Summertime Sum Up

It's been a really wonderful summer in the city.

I can’t complain about the weather because it really was pretty mild. We had a lot of summer rain and thunder and lightning storms but those are kinda fun, right? I’m happy to report that the fall weather has already arrived (let’s hope it’s here to stay).

Last summer (’08) I spent my days indoors at work for nearly all the daylight hours so this summer has truly been a vast improvement.

Just before summer started, (in May), I made my first ever trip to Washington, D.C. I took the bus down to visit my friend Rachel and to do some sightseeing. I had such a great time. Rachel is an excellent host. That was such a great trip it just may need its own blog entry. Haha.

I officially kicked off the summer with a trip home to Oregon. the main events included: being a bridesmaid in friend’s wedding on the Oregon coast and attending a family reunion at a beautiful secluded lake further south on the Oregon coast. As always, I had a great time with friends and family and can’t wait for another visit.

When I got back to NY in June, I attended the wedding of my good friends Tim and Cassia that I met at my church. It was a beautiful wedding with a fun reception on a boat basin (pictured below) in New Jersey just across the Hudson from NYC. We even did some square dancing at the reception. I haven’t done that since 5th grade so it was quite an adventure. Also, I caught the bride’s bouquet…hmmm… (check out the picture if you don’t believe me. Hehe)Also this summer, a couple friends and I took the free 10 min. ferry boat ride out to Governors Island off the southeast tip of Manhattan. The island was just opened to the public last year and is one of the newest National Parks in the US. It’s so much fun! It’s a small island (compared to Manhattan) with historic buildings and it used to be an army base then a coast guard headquarters (to mildly touch on its history). There are beautiful views of NYC and the surrounding areas including the Statue of Liberty!

My friends and I had a great time strolling around the island, picnicking, and exploring the historic cites.

I have also visited a couple “beaches” this summer. I ventured to Brighton Beach with a couple friends. It’s out in southern Brooklyn and is a predominately Russian neighborhood. We spent some time on the crowded beach then explored a few famous food markets. I was traveling with a Food Network buff so I’m told I was in some pretty important grocery stores. All I know is most people only spoke Russian so I really felt like I was on a vacation.

Also, I made another trip to Coney Island, (which I count as a beach), a week before the 4th of July hot dog eating contest. I saw the tents being set up for the contest and that’s about as close to the event as I wanted to get. Coney Island is undergoing some restoration with new attractions and old ones being remodeled. Thankfully, it still maintains its cheesy charm.

I took a day trip to Mystic, Connecticut with my roommate Lebeka this summer as well. We were very pleased to discover that Mystic is a really fun seaport town to visit. I read that it’s approximately equidistant between New York City and Boston, which is kinda cool.

While we were there we visited the historic Mystic Seaport which is described as a “Living history museum consisting of a village, ships and 17 acres of exhibits depicting coastal life in New England in the 19th century.” It may not sound very intriguing but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned and how fun it was there. It also helped that it was a beautiful day for some sightseeing.

While in Mystic, we saw nearly every kind of boat you can imagine. I especially liked the exhibit of carved figureheads which used to be mounted at the prows of sailing ships. Some of them were huge while some were just kind of creepy. At one point I was in the exhibit all by myself and I got a little creeped out. I have no idea why. Haha.

Right at sunset, Lebeka and I took a ride on the “Sabino” (pictured below) the last coal-fired passenger steamer in America today. Aren’t you jealous? Haha.

It was actually really fun! We took a 90 minute tour out Mystic Bay and saw literally hundreds of boats. It seems like everyone who owns any kind of watercraft in New England stores it in the mouth of Mystic Bay. I saw everything from kayaks to giant sail boats.

The boat ride also took us under one of those rotating rail bridges. They have to rotate the bridge on a center axis to let boats pass under it in the water. So the bridge doesn’t lift up it just rotates:It was a different experience. I saw an Amtrak train travel over the tracks and realized I had probably taken a train on those same tracks on my way to Boston. I guess I was on the wrong side of the train and totally missed seeing the bay then. Now I know for next time!

I was only in Mystic, CT for a day but I had so much fun! I can't believe how much we saw and did! I also have to mention that we stopped by the famous "Mystic Pizza" which inspired the screenwriter of the film Mystic Pizza. That's right, the pizza parlor came first, THEN the film. haha.

We didn’t eat any pizza (we get plenty of that in NYC) but we posed for some pictures out front and took a lap around the inside to say we’d been there. For dinner we opted for some seafood instead; it was delicious.

I can't forget to mention that I’ve seen some great theatre this summer. In July I saw a performance of Twelfth Night as a part of Shakespeare in the Park (Central Park). It starred Anne Hathaway and Audra MacDonald as well as some other big name actors. I really love the play and they definitely did a great job with it. It was so fun to see some theatre in Central Park and it was FREE! Seeing that show was a major highlight of the summer for me. Tickets were really hard to get but I managed by entering an online raffle offered by the theatre, thankfully.

I also got to see a couple friends from college do some theatre here in town. I was so proud of them!

Also, a friend of mine, (who works for Disney), got me a ticket to see the final performance of “The Little Mermaid” on Broadway. I had wanted to see it because I loved that movie so much as a kid (ok, I still do). It was a little pricey for my budget so I didn’t get the opportunity to see it sooner in the run. I was so thankful that my friend got me a free ticket and to the final performance! I cut it close, but am so glad I got to see the show. It was so cute; there were little kids everywhere loving every minute of it. I was a little nostalgic and wanting to sing along the whole time. Haha. Also, the writer Alan Menken, (he wrote lots of Disney music and Broadway tunes), was in the audience as well as some other Disney big wigs. (My friend pointed them out). That was pretty cool.

Earlier this week, I visited “The Highline” with my friend Megan who was in town from Boston. The Highline is a public garden/park built on the cite of a retired elevated freight train track. It’s really an amazing piece of work. In the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan amongst the hip new (and old) architecture there is now an elevated garden running several blocks up the side of Manhattan. You gotta see it to fully grasp it I suppose.

The Highline certainly wins my vote for best reuse of an otherwise eyesore of a structure. It’s a free walk and I’m happy to report that many people are enjoying the new addition to the city. I also heard that there is a new but strong movement to create more gardens atop buildings and other appropriate structures throughout the city. I think it's a great idea and why not? If it'll grow, plant it!

So that’s a bit of what I’ve been up to this summer. As I mentioned before, I’ve been very blessed to have some work this summer mixed in with a fair amount of free time to enjoy the city and have a social life!

I am coming out of a transition time where many friends have left the city and many have just moved here. It can be perfectly described as bittersweet. I’m happy to have some new faces in town but I’m sorry to see several friends scatter across the US. All in all, I’m very happy these days and am looking forward to autumn! I think I’ll kick it off tomorrow night by watching the U of O Duck’s preseason football game at a bar with some friends. Life is grand.