Saturday, June 22, 2019
Saturday was a busy day in Brooklyn!
Early in the morning we left our Airbnb to head over to Coney Island. The one word that summarizes the area is: ‘murica. It was all of the stereotypes of America put together: the deep fried mac & cheese, the loud noise volume, the amount of american flags etc. etc. Coney Island is the place to go to have your typical american experience. We watched the annual Mermaid Parade – very interesting & entertaining.
For lunch we went to the first Nathan’s Famous restaurant (opened in 1916). I was absolutely shocked to discover that they have Orangede there. In case you are not my family from my hometown… Orangeade is THE BEST DRINK from Mackies in Port Stanley, Ontario. It is an acquired taste but it takes me right back to my childhood at the beach with my family. I was beyond happy to find it here!
The beach was quite honestly insanely crowded & a bit dirty. The humidity was crazy so we decided to go inside to the NYC Aquarium. Seeing all the amazing underwater life really reminded me of how much I want to get my PADI open water certification (asap). Hopefully I can get it after graduation!
We finished our day at Coney Island by going up in the iconic ferris wheel (how cute) and getting some homemade gelato. A perfect end to an interesting day!
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Sunday was another outdoor adventure day.
We started off by heading over to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens near Prospect Park!
If you know me, you know that I love nature. It was amazing to spend the day surrounded by the colour green! There was a huge rose display, a bonsai tree section, and a strangely strict group of park monitors. There was only one section on the grass to sit on – no blankets, no food, no drinks. Again, like the elderly couple we are, we had a nap on the grass for a good 30 minutes.
One of the buildings had the most beautiful quote on it: “He is happiest who hath power to gather wisdom from a flower” (Mary Howitt).
After our ~exhausting~ day we decided to treat ourselves by heading over to the “New Yorks Best Cheesecake” at Eileen’s Special Cheesecake. We couldn’t decide what we wanted so we decided to just get the classic NYC cheesecake – not a piece but a full cake! I really lucked out in the boyfriend department, who else would travel to Manhattan just to get the cheesecake?
We then went to Seamore’s for dinner outside to enjoy the last few hours of sunlight.
Feeling ready to work off our cheesecake treat, we headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge to watch the sunset. I have a few hints if this is something you are ever interested in doing:
- Start from Brooklyn not Manhattan (for the best sunset views).
- The walk is a lot longer than you think so wear comfortable shoes.
- Make sure to google how to get to the pedestrian entrance of the bridge before you walk 10 blocks trying to find it.
- Go with someone you love and pretend that you are in a cheesy New York rom-com.
*Note: Yes I am a few weeks behind! I am catching up as quickly as I can so stay tuned for more posts over the next few days!!
Thanks for reading!
Xoxo,
Tara
Tara's Terra 