to Jericho Cider Mill where cars line Route 106 to pay homage to this tiny apple sanctuary. If you are lucky enough to snag one of the 10 parking spots, you will nearly be knocked down by the sweet scent of fresh baked pies. But we weren't here for the apple crumb or even the apple turnovers, we had frapples on our minds. Served in a simple styrofoam cup, this healthy Slurpee is an ingenious concoction of frozen apple cider that puts a new spin on a Thanksgiving favorite. And get a large, trust me.



Live hAPPLEy

 After letting our inner gluttons run rampant for two days it was finally Sunday evening and the concert we had been looking forward to for months was here, but of course we needed to eat first. Sapsuckers Hops and Grub is a relatively new restaurant that may look like any other dimly lit pub, but has a menu that gives any five star eatery a run for their money. Organic and local ingredients give this cozy bar an upscale feel and the extensive beer menu will take your palate on an international tour without ever leaving your seat. Amongst the homemade black bean soup, wild boar sausage dogs, and gorgonzola burgers, I settled upon the Cuban sandwich. Served with a crunchy pickle and rosemary and thyme tossed french fries, my sandwich put all other Cubans to shame. I pulled apart my toasted ciabatta bread to a spider's web of Swiss cheese. It was the perfect start to an even better night.




So pretty and unsuspecting


When we parked at Nassau Coliseum, we hopped on line, emptied our pockets and walked through a metal detector, just like any other normal concert or airplane boarding procedure. After scanning our tickets we tried to find our seats and found ourselves walking upstairs- understandable since we opted for the $107 tickets, I'd assume we would be towards the back. Row L, row M, row N, more stairs and more stairs; by the time we made it to our seats I had developed acrophobia. We were two rows away from the last possible row in the entire stadium. If I stood on my seat I could graze the ceiling with my head. Accepting our position we settled into our seats for the opening act, when an attractive guy in a gray jacket approached us.

"Are you guys huge Lil' Wayne fans?"

We looked at each trying to decipher that was really suppose to be. What was his motive? They all have one.

He asked us again,

"Are you guys Lil Wayne fans?"

But this time he held up the purple V.I.P. pass hanging from his neck. My bravest friend (aka the one sitting closest to him) spoke for the group, "Uh yeah." The second she closed her mouth he handed her four tickets: seat 11-14 row 1.

Smitten with disbelief, my heart dropped into my stomach as we followed our prince charming down section by section, security guard by security guard to the front row. This is the kind of thing that usually happens to my mom's coworker's daughter or my cousin's friend from school, some kind of exclusive luck that always happens to a friend of a friend, but never to me. I have that there's-a-hair-in-my-sandwich or I-spilled-coffee-on-my-shirt-before-a-huge-presentation kind of luck.

When the concert began Lil Wayne was raised from beneath the stage two feet away from our seats. We were so close I was blinded by his silver studded teeth. When he lowered his sunglasses I could see his pupils. If we were any closer the chain hanging from his crocodile patterned pants would have hit me in the face! Okay not really but you can sense my excitement. I have never experienced a live performance up close and personal. This is what being wealthy must feel like. We had even hit the rap star motherload.  A plethora of unannounced performers showed up throughout the show such as Busta Ryhmes, Ludacris, Birdman and Dj Khaleed. Even if you hate Lil Wayne and all things rap related (coughdadcough) I know there is a teeny tiny pang of envy nestled inside you. Thank you to our concert savior, if I knew your name I would name my first born after you.