BROOKLYN – New York City never ceases to amaze me.
This past weekend, my roommate and I decided we should make a trip to Coney Island, in light of the potential changes. I made my first pilgrimage there earlier in the summer, but by the time my friends and I got to the beach, the sky turned cloudy and began to rain shortly thereafter.
This time, the sun never stopped beating down on us.
We started our experience at the Coney Island Side Show. This gem was well worth our $10. You can stay as long as you want, which means you can watch the show as many times as you want, but I’m not sure why someone would really want to do that. Coney Island is seedy, and this show fits right in.
The emcee not only has a mousetrap snap shut on his tongue, but he also hammers a nail and drills a bit into one of his nostrils. There’s a lady who breathes fire and a lady who swallows swords.
These 45 minutes of cringing and not wanting to watch (the nail and drill were the only things that creeped me out) were like none I have ever had before.
When we got to the beach, I was shocked again by the number of people who were spending the day at Coney Island.
There were thousands and thousands of brightly colored umbrellas dotting the sand. There were coolers and radios. There was laughter and singing and dancing.
The noise was so loud that we couldn’t even hear the waves crashing into the shore from our towels.
We had hot dogs from Nathan’s Famous for dinner and took a walk down the boardwalk.
Once again, I noticed another ‘only in New York’ experience. There was a game that was advertising live bait. I think it was called Shoot a Human.
It was hard to see because of the crowd it was attracting, but you could pay to shoot a gun at a guy running around with a shield.
We moved on, stopping again for ice cream (perhaps the best green mint chocolate chip and rum raisin I’ve ever had) and an Italian ice.
Another stop was at the Parachute Jump, a now defunct amusement ride. Twelve arms atop the 262-foot-tall steel structure each supported a parachute, lift rope and guide cables. Riders were belted in to a seat below the closed parachute, pulled up to the top and then dropped with only the parachute to save them. The ride closed in the mid-60s.
Even though I kind of felt like a tourist at Coney Island, there is no reason to feel like a tourist there. There’s such a mixture of people that it is hard to stand out.
I had another experience on Sunday morning that was tourist free.
I walked to Fort Greene, which is two neighborhoods to the east of Brooklyn Heights, for a flea market at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School.
The flea market was recommended to me by one of my readers and after reading The New York Times’ review, I decided to make a journey there and finally made time for it.
This flea market isn’t heavy on the fleas. In addition to lots of vintage articles, there’s also new clothing, arts and crafts, and food. I was prepared to purchase some delicious treats, but I wasn’t hungry and was too hot to try anything.
Instead, I came home with a new pair of vintage sunglasses and a typewriter.
I’ve really enjoyed these off-the-beaten path experiences. They make the city a little more human and personal. I hope they continue.
