Going Up To Queens

A few weeks back the Giants came to town to play the Mets.  We had heard from our landlords that, as baseball fans, we needed to check out Citi Field and thought we'd catch the Black & Orange while we were there.  Citi Field opened in 2009 in the parking lot of the old Shea Stadium in Queens.  The main entrance is modeled after the famous Ebbets Field (see below), where Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers played until 1956.  The interior of Citi Field is beautifully crafted with brick, stone, and exposed steel beams to resemble an early-era ballpark (much like AT&T Park).  And to add to the experience, the Giants won in a rout with four homeruns and a Bumgarner gem!  I guess we were good luck during an up-and-down, injury-riddled season.

See any resemblance?

The view from the 'bleeds

Gregg couldn't get over how "Bizarro AT&T" the park was: navy blue beams instead of green, orange and blue banners instead of orange and black, giant Pepsi sign instead of Coke. Madness!

Some great food options (Shake Shack!). The cool skyline sign was taken from the top of the scoreboard at Shea before demolition and placed here.

After the game, we journeyed across the train yard to Flushing Meadows, which is home to the U.S. Open of Tennis.  Since they hadn't quite finished setting up for the big event (which started this past Monday), we were allowed to see the grounds.  Arthur Ashe Stadium houses the headline matches and finals and is impressive in size when you think about how much smaller the court is than most major sports courts/fields/rinks.  What was really cool is that most of the courts are open to the public.  A dad and his kids were whacking tennis balls around on the same court that will hold competition for the U.S. Open this week.  That's a pretty cool experience.

Train graveyard.  Arthur Ashe Stadium in the background.

Cheesin'

 

Gregg loves ESPN <3

The big one...Arthur Ashe Stadium.  Meghan for scale.

You're OUT...ugh...I mean... fault? 

Everything was very well manicured/landscaped.  Meg got lots of ideas for our back patio at the apartment!

Flushing Meadows was also home to two World's Fairs, 1939 and 1964, and we decided to see what was left of them.  The fairs were famous for their optimistic predictions of what life would be like in the "future".  Today only a few of the larger structures from 1964 remain, the Unisphere and the NY State Pavilion.  Both of which are now more famous for their inclusion in various action movies than their original intention.

None of the fountains were working, a sign of the times 

Messin' with the Unisphere

What it looked like in 1964.  Note the brand-new Shea Stadium in the upper left which opened that year as well.

What it looks like when the Men In Black blow it up

And when Robert Downey, Jr. zips by in Iron Man 2

The NY State Pavilion today

with former observation towers....

and the NY State Pavilion in it's former glory

Cool fact for car enthusiasts: the Mustang was unveiled for the first time at the '64 World's Fair and no surprise, was an instant hit



Although the Unisphere is still an impressive sight, it's a shame that there wasn't more permanence to what was built, but that's unfortunately the nature of most World's Fairs.  Cool to see none-the-less!

 

The Hamptons

The Hamptons

We left early (5:30am) for a day trip out to Long Island and the Hamptons.  Our plan was to head to the easternmost tip (Montauk) and make our way back toward Brooklyn throughout the day.  We arrived at the lighthouse around 8:30am, a couple hours before it opened.  The peninsula was actually shrouded in fog so we didn't get much of a view of the ocean anyways :(. 

We stopped in the town of Montauk itself, a small beachtown with a laidback attitude, and enjoyed some breakfast before checking out the beach.

The sand did not disappoint.  Very soft and fine and felt great on our toesies!

(Not pictured: toesies in the sand)

Who knew you could surf in New York?!

Headed west after Montauk and made it to the Hamptons.  The first stop was East Hampton which had a downtown area with high-end retail shops and an overly-eager Lululemon salesgirl.  It was a beautiful and tranquil place and we could instantly see why the area is so popular for vacationing in the summer.  

We continued on to Bridgehampton for lunch then cruised through the neighborhoods to look at the houses.  It's very difficult to see most of the houses because of the huge hedges surrounding the grounds and gates enclosing the driveways (to keep tourists like us from gawking in to their homes we assume).  But every so often you can get a glimpse of a truly spectacular property.

An example of the ubiquitous hedge-and-gate privacy walls.

 

Meg hopped out of the car to snap this pic to fully appreciate how awesome these places are. 

Our last stop before heading home was Southampton, a similar set-up as East Hampton with a downtown area dotted with high-end shops (including a Dash store filled with teenage girls) and restaurants.  The history of this little town is apparent in the architecture and historical buildings, churches, etc.  It's also home to one of the oldest surviving buildings in all of New York, the Halsey House, built in the mid-17th century.  We had a great time exploring the town and nearby beach, if anyone owns a home that needs housesitting in this area please don't hesitate to call us!

Southampton Village Hall on Main Street

A very historical looking Pottery Barn...

Ice cream time!  Aren't the kiddies in the window cute?  

Finally, after a long day of touring through Long Island, we headed back to Brooklyn.  We decided to stop in Williamsburg on the way for some dinner at a very "edgy" spot called Shelter Pizza.  After dinner we took the chance to explore Williamsburg a little bit and found out that it's got a very popular night life!  We'll definitely be going back when we've got more energy, ha ha.

All in all, it was a jam-packed day of driving and exploring, a perfect Saturday.

Bay Ridge/Lombardi's pizza

Just a casual Thursday.. Gregg got off early so we explored the South Brooklyn neighborhood of Bay Ridge.  If you ask someone in Manhattan if they have ever been to Bay Ridge, they might ask, "Where?" There doesn't seem to be much going on there.  Regardless, we went and checked it out.

It was quiet and suburban, there were some very nice houses and a great view of Staten Island and the Verrazano-Narrows bridge, which is the longest U.S. suspension bridge, a mere 60 ft longer than our beloved Golden Gate.  Interesting fact: crossing this bridge will cost you $15 if you're in paying in cash, in BOTH directions!  Makes us miss FasTrak...

Objects in image are larger than they appear..... pano pics ≠ flattering 

The view north from the American Veterans Memorial Pier
(that's Jersey City on the left, Manhattan on the right)

Smallest Cemetery in Brooklyn, Barkaloo.  Some gravestones from Revolutionary War.

This street looked straight out of London, except with blue skies.  And very quiet.

It was such a nice day out and the view of Manhattan was inspiring so we took the train into SoHo for dinner. We cruised around and decided on Lombardi's and had the white pizza. We weren't feeling brave enough to try the "famous" clam pizza, although the white pizza was quite delicious.  There were a lot of tourists dining, and we soon discovered that the true locals do takeout.

Pizza paired well with a pitcher of Brooklyn Lager ;)

After dinner we weren't quite ready to leave so we headed over to Gatsby's for a couple more drinks. It was a night of reminiscing! ❤️

Governor's Island/Katz's/Dinner in the Upper East Side

A Busy Saturday

We started at Governor's Island in the morning.  There's a free ferry that leaves from Brooklyn Bridge Park, pier 6, on the weekends.  There's also free bike rentals from 10am-12pm, but we unfortunately didn't find that out until afterwards.  Since Governor's Island has over 30 acres open to the public to explore, we'll have to take advantage of that the next time we visit.

There were a lot of events going on on the Island when we visited: badminton tournaments, volleyball games, art exhibits, and summer camp outings.  It was neat to see the houses of Colonel's Row that overlooked the parade grounds where the "marching" took place.  They've done a great job at preserving the history of the Island and exhibiting the changes that have taken place over the years.

Relaxing in Hammock Grove
(There are dozens of them!)

Parade Grounds behind and Jersey City in the distance

Built in 1811 to protect NY Harbor

Porchin' it

After a nice morning on Governor's Island, we took another free ferry downtown (we're loving NYC's transit system!) on our way to get some lunch at the famous Katz's Delicatessen.

The old and the new juxtaposed in downtown Manhattan

Our delicious lunch on the Lower East Side at Katz's
(Thanks for the gift certificates!)

Meghan's not sure she'll finish it all and neither is Marisa Tomei

We had plans to meet up with a friend on the Upper East Side after lunch but had some time to kill so we went to Central Park.

Lounging in Sheep's Meadow with a couple hundred friends

Dinner time eventually rolled around and it was time to head over to Beyoglu restaurant.  Unbelievably good pita with hummus and excellent service.  We had a great time enjoying some wine and hanging with the staff during closeouts.

Our classy waiter, Emre, Campo '06

Grabbing drinks while we wait for Emre's shift to end.  Gregg was feeling tropical.

One last picture after checking out a bit of the UES nightlife to cap off a long, fun day!