As the parks and recreation department says:Although widely known for its beautiful pool, the oldest and largest in the city, Astoria Park offers more than aquatic pleasures. Outdoor tennis courts, a track, a bandstand, multiple trails, basketball courts, and playgrounds lure visitors from the five boroughs and beyond. And the views! Sitting on the edge of the East River and resting between the Triborough Bridge and Hell Gate Bridge, the park offers shoreline sights and sounds that make the benches along its perimeter popular spots year-round.
We walked for a bit before choosing a bench along the water- here's a view from where we sat.
And to truly make the day complete, we had stopped at Brooklyn Bagel on the way to the park. (Can we take a moment and chuckle over the fact that although their are THREE of these stores in NYC, not ONE of them is actually in Brooklyn?) I love their bagels, and enjoyed a plain one with strawberry shmear. SFS might have had one with lox, which is more traditional, but not as pretty to look at, in my opinion...
As we sat enjoying our breakfast, we watched the water traffic along the East River. We saw barges from the DEP, people on jet skis (can you believe it?), and these lovely sail boats.
I miss my camera SO much...
After walking along the water for a while, we picked a spot in the park and sat down for some 'sun time'. We took my bike along for the day- I rode while SFS walked really fast... I love my bike SO much... I even filled the basket up with all sorts of goodies that we used along the way...
And unlike last weekend, I thought to bring along a sheet for us to sit on. Note to self: remember to bring FLAT sheet and not fitted sheet, or else you will look like a major dork!
We set up shop right below the Triborough Bridge... this was our view from where we sat. Ooops- sorry about that- I mean we sat beneath the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge... I keep forgetting that they recently changed it's name!
Even though I lived in TX for a couple years, I am a Midwesterner through and through... which meant I couldn't handle laying in the sun too long! Lucky for me, SFS is very accommodating, and we eventually made our way to the Beer Garden. If you haven't heard of it, the Beer Garden is a real gem in this city- they have TONS of imported beer on tap, and they have a GIANT (by NYC standards) patio area, full of picnic tables. It's a really popular place to congregate with large groups of people- pitchers of beer are a flat price, and the seating is first come, first serve... plus, they have awesome food! SFS and I shared some fresh cucumber salad and a brat... it was DELISH!
On the way back to my apartment, I let SFS ride my bike... and he left me in his dust!
Later on that evening, I decided I wanted to make homemade pizza. I had picked up the dough at a local bakery, and SFS showed me how real Italians stretch a pie! (Despite the picture, I promise he was having a good time!)
Not to be outdone, I decided to use some HOME GROWN BASIL on the pizza, along with some tomatoes and artichokes on one half. It turned out decently, but I'll have do a little more practice before I make it for anyone else. (I'm lucky that SFS is a doll and will eat anything I make!)
On Sunday, my friend Mase was in town- we had gone to SMU together, and I hadn't seen him since graduation a few years ago. As we waited to meet up with him, SFS and I headed over to Times Square to check out the new pedestrian area. If you've been to the Crossroads of the World, you know just how congested it really is! The city of NY is trying to combat that by closing down traffic on Broadway between 47th and 42nd streets. Though the cross streets are open, the rest of Broadway is now strewn with folding chairs and the like... all provided by the city! I believe the idea is still in the temporary stages- but if things work out, they'll do some construction and really make it an urban promenade.
And because SFS has a weird sort of luck, we happened to find seats RIGHT NEXT to the Naked Cowboy. Wow, was THAT a site to behold. There was a line of people looking to take a picture with him- and at $1 a pop, he was raking it in! (Don't worry- I didn't take a pic of that!)
And now, I have an embarrassing little secret... I'm officially obsessed with those Pure Michigan commercials. Have you seen them? The first time I saw one a few months ago, I was a mess... and since then, I get teary-eyed whenever I see one. Thankfully, I'm not the only one who feels that way. My friend Greg, from the the Grand Rapids area, feels the same way! One day he sent me a link to the MI tourism website and we each watched ALL the ads! Needless to say, my mascara was running that day!So as SFS and I were relaxing in Times Square, guess what he spotted? A Pure Michigan billboard... at 48th and 7th Ave! I was thrilled, and we headed to the top of the TKTS stairs to get a picture... and a nice tourist offered to take one of us together!
I hope you can see it just to the right of me... the blue billboard? I was thrilled!After that, SFS and I went with Mase and his friend Kathy to brunch at Rue 57, followed by a stroll up to Lincoln Center to check out the new construction. It was such a fun weekend, and I didn't get any sunburn- YAY! I hope you had a great weekend as well- Happy Monday!
