Squid on the Beach

Every so often Squid do return to their native waters, in this case, the Atlantic Ocean as seen from the Boardwalk at Coney Island.Yes, the Squid went to Coney Island today and did it ... On Wheels. Click here to see the convoluted path that we took to get there. It was actually pretty direct except for that one section after the south end of Prospect Park. It was at this point that we got kind of dumb despite the prior warning of a kind fellow biker who warned us that it was a tricky maneuver to get to the Ocean Parkway bike path. Next time we will know better. Really, click the link if you want a good laugh. Since it is a Google Map you can go all the way in and in Hybrid mode, even see the pattern of planks on the Boardwalk! Zoom out and then back in if the entire map does not seem to appear.

Once on the Ocean Parkway bike path we had the pleasure of remembering our ABC's as we worked our way through the alphabet of Avenues finally arriving here:
Those of you who know us well will understand the significance. Papa Squid is often referred to as "Z" by his students.

Welcome! This is the land of our ancestors. All of our parents spent time here in their youth either growing up or enjoying the sights. My dad recalls a bike ride from way up in the Bronx, through Queens, down to Coney Island, up through Manhattan and home to the Bronx. He says he was quite a bit older then Little Squid when he did this. My dad also rode to Boston through a hurricane and has the pictures to prove it.

The Brighton Beach end of the Boardwalk with the amusement end in the background. The tower in the middle is the famous Parachute Jump. It no longer functions as such but they recently added lights to give it prominence at night. Yes, the sky really was that dark and that is the reason that we never did make it to the other end of the Boardwalk for a ride on some of the amusements. We do not do the Cyclone if you are wondering. Papa dragged me on it once and that was enough. One of us will brave it again if one of the Squidlings wants to ride it but only then.

After making it all the way to Coney Island, we went in search of Mrs. Stahl's knishes in Brighton Beach. It seems that they no longer exist. Boo. :-( The last time I rode out to Coney Island was on a two-boro knish tour with Papa Squid and his mother. That was probably about 16 -17 years ago. I still remember the taste of those knishes.

This is where we wound up stopping for lunch. The waitress was kind enough to take the photo. I felt like such a tourist! We ate outside right next to our bikes.

This was the menu.

The other side was in English.

Little Squid enjoying (really!) Cold Red Soup. Not Borscht. Squidette also enjoyed it. Papa and I had a cold green soup which tasted kind of like cold Campbells vegetable soup and was really refreshing. We completed the meal with chicken stroganoff and homestyle pork stew. Yum!

Little Squid posing on the Boardwalk.

SQUID ON THE BEACH!!!Papa Squid with the ubiquitous Bike Friday.

Mama and Papa Squid did not pose on the beach due to the fear of the effect of sand on bicycle cleats. Next time we will take bike locks and walk out to the water in bare feet.

On the way back, Papa had a flat tire which he fixed with his usual efficiency while the squidlings rested on a nearby rail. I assisted in the operation and took a picture.

Squidette approaching Grand Army Plaza on the return trip. Look how happy she is!Mama and Little. It looks like we are going much faster then we really are!Cool picture of Manhattan as seen from the bike cam on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The ride took almost 7 hours including lunch and getting lost in Brooklyn. Hopefully we can do the next big ride in less time. We loaded the water bottles with Accelerade to give the kids a bit more to go on. It seemed to work pretty well. Little was fading a bit as we hit the Brooklyn Bridge on the return trip but after almost 7 hours on the road, what do you expect? Now we and the kids know that they can do the ride we have planned on the 10th. Yea!!!

Total Mileage: 35.7 !!!