A week late and a dollar short

Was Memorial Day really two weeks ago and not yesterday?  How can that be?  Summer has just started and already it's moving too fast.  Let's revisit the list, shall we?

See Bridesmaids. (Um, hysterical.  Really.  Go see it before it's too late.)

Eat Mexican food. (Nope.  More on that later.)

Go for a bike ride. (Yay!  All around LIC.  It was a killer on Sunday, but we went late in the day)

See this exhibit at the Met. (Nope.  Anyone want to go with me?  We can try for a Friday night and maybe have cocktails?)

Make banana bread. (Um, nope.  It was too freakin' hot.  Bananas went in the freezer for another day.)

Maybe the beach? (Yes!!  Riis State Park continues to be a favorite destination.  Best if you have a car, though.)

Instead of Mexican, we went here on Sunday.  I've been dying to go since it opened and there just never seemed to be an opportunity, but on Sunday morning, Little Bunny, the Man and I woke up early and took the train to LIC.  

Queens doesn't have much by the way of fancy or cool restaurants (tons of "authentic" places but that's another post), so M Wells is quite an attraction.  If you go, go early and maybe don't eat a big dinner the night before.  Everything is rich and hearty.... and really yummy.

 And last week was Week 1 of my CSA!  I am so excited about this!  I know everyone's been doing this forever, but I've never been able to do it before now, so I'm psyched.  

We made short work of the spinach and radishes this week.  I still have a huge head of Boston lettuce (you can see it lurking in the background of this pic) that is destined to become this. 

By the way, this is my 400th post!  I feel like there should be confetti and balloons or something.  And a cake!  There should definitely be a cake! Ah well....

 

Epic Bike Ride of 2010

It was more like an Epic Weekend, which started with a trip to Jacob Riis Park in Rockaway, Queens. Constructed on the site of one of the first US naval air stations, the park was designed in 1936 by innovative Park Commissioner Robert Moses, who had also created Jones Beach in 1929 further east on Long Island. Moses envisioned Riis Park as a Jones Beach for poor immigrants, a destination accessible by public transportation and closer to the city. In 1972, Jacob Riis Park was transferred to the control of the National Park Service.

It was a really quick car ride, but if there is a ferry which takes you there from Manhattan, which I think would be fun. ( I do love ferries!) It was quiet there, and lovely. I haven't been to any beaches in NYC other than Coney Island and this Riis Park was sooooo different! I highly recommend going if you can't leave the city for the weekend and are feeling the sirens' call.

The next day we set out to ride our bikes to Coney Island. It was to be about 8 miles each way, with two very specific stops on the agenda.
First up, Di Fara's Pizza.

There's a lot of hype surrounding Di Fara's, which is attributed to, in my opinion, many variables: it's out-of-the-way location, it's weird hours, and the fact that only the venerable 80-year-old Dominic makes the pies. We got there at 12:25 and there was already a line forming. We waited patiently and ordered two slices and paid $10.
Yep, $10.

For the price and the trip, not really worth it. And I've eaten a lot of pizza in NYC. A lot. But it's just my opinion and you have the right to form your own, so travel to Avenue J at your own risk.

The journey continued all the way to Coney Island. I've been there two times so far this summer, and, God help me, I love it there. I can't quite tell you why. I feel like I'm being transported in place and time. Like I've entered a time warp or a worm hole and come out the other side somewhere completely other than New York. (It's the same way I feel about South Beach, which inspires the same kind of confused reactions from my friends. What can I say?)

We roamed the boardwalk and watched some crazy kids dive off the pier, while quiet older couples fished and picnic-ed. Having finally worked off the pizza it was on to the main event. That's right, people. I was back for tacos.

YUMMMMM. Doesn't that look amazing?! Having been twice now I would recommend the spicy pork, but not the steak. I would definitely have the chicken if I were to go again. Which I will.

We sat in the Plaza Mexico and listened to the canciones and fantasized that we were somewhere else, though the cries from the Cyclone reminded us that we were, in fact, not. Then it was time to go and work off those tacos on the ride home, which always seems shorter, doesn't it? On the way home we got caught in the rain - a good, soaking, mid-summer rain - and laughed the whole way.

Epic, indeed.