Wednesday, December 29th, 2010—Bar 353
Day 353—Tuesday, December 28th, 2010
Figs
Okay, so I was worried about my flight getting into New York after the huge blizzard that had just hit the city. I had watched reports from my parents house in Peoria that LaGuardia airport was a mess and not many flights were leaving or arriving, but I decided to gamble and try to make it. The flight from Peoria to Chicago was on time and went off without a hitch. When I got to the O’Hare airport my stomach started churning as I saw a bunch of flights to New York were cancelled. I about jumped for joy when I saw that my flight, was running on time! I went and had a couple celebratory drinks and by the time I made it back to the gate the flight was boarding. Hallelujah!
The flight went smoothly and they even granted me a request of three cans of Budweiser at once. They had wifi on board so I was able to work on that day’s bar crawl post and all was well. Till we landed. The wifi cut out, so I put my laptop away and got ready to get out and get a taxi back home. Then we waited on the runway. And we waited some more. Then the pilot announced there was a slight delay in finding a place to taxi to and there would be a short delay. So we waited. And waited some more. Finally after about 45 minutes we taxied into LaGuardia airport and...well, that’s where this bar crawl begins. Let’s get ready to deplane and see what awaits us.
Wow, I had heard people have been stuck here since Sunday night and it sure looks like it. There's people camped out everywhere.
Wow, what a mess.
I have to admit, while feeling sorry for these people, I was thinking, "It sucks for you, but I'm going home, bitches!"
And then karma paid me back via this huge, snaking line to the cabstand. I have never seen one so long. Usually it's a five minute wait, tops.
I heard someone saying it was over a two hour wait to get a cab. I thought about that, then realized I would still have to do my bar crawl after that. And then it hit me: Airport Bar Crawl!
There's a whole food court below, might as well find a bar, wait out the line and just like the sign says: "Relax." Hey, is that woman brushing her teeth on the escalator? Things are bad in here.
The first bar I see is Figs, looks like a perfect stop, especially since I'm feeling beat and I'm dying for a drink.
While the upstairs is packed with people, this looks like a nice little oasis with plenty of seats.
Okay, all is well. I've got a beer and prepare to finish yesterday's post and start work on this one.
Obligatory airport laptop shot!
A long shot of the wooden bar from my seat.
And here's a photo of the other side of the bar.
Some of the beers on draft at Figs.
There's large windows lining the walls showing snowy LaGuardia runways.
"Chargers coach says, 'Neither One."' I'm so proud of him! Maybe next week he'll master complete sentences.
Jessie and Stevie were my two cute and pretty neighbors at the bar. They were waiting for a flight to Cancun and we had a nice conversation about the bar crawl and New York. And guess where they're from? Australia! They live in the city of Geelong, is that anywhere near any of my Australian mates out there? Clacky, Fitzy, Brooksy...anybody? Have a fun trip ladies and send photos from Cancun if you get a chance.
Okay, time to close up shop and see how the cab line is. I ordered a diet Coke to get a hit of caffeine and get me ready to face the line.
Motherfucker! I thought once rush hour was over it would have shrunk. No such luck.
After about a 40 minute wait, there's good news and bad news. The good news is I'm finally outside. The bad news is it's freezing out here.
Okay, I'm in the home stretch!
Finally I'm up to the front of the line and none too soon as I'm losing the feeling in some of my toes.
And finally, I'm on my way home.
Goddamn, time to get inside and cuddle up next to the space heater. Goodnight, everybody!
Review
Okay, I’ve got to unpack and do a bunch of errands and then find tonight’s bar, so I’m going to slack and reprint a review from New York magazine.
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Profile
Until they install one of those restaurants with waiter-masseuses and beds instead of tables, the next best thing in tri-state airport noshing is this 125-seat branch of Todd English's Figs. During flight-delay downtime, curb your air rage with a lively Boston-bibb-and-watercress salad sprinkled with Maytag blue; spaghettini with roasted tomato and toasted breadcrumbs; or a killer to-go flatbread pizza topped with figs, prosciutto, and Gorgonzola in a box designed to fit your seat-back tray. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld
Extra
Figs is located on the first level of the Central Terminal building of LaGuardia Airport between concourses B and C.
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Figs
LaGuardia Airport—Central Terminal
718-446-7600
2 References
Reader Comments (26)
Under the dire circumstances I fully understand doing the crawl at the airport. Then when the taxi dropped you off at home I double understand. So hope you had a nice sleep and down to less than 2 weeks so HOW ABOUT A DARK DIVE FIX.....ok,,,sorry,,, I should ask nicely. Are there any dark dives in NY that you haven't been to? Im checking also.
By God, you did it Marty...YOU DID IT! NOTHING STOPS YOUR ASS!!! Amazing. You've got more on the ball than the post office. Oh, by the way...I never get tired of hearing that Hallelujah song in all it's variations, even if it's been overly used in just about every medical, lawyer and police drama on TV as of late. Lovely, haunting song.
Sheesh! His flight goes without a hitch AND he scores a good bar in LaGuardia. How do you do it?
A dozen bars to go, keep on keepin' on!
@Al: Let me know what you find.
@Jaws: I agree a great and haunting song!
@Ned Sparks: I was amazed I got back. Over half of the New York flights were canelled. I think the Bar Crawl Gods are watching over me. Now watch me get hit by a bus tonight!
Glad you made it back. Nice bar and what cute bar neighbors Jessie and Stevie are! I hope they take you up on the offer of sending in some photos!
Holy fuck ! I've seen it all now ...... some dumb ass brushing their teeth on an escalator ? I'm stunned. Wow ... :(
welcome back to your winter wonderland! LOL! i'd love to see some photos from stevie and jessie in cancun, would warm us up!
Nice work, Marty! Figs actually seems like a decent place to drink (in the airport, anyway). All the bars at JFK are those tiny, little cramped aisles fenced in by iron railings and meanderers. LaGuardia may jut their runways out into the water, but at least they give you some elbow room at the pub! Anyhoo, glad you made it home and that you didn't have to bed down in a corner somewhere for four days (by the way, I looked for you on the NBC Nightly News, but they didn't feature the bar). I hope that Jessie and Stevie made it to Cancun and that all those other folks made it wherever they were going safely and finally. Snow makes all sorts of traffic such a clusterfuck - I don't know how Santa does it! Anyhoo, welcome home! Now go show us another bar!
@Biff: JFK airport sucks! I try to avoid it like the plague. And now...I'm off to another bar...well, shortly.
Agree with everyone else, wow and glad you made it home safe! Good luck trudging through the snow tonight! And I agree with @Jaws, you're even better than the post office.
@Al: You were right, nothing's going to stop Marty!
@kari: Thanks! Now if only I got paid what postal workers get paid, all would be great!
Great stuff Marty! Everything I've seen here tells me NYC is still fucked but it should be, that's a shitload of snow! The Red Barn was a great pick for your last bar in Peoria can't wait to see what you've got lined up next. Maybe a Tiki Bar would be a good pick!
@TheChief: Sorry our paths didn't cross in P-Town, but I've still got 12 to go, so you never know!
@365: Nice work, soldier! Welcome back.
Geelong is closest to Brooksy and is a large regional town south west of Melbourne....which, in this humble commentators opinion, is the greatest, most fun city in the land of OZ.
I dig the photo looking out over Laguardia airport, blue skies, shit loads of snow. Looks mighty chilli.
Makes me want coffee and a blanket.
It's gonna be a warm one down here.
@Clacky: Thanks! And thanks for the Aussie geography lesson!
Marty so glad that you made it home safe and sound.
"I have to admit, while feeling sorry for these people, I was thinking, "It sucks for you, but I'm going home, bitches!" - LOL that is hilarious!! Love it!
@Tiki Bar Susie: I paid for that thought in the cab line!
Don't know what to say , Hmmmmm.
figs nice find at a f'in airport (sorta looks to be a dreaded chain...omg thats two within the last few days...next thing ya know 365 will be sipping warm bud drafts a tgif's or sumthing...just yanking your leg...)...i'm sure all the crawlers are more than glad that 365 returned safe and uh can i say sound and 365 in the same phase...
sorry we didn't see the chief but amber more than made up for his absence...just saying...
hope that heater was functioning and 365 had plenty of blankets...KOC
rr
@raginrr: The heater is sputtering and the blankets have been piled up!
@Marty: A heat wave is headed your way! Yesterday it got up to nearly 40 and it's supposed to be 50 by tomorrow night. Crank out the shorts and find us a tiki hut!
@Biff: That is good news, but I think I've exhausted all the tiki huts in town!