Scenes from The Cake Boss and Skylark on the Hudson

We've been to Hoboken a number of times. Walked the entire length along the Hudson. Wandered into the back streets. Found our way to restaurants and sports bars. Hoboken can strike you as nearly ideal, in certain weather, at certain hours of the day. It is, always, happening.

It's also home to The Cake Boss. Carlo's Bake Shop sits right there, in the center of things, long lines of sweet-seekers at its door. We stood in that line this past Monday morning because it was about time. Bought a few cookies (and, uh, yeah they were good). Took a few shots. Listened as people ordered boxes upon boxes of delicacies. Then we walked back toward the Hudson, through the train station and into Jersey City, where I had this tower of vegetables at Skylark on the Hudson, a fine diner that, with all its fresh foods and lovely towerings, helped me forget the sugary sins I'd just committed.

Forget all those anxieties about book reviews and sales. This is the real stuff of life.