Visitors 4.1: Coney Island

On Tuesday (September 16) we went to a beach of a totally different kind...

Coney Island!

This began, of course, with food. Nathan's Hotdogs to be exact. I had a pretty decent softshell crab sandwich, Lisa clams and chips and Mom and Keith each hotdogs (sauerkraut and chili respectively).

Now Coney Island is definitely NOT the Jersey Shore....For example... I didn't see any signs for places where the women were wild and the guys were wise at Point Pleasant. Of course, seeing as neither Keith nor I fit the 'wise' bill and neither Lisa nor Mom could be classified as 'wild' we passed this place up.

So how might one describe the difference between the Coney Island Boardwalk and most of the Boardwalks of the Jersey Shore? Well, let's just say that Coney Island has more... ummm... flavor...?




One of the nice things about Coney Island (and Brooklyn in general) is that they say what they mean and mean what they say.
The sad part of this excursion is that Astroland is closed not just for the season, but possibly for good. Is this a goodbye?


Still, the ocean is awesome. And after Keith tightened some loose boards on the boardwalk, we went down to soak it in (but not soak in it)...

And if you look you can find beauty and life anywhere.


Oh, and BTW, Lisa and I took all of these pictures in the time it took Keith to take the picture you see him taking here:


To be continued...

Visitors 3

On Monday we went down the shore.

Here Keith was shooting the "shoreline..." which had no bikinis anywhere near it...

Lisa was just happy not to be working.

By now (three or four minutes had already passed since we'd arrived), we begin to contemplate where we might eat...

...okay, this'll do...

After a nice lunch a grueling and difficult game of chicken with the waves begins. Mom sees the danger and begins to head the other way. She won't be a part of this kind of recklessness.

Yet she can't quite let the rest of us go...

Lisa, showing No Fear (c) whatsoever, unleashes her inner surfer girl.

She stares the mighty waves down and gives no quarter...

It's touch and go when the mighty Humunga Kowabunga rears its head...

The outcome is uncertain... We all hold our breath...

But in the end she is triumphant. She and the waves become one.

Lisa basks in the glory of victory.


Mom captures the whole thing on tape. She will sell them to you for 19.95.

Now we can relax and think about waffle/ice-cream sandwiches and orange ice-cream cones and chocolate covered pretzels and lemonade and satellite wafers (10 cents each!)

Mom reflects on the power of the sea... but also how close the casinos in Atlantic City are.


A day down the shore is ending, but an evening at IKEA is beginning. A far more dangerous adventure than chicken with the waves (I have the receipts to prove it) and so not photographed (but trust me, you wouldn't want to see that carnage).

But for now we just wind down and POSE...



To be continued...

Visitors 2

Mom and Keith have come to visit this week...

They arrived on the Saturday before Holy Cross Day and we just spent a little time visiting. As you can see, Chelsea didn't mind at all...


On Sunday, after Mass, we went into Manhattan even though it felt like central Florida in July. After a brief stop for cupcakes and brownies at Billy's, we went to eat at the Dish (brunch with Mimosas or Bloody Marys all around) and then headed down to the Village...



for some ice cream at Cones...


...ahhhh, Cones...

Keith was beginning to wonder if all we did was eat...

Lisa went ahead and confirmed it...


One thing we learned on the trip was that it was Jesus who gave pizza to the world. We should have known.

We walked some in the Village trying to burn off calories and build up an appetite.

And stopped off to see some "Friends..." (and I don't mean the friends Mom made in Christopher Park while Keith was buying cigars... ask her about "All Rise!")

...before Lisa bought some Tea...

and we jumped on the Subway...

From here we headed toward Times Square to wander amidst the lights...

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. While Lisa was shopping in Sephora, Superman saved Toys R Us from certain disaster. You get used to that king of thing living up here.

So, we rested a bit near Radio City Music Hall...



Here is an example of tired legs...
But eventually we got up and, after making a fantastic deal on some hats near the NBC studios in Rockafeller Center, walked through Time Square some more so that we would be ready for some Oyako-Don and ChaHan and Gyoza at Sapporo...

More later...