sunday in NYC - avoiding the buy-me-a-drink bums

Our day started like any other. E walked to the grocery shop to buy some milk and eggs {we have already gone through 18 eggs, and will probably finish off the same amount by the time I leave. cluck cluck}. He walked in the door saying “there’s a story to why I have half a sandwich here {explanation was needed since it was a tad early for a sandwhich}. He proceeded to tell me that as he was ordering a breakfast sandwhich from Dunkin Donuts, a homeless man behind him shouted “make it 2!”. A little presumptious huh? But apparently it worked because E decided he would buy him a sandwhich. Apparently he also yelled from the door “don’t forget a drink!”. So E also got him water. When the guy started to grab for it, E said “hold up man, I want the other half”. So today, E shared a sammy with a homeless man. Only in the city folks.

Just a quick little note. Even though there are some crappy people in a big city like this, I still have the utmost belief that most people are genuinely good. No matter what part of the city we're in, or what stereotype someone appears to fit, most people are kind. And It's been really refreshing. 

{PS as I’m typing this in the park, I almost just choked on a gnat. Yum. Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?}

Today, we found our way to Coney Island amidst many struggles. We thought we had left with a lot of time, but we had some problems with the many train transfers and arrived a little defeated. We were supposed to meet E’s classmates, roommate to get us in to the aquarium for free, but were too late. However, even though we had to pay, in the end, the day was great!

{Stranded at the wrong subway stop - we may or may not have smoked a mini cigar while we waited...}

I discovered something amazing today. the walrus. I am officially OBSESSED with walruses. I have been googling them ever since this trip. We met two walruses. THEY WERE SO COOL! At first we saw them being fed and doing some tricks, then later in the day we went to the underwater part and got to see them swimmin’ and hangin’ around and playin’ around. They would swim up with their huge bods up to the window. Look me straight in the eye and then flip around and push off the glass with their backs. Over and over they would do this. AH I love ‘em.

We also were lucky enough, even though we were late, to catch the sea lion show {the one that E’s classmates, roommate was doing}. Another amazing thing I discovered. She graduated with a Biology major and Psychology minor {JUST LIKE ME} and now she gets to train sea lions. WHAAAAAT! Now I’m obsessed with this prospect too. If I could train animals {like a walrus, or a polar bear or a SLOTH!} for a living - I would be content FO-EVS. I don’t know if you know this, but sea lions are super-duper smart. She said they are super great to train, and they really like learning. That makes me so happy:) The show was wonderful, and we spent some more time with the sea lions at the under water viewing {mostly because they were right next to the WALRUS!!!}. E was having fun making this cute little spotted one follow his shiny ring. The sea lions were so playful too! Oh, it was so cute! I swear they knew how cute they were too. They would also stare us right in the eye and do little backflips and turns. They would make sure to hit every window with people waiting at it too, I swear. So neat. 

{seriously, how cute are these?}

{This is Osborne, he weighs close to 500lbs. He climbed up onto the fence and said a hello - in a scream. It was loud and scary, but weirdly more adorable than anything}

There was lots of other super neat stuff too, like the sea horse exhibit – we always like those. And the jellyfish, and the sharks, and these cool things called shrimp fish. It was really fun, and even more fun to be with E since he super loves aquariums {over Christmas break we hit one up in Myrtle Beach too! See this post}.

After the aquarium we headed to the coast and checked out the Coney Island Boardwalk. Our first stop was Nathan’s Famous to get some traditional Coney Islands cheesy chili dogs and cheesy bacon fries {uh huh, yeah dat’s right}. Super delicious. 

 We walked around a bit, chased some birds, climbed some rocks, and checked out the pier.

 {overwhelmed...soooo many birds}

 {rawr!}

 Once the pier, immediately we were greeted by an old man with a stereo on his shoulder asking us to dance with him. He proceeded to tell heckle us all the way down the walk…”you guys gonna get married or what?” “you be careful, them catholic women all they wanna do is burn you” “you marry ‘em and they have the control” “I really like you guys, why else would I walk all the way down this way with ya?”…which eventually turned into “I just need one cigarette” “just gimme anything to buy a drink”. It’s safe to say we are good at rejecting these pleas.

 Then, on the walk back towards the shore, we were curious what the line of fisherman were fishing for. So, I pulled a “Carla” {explained in the bottom of the post}, and asked a  man with a cute red bike. This man with a cute red bike, was sketchy as hell. I walked up, “excuse me sir, we were just wondering what people are fishing for out here”. He started turning away from me, so I thought he would just blow me off. Turns out he was reaching for his “catch” in the cooler attached to his bike, which he referred to as “skate”. It was a half-dead sting ray. We were instantly excited {since we were just at the aquarium, and it was sweet looking!}.  Innocent enough right? One of us asked a question, but he just responded with a grin, and started making some very unsavory jokes about the sting ray along with some sexual advances…from the sting ray…! {send me an email if you really want to know the jokes…}. Once he attempted to push the sting ray at my face to kiss it, that’s when we took the cue to leave. “thanks, BYE”.

{the "cute red bike"}

 {it looks like it's smiling}

 {cool old building + model pose + squatter} 

After that encounter, we headed back to the subway station and got some coffee and ice cream for the ride {whoever thought up combining Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins in the same building – was genius. How’s a girl supposed to chose? So I got both…;) }.

 On our way back to E land, we stopped at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. It was wonderfully beautiful! Each grassy hill we climbed up, more were waiting. ON and on stretched pretty green grass and people playing. So many people playing! And dogs too! Oh it was gorgeous. We settled down and took a little sun nap and dogled {definition explained in this post if you missed it}.

 {i asked E if it was weird that i liked this trash can. he said yes, but i photo'd it anyhow}

 {E made this! he made it! he found a tutorial video online, bought the rope -correction from E reading over my shoulder, paracord, not rope - and crafted. i was so proud!}

By then the day was passing so quickly, it was already dinner time. We went to E’s place and made some spaghetti and chilled out for the night.

What a great day.

{a carla} this is a term I have coined, inspired by my mama. It’s used in situations of a kind of social bravery. Finding a way to connect with strangers, in a way that others wouldn’t have the balls to do, or the comfort to do, or the kindness to do. It can range from starting up a conversation with someone who looks crabby to asking someone a curious question that most wouldn’t. Another phrase commonly used is WWCD - What Would Carla Do. {ps, my mom's the best}

See more from my NYC trip here: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6