June 4
About a year ago Summy and her friends invited me to join them for an arts festival on Governors Island. At the time I didn’t even know such a place existed, so I was excited to visit such a relaxing spot away from all of the hustle and bustle.
Even though I had already been there, I was intrigued to see there was a Meetup event this June that involved a tour of the island. The cost was $15, the same as the Central Park tour I took back in April (and hosted by the same Meetup group). When I first arrived to check in with the group, I realized that the ferry to Governors Island is free for three different trips on Saturday mornings. With that being said, I was starting to become a bit confused as to the purpose of the fee.
When we first arrived on the island, our group leader took us to Fort Jay, where a park ranger was waiting to give us a 15 minute history lesson on the surrounding structure. I don’t believe this was an area I had seen during last year’s visit, so it was interesting to get some background information.
After the “tour” had concluded, we all shuffled along to some of the houses open for viewing, but because most people had started to sound “hangry,” we quickly ran off to the food trucks. The area was so busy and crowded that by the time I got my food, most people were done eating the lunches they had packed. We also started to lose a lot of our group members at this point, two of whom I had been talking with to determine why exactly we were charged $15. No one knew! In fact, when we finally went to Castle Williams, we didn’t even get any kind of tour there. The ferry ride had been free, the park ranger’s “tour” had been free, and I paid for my own lunch. The $15 charge still remains a mystery, especially when i could have done all of that myself…for free!
Since the couple of hours at Governors Island turned out to be a bust, I decided to take advantage of the favorable weather and finally go walk the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time. On my way I got sidetracked by a candy store and couldn’t pass on the opportunity to stock up on some sweets I don’t normally see when I’m shopping.
The pedestrian path of the bridge was more crowded than I anticipated. Even though it’s one of those “bucket list” items for a trip to the Big Apple, it was never high on my list of priorities. Since I had time to kill, however, it was nice to get some great pictures!
June 12
There didn’t seem to be many events going on that weekend, but there was no way I was just going to sit around in my apartment all day. The weather thus far has been a blessing, and I want to take advantage of it while I can!
Midtown was bustling thanks to the Puerto Rican Day parade going on, and after I got a couple of mediocre photos, I took the subway nearly all the way south to enjoy a day walking back North along the river.
I mentioned that back in April I had stopped at a Shake Shack in Brooklyn before seeing a show, and was disgusted they gave me a nearly raw burger. When I stopped at the Battery Park location this time I asked for “well done” and hoped for the best. Thankfully they listened, and I was able to devour the juicy sandwich while sitting along the Hudson.
I spent most of the afternoon strolling on the boardwalk, walking the entire Highline, then finished my day at the bus station to return home. That was the first time I had walked all the way from the 9-11 Memorial to 42nd street, but all of the exercise was surprisingly invigorating!
June 18
A couple of weeks ago, Liz informed me that she accepted a job out of state and would be moving in a month. Although I’m happy for her, I’m certainly sad to see another friend leave the area!
With that being said, I posted on the website Go Find Friends yet again to see if anyone was interested in joining me at Coney Island yesterday for the annual Mermaid Parade. One girl reached out, so I gave her my number and she replied that she (and the person she was also meeting) would text me when they got there.
When I finally stepped out of the subway station after the lengthy trip, I was in complete awe . I’m not even that big into amusement parks, but I was more surprised that this sort of place existed within the NYC limits. It reminded me a lot of a similar neighborhood back home called Geneva-on-the-Lake, but with far more rides. Luckily it wasn’t overly crowded here, so I was able to stroll much of the grounds and snap some pictures.
I also wanted to get a better look at the beach/ocean but the police barricades for the parade made it difficult to get over there, so I gave up for the time being.
I had heard a lot about Nathan’s Famous Hot dogs, and decided that would be my lunch for the day. I was impressed! (Well, once they made amends after forgetting the cheese on my cheese dog).
The parade wasn’t due to start for another 40 minutes or so, but I felt it would be wise to head to the street and see if I could snag a spot for decent viewing. Just as I walked up to an open area around the police barrier, some guy came charging at me and shouting, “Excuse me! That’s my spot!” He could have been Sheldon Cooper. Then he added, “That’s my backpack there!” I glanced to my right at the backpack that was nearly two feet away. Are you kidding me? I said “Not a problem” and almost had to stifle a laugh. As someone who is used to having people cut in front of me during a parade, I would never do that to someone else. I wasn’t about to listen to the guy ramble on about how he and his wife (who never mentioned the spot was “taken) had been there for an hour, while also implying that I had some sort of malicious intent. There were plenty of other available spots for me to pick instead.
The parade was slow to start, and there were so many lengthy gaps that people’s impatience quickly grew. I did enjoy looking at all of the creative floats and costumes, but certainly could have done without the many women who were basically topless.
After a while, the costumes I was seeing started to seem repetitive, I was roasting in the sun, and I had someone shoving their camera next to my face constantly to take pictures. I also got tired of standing and felt it was time to head back into the park to do more sightseeing. The problem? There didn’t seem to be an easy solution to crossing the street; people felt trapped. I decided it wasn’t worth sticking around with crowds becoming worse than the ones in Times Square, and returned to the subway station.
I never did get a text from the girl I had given my number to, and although I later found out she had given me hers as well (after I left for the city), she said she would be the one to reach out to me. Sadly, I wasn’t surprised not to hear from her…
The parade was probably not something I’d do again, but I would like to return to Coney Island again at a time when I won’t be as…squished.
That's What Shay Said 