The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Brooklyn Edition

Preface: 
No one would ever mistake me for Clint Eastwood.  There's just too much belly.  And when I squint, I don't appear menacing.  It's more like I'm confused or have to go to the bathroom.  So, banish all images of Clint from your mind as you read the following.  Picture instead a pasty, gut-wielding man with minimal fashion sense who is rapidly turning red from the sun.  You can, however, keep in mind that classic Sergio Leone score from the film.  That is actually rather fitting, particularly for day two.

Day 1: The Good
On Wednesday, Sumie, Mimi and I geared up for a fateful trek to Brooklyn - the other cool borough.  We met Sumie's friend, June, as well as her adorable and wonderfully mild-mannered (these are things we look for in a child now) 7 month old daughter Mina at the 34th street pier on the East River. Here's Mimi with Mina as we waited for the ferry. 

Mimi, being he inquisitive girl she is, went in for a closer look.  I'm not sure what she came across, but apparently, she didn't like it.  She's rather fickle that way.  However, if it was a smell, I bet it was one of her own.  She's been a bit "explosive" recently. 

We boarded the ferry, which departs every half hour from 34th street to Queens and Brooklyn.  The service just started about a month ago and it is, without doubt, the best way to go.  June said that she uses it every day to commute from Brooklyn to midtown, and I can see why.  What a fantastic way to get to work!  Here's the view we had from the top deck.

Naturally, a stunning view of the Chrysler, Empire State, UN, Pan Am, and City Bank buildings wasn't enough to interest Mimi.  No, she's far too cosmopolitan for that.  Mimi turned her full attention to the massive wake spreading behind us.  She made sure to point it out to Sumie so that she wouldn't miss it.

We got off right below Brooklyn Bridge and explored Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is currently undergoing re-purposing from industrial waterfront to massive civic playground.  A similar development has been taking place on the West Side of Manhattan and it's very cool to see these "wastelands" reclaimed.  Many of the projects have been careful to maintain some evidence of the industrial roots.  History lesson with slides, swings, and ice cream?  Yes, please.

We walked down from the bridge to Pier 6, which consists of a series of play areas for kids: a water exploration world, swing valley, slide mountain, etc.  We spent most of our time in the water.  Mimi broke in her brand new swimsuit by walking around the fountains with me.  She's still not a fan of getting splashed, so she eventually settled on a place next to the paddle wheel, which was relatively dry save for the cool current flowing over her feet.

From there we headed over to the swings.  Mimi took to the air while June and Mina took a well-deserved nap on the lawn.  Our backdrop to all of this was the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge, and even, despite the haze, the Statue of Liberty.

All this excitement and scenery took its tool on the little ones, though, and by the time we were preparing to board the ferry we were pushing two sacks of snoring potatoes.  Not that we minded.

All told, it was a fantastic time.  Once again, in less than a month, our Manhattan snobbishness was humbled by just how cool Brooklyn can be.  Hmm, I wonder if we would have ended up there eventually if we weren't moving to SF...

Day 2:  The Bad
Today I saw another side of Brooklyn, and of Queens for that matter.  These two boroughs were the location for the moving errand that refused to end.

It began last night with me agreeing to meet the truck driver who would be taking our car to SF in Long Island City.  He was picking up another car there at noon and given that he couldn't bring his truck into Manhattan, I agreed to meet him there.  Easy stuff.  I'd just take the subway back.  Stupid.  Stupid.  Stupid.

His pickup scheduled for noon in Long Island City never materialized.  Great.  I had already been waiting in Queens for an hour and a half (I had to move the car anyway because of alternate side parking) when I heard the news at noon.  It turned out he was in Long Island (proper, not in Queens) waiting for some idiot who was late for her appointment.  I learned he'd make it by 2:30.  "OK," I thought, "I'll be home by 4:00."  How wrong I was.

I did get a call at 2:30, but this was simply to inform me that he had missed the exit and was now not in Long Island City, but south of the Williamsburg Bridge.  Guess what.  That's Brooklyn.  Yes, it looked like I was going back.

Finally, by 4:00pm, I had met up with him and we had loaded the car onto the truck.  It had been an ordeal, but I didn't want to make a fuss.  It's hard enough driving here in a regular car, let along a semi with a car-carrier.  The city hadn't been kind to the driver either.  No breakfast or lunch for him that day.  At least I had enjoyed a waffle and a good book during my wait.

But the day wasn't over.  No.  I was now in the bowels of Brooklyn.  No car, no sense of direction, and only 10% of battery power left on my iPhone.

Taking a gamble, I brought up a map on my phone and found that there was a subway station only 3 blocks away.  Thank God for small favors.  I hobbled over to the station and planned out the hour-long trek back to the Upper East Side.  Things were looking up.  There was just one "pressing" issue.  I hadn't been to the bathroom since 10:30am.

Somehow I made it to 77th and Lexington, the station nearest my home.  Sumie and Mimi had gone off earlier that day to Alice's Teacup, a cute little restaurant that specializes in tea and rich-girl princess birthday parties, to meet a friend.  When I emerged from the subway and called them, they were still out, but now in Central Park.  Their location: the pond with all the remote control sail boats.

This is one of my favorite places in the park.  I still have the dream of bringing my kids here with our own sailboat someday.  It is just north of the 72nd street entrance on the east side of the park.  I know this.  But my bladder had taken over.  It wanted help.  It wanted relief.  It wanted a Starbucks because that's your best bet for a bathroom in this toilet-forsaken city.

I never found one.  Finally, I could take it no longer and rushed into a bake shop, pleading with the staff to let me use the bathroom.  They took pity on me.  I'm glad that they did because, at that point, I would have given them anything.  Gold, frankincense, myhrr, these would have been but preludes to the treasures I would have bestowed.  Bladder evacuated, I could think again.  But there was a problem.  I was now at 59th street.  Sumie was up on 74th.  I had gone 30 blocks out of my way.

I trudged up 5th avenue, just wanting the ordeal to end.  And it did once I saw Mimi.  It's amazing how a smile can wipe away the crappiest day.  I was with my daughter watching the sailboats.  That's all that mattered.

It was a tough day, but, aside from packing, we took care of the last major issue for our move to SF.  We're on our way.

The Ugly:
You thought I had forgotten perhaps?  No.  The ugly, without doubt, goes to my feet.  A word of advice: if you're ever going to drop a car off in one of the outer boroughs, be sure to bring a good pair of walking shoes.  Braving such an adventure in flip-flops, as I just did, will only lead to massive callouses and a wife who wants nothing to do with you (rightfully so).

Steve