Bronx Week Part IV: Where to Drink Near Van Cortlandt Park

As I said yesterday, without any plan on my part this week turned into Bronx week. Since it's Friday, I figured I would end the week with something on the less serious side.
 
Van Cortlandt Park, New York City's 4th largest at 1,146 acres, is a runner's paradise. With its miles of trails, famed cross country course, and a full-size track, there's plenty to keep runners happy. Of course, all good runs must come to an end and what better way to end a run than with a beer or two (or three, or four). You've got plenty of choices in the area so here are four of my favorites:

Taps at the Bronx Ale House

Name: The Bronx Alehouse
Location: W 238th St and Review Place
Why it's worth checking out: First, they have an awesome beer selection. This was the first, and probably still the only, real craft beer bar in the Bronx. It gets pretty packed in the evenings but they just expanded so there's a little more breathing room. Another great feature? Free popcorn! And for those of you who are veg-heads like me, the Daily News recently names the Bronx Ale House veggie burger one of the best in the city. Only problem? If you're like me, with so many good beers to choose from you won't be able to stop at one or two.


Name:An Beal Bocht Cafe
Location: 216 W 238th St (b/t Waldo and Greystone Ave)
Why it's worth checking out: Although A Beal Bocht pours a mean Guinness, their drinks aren't the reason to schlep up a steap flight of stairs to Riverdale. Why go so far out of your way? For the great live music! An Beal Bocht features live music almost every weekend night plus with amble seating indoors and outdoors this is a bar that's just as much fun on sunny afternoon as in the wee hours of the morning (not that I would know...)  

An Beal Bocht's weekly line-up.

Name: The Punch Bowl
Location: W 238th St and Broadway

Why it's worth checking out: The Punch Bowl is a dive bar in the best sense. There is ZERO pretension here but the folks are all longtime Bronx locals. Sit down at the bar and you're almost guaranteed to strike up a conversation with someone who's been boozing since before you were born. This is the kind of spot you go to do shots or drink cheap beer so don't try ordering any fancy cocktails. If you really want to live life to the fullest, go on a Friday when Dawn (possibly my new best friend) is hosting karaoke.  You may regret everything you do once you get here, but you probably won't remember enough to feel that bad about it.

Name:Mr McGoo's Pub
Location: Broadway and W 231st Street
Why it's worth checking out: If the Punch Bowl is a dive, this is a double-dog-dive. Seriously, I'm not sure I would recommend this place at all except it's so unbelievably cheap. The problem with that, though, is that the clientele are cheap too. Also, I think this is where underage kids from Manhattan College (just a short walk away) go to drink because everyone in here seemed to be around 18. On second thought, I don't recommend this place at all.

Okay, so by now maybe you've realized that this is simply the pub crawl I did on my birthday (minus the pubs I went to when I got back to Manhattan). I'm surprised I have such a good recollection of my escapades given all the cheap sh*t I drank territory I covered.

A Windy Triboro Run

If the harder the wind blows, the more it sucks, then today it sucked pretty hard. This morning when I woke up I could hear  the windows rattling. Because there was a race today, the Dashing Whippets folks didn't have a gropu run scheduled--that meant any run would be a solo effort. I spent a good couple hours wasting time on the interwebs trying to find the courage (or stupidity) to get out there. Finally, I managed to get my but out the door.

Since the winds were out of the west, I figured I would head east as much as possible. That meant I could either run in the Bronx or Queens (run east in Manhattan and you get wet pretty quickly). I don't like to play favorites, so I chose both. I headed north into the Bronx over the Madison Avenue Bridge and made my way to the Bronx span of the Triboro.

Those who have been reading my blog for any length of time (or those who know me in real life) know that I have a thing for bridges. Well, I think the Queens' span of the Triboro (the East River suspension bridge span) is pretty hard to beat: it offers an amazing view of Upper Manhattan all the way to Midtown; it offers a great view of the Hellgate Bridge (one of my favorite bridges to look at); and the bridge's Modernist style is just plain beautiful.

One of my favorite anamolies is the outdated sign at the Queens' end of the bridge. It shows Wards' Island and Randall's Island still partially separated by Little Hell Gate (today the two are fully connected by landfill and most people just think the whole thing is Randall's Island).

Now firmly planted on Long Island soil, I headed to Astoria Park. In spite of the weather there were plenty of other runners in the park. Looking at the giant pool--the oldest and largest in the city--made we wish for summer!

The Hell Gate Bridge

After running under the Hell Gate Bridge, I headed east along 20th Ave heading towards LaGuardia. This takes you past a giant ConEd plant as well as the Steinway & Sons Factory where they still make pianos (one of these days I'll take the tour). I took a little detour so I could pass the entrance to Rikers--not a place I ever want to end up, but I've watched too much Law & Order not to be curious.

This is where my photos stop. My hands were getting cold and taking my iPhone out was adding too much time to the run. Long story short, I toook a circuitous route past Citi Field, through Flushing, College Point, Whitestone and other parts of Queens I've never even heard of (Malba, anyone?).

After stopping for a bagel I caught the LIRR at Murray Hill and headed back into the city. Here's a quick plug for something I just discovered: City Ticket. On weekends you can ride MetroNorth or the LIRR for $3.75 anywhere within the city! If that's not a good excuse for some urban exploring, I don't know what is.

Today's rambling runs was a lot of fun but boy did it take a lot out of me! I think I'm ready for a nap.

See my route after the jump.

Go North Young Man!

I had the brilliant plan of getting my 15 miler out of the way this afternoon. Rather than doing the smart thing and picking an easy (i.e. flat) route, I decided to head north to the Bronx since it's impossible for me to get their during the week (and since I spent a fair amount of time in Brooklyn and Queens over the weekend). I headed to the Hudson River Greenway for my northward trek.

Usually when I'm heading to the northwest Bronx, I'll take the Henry Hudson Bridge. For my first several years in the city it was closed to pedestrians but now it provides a nice direct link from Inwood in Manhattan to Riverdale in the Bronx. Today, however, I mixed things up and took the Broadway Bridge. Going this route not only adds some serious distance, it also adds some nice rolling hills.

I worked my way west to Riverdale and traveled along Palisade Ave which is bordered by Riverdale Park, the Metro North Hudson Line, and the river. There are some awesome views through the trees, especially in the winter when there are no leaves. I stayed on Palisade Ave all the way north to the College of Mount St Vincent before heading east again.

Usually I would head south again at this point and catch the 7th Avenue local back to Manhattan, but since I had more miles to get in I decided to continue east towards the Jerome Avenue line. I mainly followed McLean Ave which is a winding and predominantly Irish thoroughfare in southeast Yonkers. The Times had a story about this stretch back in 2002. I could not believe how many Irish bars there were! At least one on every block!

Finally I made my way to Woodlawn Cemetery and caught the 4 back to Manhattan. This was a great run to explore, though with all the hills it was hardly and easy one. Now I just need to find time to come back and check out some of the great pubs I saw!

See the map after the break.