Although CBGB's is long gone, evidence of its existence are everywhere.

On the Bowery in New York City in the 1970s, a crappy little bar would become a monument in the history of rock & roll. For 33 years, CBGB & OMFUG, or Country, Blue Grass, Blues, and Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers, was located at 315 Bowery & Bleecker Street. The club was founded in 1973 by owner Hilly Kristal, who originally intended to host artists in the genres that the title implies, but in bands like The Ramones and Television, who were the first punk bands to play the venue, Kristal found a pleasant surprise – not only a new breed of rock music, but a new anti-establishment attitude and a fashion and performance style that would be remembered and emulated for decades to come.

Other groups like The Talking Heads, Blondie, and The Patti Smith Group made the club famous, but as punk died CBGB still functioned as a popular venue for emerging artists up until it closed down.

Kristal owed tens of thousands of dollars in back rent to the Bowery Residents Committee, and after a legal battle ensued and rent was eventually doubled, keeping CBGB open was simply unaffordable. On October 15, 2006, the club hosted its final show, and on October 31, the CBGB store closed down, eliminating an important landmark from the Bowery forever.

Ideas to reconstruct CBGB in Las Vegas were not materialized, as Hilly Kristal passed away in 2007 from lung cancer at the age of 75. The original awning and many other artifacts from the club, such as some sound equipment, some of the walls, and a urinal can be found at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, located at 76 Mercer Street, about a ten minute walk from Bowery & Bleecker. The website, www.cbgb.com, is still up and running, and provides interesting information about the history of the club, links to the online store, a cool 360 degree virtual tour.

The John Varvatos store now occupies 315 Bowery & Bleecker Street in place of CBGB OMFUG

Today, 315 Bowery & Bleecker Street is home to a John Varvatos store, which opened in 2008. It’s a great place to go if you’re in the market for all things leather and grossly overpriced, or if you just want to take in what remains of the walls of CBGB, which were covered in graffiti, fliers, stickers, and possibly a decent amount of blood and other bodily fluids (rock & roll!).

Though the infamous club no longer remains and the street seems to have mellowed over the past three years, Bowery & Bleecker Street is still a highly recommended area for the music fanatic or the modern day beatnik looking for something to do over the weekend. Some of the gems in the immediate vicinity include the Morrison Hotel Gallery of music photography next door to the Varvatos store, he Bowery Poetry Club across the street, and Think coffee shop, a quaint shop with Fair Trade shade grown and organic coffee that is open daily until 11:30 p.m.

Down under the Manhattan/Brooklyn overpass, there is a pizzeria.

Grimaldi’s has been a New York institution for decades, and it attracts scores of New Yorkers, tourists and pizza connoisseurs to its small, cozy shop in what’s known as DUMBO (see first sentence).

The line on a recent Sunday was unbelievable. It snaked out the store and down the block, and resembled lines that form ahead of a concert by a popular band, not a pizza joint. If you go, bring someone who has some reading to do, because the line, which indiscriminately makes no separate line for those who are taking out, will take quite a while.

The Manhattan Bridge as seen from the DUMBO Flea Market

While your placeholder waits, there are a number of things to explore nearby. But during these fall weekends, the best place to spend your afternoon is the DUMBO flea market and farmers market. Both feature local producers and shop owners, and both attract a younger, painfully hip smorgasbord of New Yorkers: blasé, free-spirited college students from NYU and Columbia; local, 30something residents pushing strollers; and wayward tourists who clearly stumbled upon DUMBO by happy accident.

The flea market offers up a range of goods. Used clothing can be found in many of the tents, as can old and odd pieces of furniture, window dressings, books and a wide range of knick-knacks. But even if used goods don’t float your boat, walking around the space is itself a treat. The market, housed directly under the Brooklyn Bridge, provides some of the city’s best views of Manhattan. And an adjacent nearby park puts you right on the harbor.

The farmers’ market is less impressive, though just as unique and popular. If Grismaldi’s line is unbearable, pick up some picnic food and take it to the park. Or if you are really craving pizza, the flea market has its own brick-oven pizza vendor and local bakery tent right by the entrance.

And for dessert, head to nearby Jacques Torres Chocolates. The shop looks like it was plucked out of a small village in Switzerland, complete with ornate decorations, a stove for warming their cookies, and of course, delicious chocolate.

Cost: $$$$$

Time: 3 to 4 hours

Directions: A/C Subway to High Street; F Subway to York Street; or 2/3 Subway to Clark Street. Click for full directions.