Doing minimal research had worked out so well for our Greenpoint walkabout that Andrea and I figured we’d be OK in Bushwick—and we were wrong. I assumed that the interesting part(s) had to be near Roberta’s, where I insisted we have lunch, but if that’s the case, we missed them. Then again, it’s possible we missed Bushwick entirely. “If you enter Bushwick into a Google Maps search,” emailed Andrea once we returned to Tribeca, “the map comes up with an area delineated by a dashed red line. We were just west of it. Got more intel from my son—his second residence [in other words, his girlfriend’s place] is in a very residential section of East Bushwick (Halsey stop on the J train).”

So I guess this Field Trip is actually about the Possibly Unnamed Neighborhood West of Bushwick, or PUNWOB. [Update: Thanks to Deric for commenting that it’s actually called Morgantown.]

The afternoon started off well, when I found this postage-stamp-size photo at the Eight Avenue L station.

And how can you not love the mosaic signage at the Morgan Avenue station?

We went straight to Roberta’s. I’d been there before and loved it—the place reminds me of how the city used to be, before it all got so cleaned up. We had two excellent salads and a pizza (the Gorgon Ramsay) that could’ve used more gorgonzola.

I can’t speak for Andrea’s experience in the women’s restroom, but the graffiti in the men’s room was inspiring.

And the truck delivering wood for the pizza oven was a nice, rustic touch. It reminded me of when Adam and I rented a house in Connecticut, and the young man who delivered our firewood order said, “I don’t stack.”

Then we walked and walked and walked. At first, there was plenty of street art and other character, and then it became generically industrial. I even felt vulnerable—the area was so desolate that a mugger could have pretty much done what he/she wanted with us. Even that made me nostalgic.

And then, I guess, we were in the heart of PUNWOB. It was residential and industrial, all mixed together—and somewhat refreshing, in that it reminded me of the East Village and Lower East Side back in the day.

At one point, I thought we had entered Greenpoint from the rear, so to speak; this church looked like the one we saw there.

My favorite sign:

My least favorite sign:

I’m not lying when I say I found PUNWOB refreshing, but I was also hoping to buy shit gifts. Luckily, we came across a shop (called Sta. Barbara, I think) selling religious icons, candles, and so on. I picked up some bath oil for an unlucky friend.

But if we’re going to be honest, I was hoping for a tad more gentrification. So sue me! And we were getting peckish. There was a street—it must have had a name—with a skate shop and a café where the sidewalk tree had inexplicably been phoneboothed. Alas, the café was too hot inside, so we kept walking.

Roberta’s saved the day. The adjacent building now sells takeout, including pastries, so we bought a sticky bun and had a lovely break at the garden area’s picnic tables.

Andrea thinks she might need to give Bushwick—the real Bushwick—another try, but then she likes Girls. I think I’m ready on to move on to Bed-Stuy….

P.S.