Coney Island

After starting our long weekend off with nice quiet morning, Suzy and I decided to head for Coney Island in the afternoon.

We took the R Train subway for about 35 minutes, spotting the famous red metal parachute jump tower as we approached the shore. Once we got the Coney Island boardwalk, we were both immediately struck with just how, well, run down it all looked. It probably didn't help that we were there on a Friday afternoon, but there weren't a lot of people around, and a lot of the boardwalk-fronting shops and stalls were closed with metal shutters.

Still, we were there, it was a nice day, and the sun, sand, and surf were certainly cheering, even if the boardwalk seemed seedy. We grabbed a couple of hotdogs and fries from Nathan's, which were quite good, and then wandered into Astroland to look around. We walked past the ferris wheel and the kiddie rides and ended up in one of the midway arcades, where we played skeeball and some other other games, then traded our bounty of 117 tickets in for a "gold" plastic ring and a harmonica.

We walked out of the midway, and then out of Astroland, somewhat accidentally. It was a good mvoe though, as we happened across the Coney Island Sideshow, and for the bargain of $5 each, we went in to see the show. It was really fun, and definitely a one-of-a-kind experience. (Suzy remarked that she was glad we saw it, since she sort of feels like it will be gone soon, probably along with most fo the rest of the Coney Island experience, never to be seen again. She's probably right.)

There was: An MC who was a blockhead (shoved a drill in his nose -- we missed him nailing his head) and a juggler; a dreadlocked, tattoed girl who snapped pasta sticks out of a man's hand with a whip and ate fire; a snake charmer who danced with a 14-foot white boa; a sword-swallower / contortionist; and a "lobster boy" (a guy with only two fingers on each hand). With the exception of lobster boy (his act was mostly bad stand-up), it was all really cool, and occassionaly freaky. Definitely worth the admission.

After the sideshow, Suzy declared that we had to go on a ride to round out the experience. So we decided to go on the Cyclone, which is a wooden roller coaster first opened in 1927. It. Was. Insane. For the record, it was my first roller coaster ride. It may also be my last. Suzy said it was the scariest coaster she's ever been on. Despite all that, I'm glad we went, since it nicely rounded out our Coney Island day. (Granted, it rounded it out with white-knuckled terror, but I'm still glad.)