Trust Garmin and you'll find yourself in Staten Island.

I was meeting my parents in Brooklyn for the Brooklyn Flea, as they were interested in seeing it first hand after seeing some amateur's photos online. Rather than meet at my apartment three exits down off the BQE from the Flea, it was agreed meeting there was best.

0 for 1.

Because it's weekend construction season (when is it not), I used HopStop to figure out how the heck to get there. The 4/5 was out of commission, leaving the blasted Q. Some people are fans. I am not. Never have, never will.

HS greatly underestimated the efficiency of Saturday Q's. By the time I was crossing the Manhattan Bridge I was smacked with 4 voice mails of "we're here, where are you" from two wandering New Jersey antique'rs. Fear not, they were parked and already perusing the trinkets by the time I got there.

My friend MS came along for the "experience," and by that I don't mean the designer jewelry and vintage jackets. For those of you that know my father know what I mean. He had her cornered in Storytelling Lane almost immediately; I'm pretty sure they discussed tennis racket bat killing and pyrotechnics, amongst other things. Somehow, she survived.

So we walked the halls, shared Red Hook lobster sandwiches and stellar grilled cheese, and listened to my old man point out every antique he had as a child. Or blew up. Or still owns.

Not a single picture was taken.

0 for 2.

A trip to the city would not be complete without a supply of the greatest coffee in the land. We hit the road with my old East Village address correctly entered into the Garmin. And ended up in Staten Island. Staten FREAKING Island. Home of at least one Jersey Shore cast member.

0 for 3. Struck out looking.

The onus is on me for this one. I was half paying attention in the back seat, naively trusting technology to lead us to Coffee Heaven 6.1 miles away. Over the Verrazano, into Staten Island and back again is not the way to do it. As a newly minted Brooklynite, I'm downright ashamed.

My parents were on their way home after one unnecessary toll, 30 minutes, and four pounds of coffee later. MS and I took advantage of being below 14th Street and picked up a much-needed sugar kick from Venerio's.


1 for 4.

Antique perfection.

Well, today was a flashback.

Antiques were part of my life growing up in northwest New Jersey. Perhaps this doesn't come as a surprise; I grew up in a town with no zip code, after all. Antique shops dot the streets of Andover, Lafayette. People had garage sales the way we have happy hours now. I spent weekends with my brother and father walking the abandoned tracks of the Lackawanna Cut-off in our pursuit of glass insulators (pictured). They were worth less than a recyclable bottle, but it didn't matter. It's what we did; and we were damn good at it. You know, just three boys climbing trees in pursuit of antique glassware.

So today - yes - a flashback.

I spent much of the morning and early afternoon exploring the Brooklyn Flea, a collection of 100+ "vintage" vendors packed into the old Williamsburg Saving Bank. I woke up to a text message from the friend I was meeting, saying, "pack your camera." Like really, I'd miss this photo opp? I. Think. Not.


The building itself is delicious eye candy. Once obviously a bank, it's now available as a rental space. Sure, it's nice to have Chase on every single corner in Manhattan; but this space is simply beautiful.

Vendors carried an almost overwhelming amount of stuff. I say stuff because the word vintage doesn't come to mind; it's a term used too freely in the city. This was all stuff I've seen before, crammed into tiny mom and pop shops that smelled like dusty piano sheet music and Virginia Slims. It would do us city folk some good to take a weekend trip to the endless rows of shops tucked away north and west from here; the towns themselves left over from another time.

More picture taking than shopping commenced today, but I still managed to buy a set of typewriter cuff links. I'll be back next weekend for a closer look at the goods. Check out the rest of the photos here on Flickr.