The final installment of 5 Boroughs in 5 Days might very well be the best. The Bronx. Let me show you why, starting with some sustenance to energize the hours to follow.

Vegan options are sprouting up all over the place. Manhattan and Brooklyn get widespread vegan exposure, Queens and Staten Island, less so, but the Bronx?  Though under the radar, the Bronx, like everywhere really, is getting vegan-friendly, as evident by La Masa Restaurant, a traditional Colombian eatery in the Morris Park section of the Bronx.

And these options are clearly labelled, the service is in-the-know and super friendly, and the food…

…delicious.  I got the Maduro Relleno, sweet ripe plantain stuffed with, in my case, black bean and vegetables after opting for none of the vegan cheese.  I wished I had ordered two!  So tender and flavorful.

Now that I had some energy, it was time to spend a few hours in an old cemetery, one of my favorite excursions.  Woodlawn Cemetery is only slightly smaller than my Green-Wood in Brooklyn, but it has a very different feel.  It is much more level and much more plentiful with… beautiful ladies.  Angels mourning their loss as I tiptoe through.

Take to the sky.

Sad women with delicate flowers

Time smooths sometimes

Yes, we’re annoyed

An angel in this posture is heartbreaking

So many ladies!

Watching

My favorite angel–she’s sick of mourning

I loved the texture of this monument

Avert your eyes: sad angel lesson 1

And watch your hands

Take to the sky, part 2

Then, these odd tree sculptures were all about.  I found them distracting to my melancholy cemetery time.

Whilst north I visited Wave Hill Gardens, a bookmark in my “To Go” folder from many moons ago.  I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I was inspired by the grounds’ great beauty.  There was so much to bask within in a relatively small space.  The property was once a lavish estate leased by Theodore Roosevelt’s family in the late 1800s and then Mark Twain and it overlooks the Palisades across the Hudson River.  (Grammar editor, fix that.)

The gardens blew me away.  They are so meticulous in some areas and then wildly and haphazardly beautiful in others. Though there were plenty sprawled along the grounds, it was quiet and calming. And I felt free to contort myself in strange positions to capture what I wanted to capture.

So mostly I was all over the ground trying to get closer still to this very hungry dragonfly.  But I managed to earn his trust and get right up in his face.

The money shot. What fascinating creatures!

A look in the greenhouse

Gothic flowers

These looked like cigarette butts littered about.

💗

Burnt out sunflowers.  Too much of a good thing…

My last stop was a wonderful vegan opportunity! The Bronx Night Market was set up at Fordham Plaza and was all a-buzz.  The longest line in the market was the vegan stalls.  I got on line and couldn’t help but partaking in some vegan cupcakes from The Uptown Vegan while I waited. 

They had a great selection, but I had my eye on the s’mores and red velvet. 

Vegan cupcakes in the Bronx. Yes, ma’am.

Ok, so I ate this one at home.  Very well done!  Thank you, Uptown Vegan.

This was the big line I was on… waiting for Next Stop Vegan.  They had just gotten some press on the local news with their all-vegan Latin eats.

I ordered hastily without knowing much about the dishes.

I opted for the Mofonquito because I enjoy plantain as a vehicle for other veggies (see La Masa above).  Though I would have asked for no vegan cheese in the whirlwind, I was pleased that it was just a garnish amount and I could flick it off the really scrumptious remainder.  I am loving these vegan Latin options popping up in the boroughs!

Fill my plantain up, please.

A spectacular day in the Bronx. Now I must return soon.