Surprise! Part 2 (Birthday Part 3)

Ah yes, the saga goes on. When we last left you, we were enjoying the Bhangra Blowout stylings of DJ Rekha and guest. The music was pumping, the sweat was dripping, and somehow in all the athleticism, I managed to potentially burn off my entire caloric intake at Le Bernardin. Okay, maybe not, but I was really sweating!

I knew that Rohit had another surprise up his sleeve (this was before the surprise party, details to come). All he told me was that he needed a few hours, either on Saturday or Sunday to pull of his master plan. All I was supposed to do was go along with it. We took the car out of the garage and stopped for the only decent iced coffees within walking distance at our apartment in Harlem (Settepani Bakery), which has now taken to charging $3.50 for a regular sized iced coffee. Ludicrous! Anyhow, we headed to the Triborough Bridge, with Rohit sneaking glances at his driving directions in his lap. I was explicitly told not to look at them. I didn't cheat, don't worry. But in true Pia behavior, I asked a dozen questions. It wasn't until we took the exit, that I realized where we were going: CITY ISLAND!

City Island is a small island just next to Pelham Park in the Bronx. We've always talked about going here, but never quite made it. So there we were, driving down City Island Avenue, which was reminiscent of a small New England beach town during the off season (yes alas, shuttered storefronts and closed business abound). There was an ice cream shop which I scoped out on the way to our destination: Reef's restaurant on the tip of the island, with a full view of the water and lots of sh*tting seagulls.

Reef's isn't fancy. It has picnic tables and cafeteria style dining. It's not a place you take someone if you want to impress them. Unless, of course, that someone is me or anyone else, who loves fresh fried or steamed seafood. We ordered a basket of fried softshell crabs and a basket of fried lobster tails. Each of the baskets came with soggy fries and a watery cup of cole slaw. I had a $3.75-very-generous-on-the-rum pina colada and Rohit had beer from the can. The meal was absolutely divine. I sat on a section of the NY Times since the seat was too hot and the sun beat down upon us. The seagulls cawed at the sidelines, begging for food, but Reef's was smart enough to put up string so they didn't fly overhead. After our stomachs couldn't take anymore, we jumped in the car- I drove!- to Lickety Splits, for some ice cream.

You have to promise not to tell anyone about City Island though. There were the locals and then there was us. And I hope to keep it that way.