Coney Island With Sami.

On Thursday, Sam and I went to Coney Island. Sam is one of my all time favorite people and best friends. We were roommates in college and after college. She still lives in Portland, but came to the east coast for a long due visit. She was with me the first time I went to Coney Island and the first time I went to Williamsburg actually (summer of 2005 on the same day). We are very good at making adventures happen.

Before we even left the house, we had some lunch at the cafe near my new apartment. It was too pretty not to photograph.



Sam and her muesli.



My salmon and beets matched Sam's dress.



We took the Q, which was the train I took when I first moved to New York. I lived in what I "affectionately" call "Crown Heights Lite." No one came to visit me. Prospect Park Stop! How I don't really miss you at all!

It took us a little more than an hour to get there, but most of the ride was above ground. It was nice to see a part of Brooklyn with houses that look like regular families live in them. We were excited to finally see the Wonder Wheel and the ocean.



To be perfectly honest, the main purpose of our visit was to find some pistachio soft serve that Sam used to love when she was a little girl. We found the soft serve within five minutes of arriving (I'm not exaggerating for once). It was right next to this bumper car place, with their tastefully done signs.



The thing that bothered me about this sign is that they obviously were afraid to show a human's buttocks, but really wanted to. So they did a half-assed (I know, not funny) job by just making a donkey look like it has a human's butt. It made me uncomfortable.



They made up for it by having this guy. I love his teeth.

The Disgusting Beach!

Sam wanted to put her feet in the water. I didn't. The sand was hella gross. It was like 75% sand and 25% sketchy garbage. It was nice seeing all the families and little kids relaxing and running around in the surf.




I don't know why, but it was strange to me to see all these generic looking housing developments so close to the ocean.



She was especially having a wonderful time.



This guy kept whistling. We couldn't figure out who he was whistling at. We came up with a theory that he just wanted people to look at him and his pectoral muscles.

The Wonder Wheel

We decided it was only worth spending money on one ride and we chose the Wonder Wheel, which is 90 years old and because of that scared the crap out of me. I'm getting old and I am not as fearless as I used to be.








Clowns!

It is no secret that I love clowns. I love them because they are supposed to be cuddly, innocent, funny, and cute, but mostly just end up scaring the crap out of people. There were some nice clown murals under the Wonder Wheel. We were please to make their acquaintances.









Beasts: Both Hideous and Adorable!

Since Coney Island is in touch with its carnival roots. There are lots of scary things and plush things made for hugging.


Sam said that this guy looked like he had a good sense of humor. I am inclined to agree.


Did any of you know that Winnie the Pooh is a college graduate?



GHOST HOLE! It sounds like a bad band name. Like one that has a member of the band who wears an ironic Native American head-dress and has cover art drawn with markers. Barf in a bucket.


Speaking of barf in a bucket. Check out these bros.

Architecture and Art

They are sort of trying to make Coney Island into an art center or something. I was too lazy to look into it. But they painted these murals over old signs of the carnival signs. I enjoyed them.










We walked to the end of the boardwalk and found this thing. it is famous, but I really don't know what its function is.



We also found an old roller rink in a beautiful building. We were sad to see that it was no longer operational. We both really love rollerskating and hadn't gone in a couple years.






Mighty Poseidon had some vegetation growing out of his head.

We also went to the Museum about Coney Island (it is connected to the Coney Island Freak Show). I recommend it. It is pretty cool and only 99 cents to go in.



I drank this beer on an empty stomach and consequently, forgot to document our excursion to Nathan's Hotdogs for cheese fries and Duncan Donuts (Sam wanted to eat her favorite donut from childhood to see if she still liked it). When we got home, I made us a dinner that mostly consisted of fresh vegetables to make up for the fact we ate so much delicious crap on Coney Island.

I feel that all in all, it was a successful trip.