Thursday, November 29, 2018
We drove from East Stroudsburg, PA to Brooklyn, NY to visit Ryan and Maddy, and two-and-a-half-year old Fiona.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Maddy had to work, but Ryan and Fiona had the day off. We walked to check out the Sergeant William Dougherty Playground that was renovated after construction of the new Kosciuszko Bridge, but it was not yet open. Next to the Monsignor McGolrick Park:
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Monitor Memorial (1938, by Antonio de Filippo) commemorates the
1862 battle of the ironclads, the Monitor and Merrimac, the crew
of the Monitor and its designer, John Ericsson |
This is a Roadside America attraction, and they call it the
Unclad on the Ironclad. However, there is no ironclad depicted as it is simply a "heroic" (as in large?) nude man pulling a rope around a pair of capstans.
Msgr McGolrick Park has two age-appropriate playgrounds, one for ages two to five and one for ages five to twelve. Fiona could manage many activities in both playgrounds!
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| Fiona on the big slide |
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| Fiona at the end of the big slide |
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| Daddy/Ryan on the big slide |
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| Whew! Daddy/Ryan at the end of the big slide |
Since Fiona would be taking a nap this afternoon, Ryan sent us on our way for sightseeing.
We walked to the Nassau Street subway station for the G line, the only subway line not going into Manhattan. There was a large vending machine that looked like an ATM with a slot for a Single Ride Metro card. We went to the 24-hour window to purchase a Metro card, but were told to use the machine if we were using a credit card. Oh! So that was a ticket machine! Why is it easier to identify a transit ticket machine in foreign countries than in the US?
We took the G train to the last station at Church Street, then caught the F train to Coney-Island-Stillwell Ave.
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| What do you call a mural on glass blocks? |
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| The original Nathan's Famous (1916) |
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Coney Island Museum/Coney Island USA (a Roadside America attraction)
in a former Childs Restaurant (1917, by John C Westervelt in Spanish
Colonial Revival style), is open only on weekends in the winter |
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| The beach at Coney Island on the Atlantic Ocean |
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The A&W Root Beer statues (a Roadside America attraction) on the
roof of Paul's Daughter Restaurant on the Riegelmann Boardwalk |
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Mama Burger (missing her burger) and Papa Burger (holding the flag
instead of a mug of root beer) (1963-1967) |
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| New York Aquarium Education Hall mural (2017, by Danielle Mastrion) |
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| Mural detail (KSS) |
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| Another mural (2017, by Sheena Wong Shue) (KSS) |
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| A third mural (2017, by Thomas Manco) (KSS) |
The three murals were the result of a contest by the New York Aquarium to transform the Education Hall wall and inspire people to protect our waters.
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View down the Riegelmann/Coney Island Boardwalk toward the
iconic but now defunct Parachute Jump ride tower (built for the
1939 New York World's Fair, then moved in 1941 to the
Steeplechase Park amusement park, closed in 1964) |
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Countdown to the next Hot Dog Eating Contest and the World Record
with a list of past champions on the Nathan's Famous building |
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| Inside Nathan's Famous, where we had lunch |
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| A Nathan's Famous hot dog with sauerkraut and mustard |
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| Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station (1919, renovated 2001-2005) |
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Luna Park and the Cyclone roller coaster (1927,
refurbished 1974-1975, new track 2012-2015) |
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Luna Park and the Wonder Wheel eccentric Ferris wheel
(1918-1920, designed by Charles Herman); it is called eccentric
because 16 of the 24 cars slide to an inner ring on rails with gravity |
We took the Q train to the Atlantic Ave-Barclays Center station to change to the #2 train to the Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum station.
Next: Brooklyn Museum.
