Nov 21, 2012

The Campbell Apartment

Usually, I take time today to give thanks to all the blog and Twitter weirdos that I follow or who follow me. But I'm not in a list-y mood, so consider yourself thanked. Whomever you are.

I will give some specific thanks to my Gia and our friends who took me out for a raucous time in NYC this past Saturday for my birthday (which was actually this past Sunday). We had a blast!

For a change of pace, we decided to start out the day in and around Grand Central Terminal. Had drinks and oysters at the Oyster Bar (duh!), then found a joint called The Campbell Apartment which has an entrance into Grand Central on Vanderbilt.  The name is a bit of a misnomer. The spot was actually the huge office space of John W. Campbell, a mega-rich financier from back in the day. Here's a shot which shows off the high ceilings, opulence and the giant safe that Campbell kept in the fireplace (to show off his wealth):

Source
The place was massive, and ornately decorated. And the drink menu was fantastic. I had two cocktails there. A bourbon drink with fennel and candied ginger called a Kentucky Ginger, and an odd mixture called The Port of New York. Dark rum, port wine and chilled espresso. Normally it wouldn't be close to my thing, but I was intrigued. And it was fantastic! 

Source: my phone

You can even see the dead remains of my Kentucky Ginger in the background and someone's Prohibition Punch (in the large snifter) in the background. All were tasty as all heck.

The rest of the day progressed lovingly along this booze path. I believe* I was out until the wee hours with one of the crew chasing after live music down in the Village, but it all got a bit fuzzy after dinner at our friends' apartment. Fuzzy in a good way though.

Wonderful day and evening out in the city. Who could ask for anything more? 

*Just kidding. I remember everything. Almost.

2 comments:

Slyde said...

Happy Birthday, old man....

savannah said...

dude, i missed your birthday, but i have an excuse! i was in l.a.!! sounds as if you had a BLAST! xoxoxoxx