Back in the Borough (Kind of): A Trip to Governors Island

Hi friends,

So I may have mentioned this before (meaning I definitely have), but summer isn’t exactly my favorite month. The heat. The humidity. The inability to do anything at all with my hair. Blech. It’s just all too much.

So this year, I set a goal to attempt to have as much fun with summer as possible, and I think we’ve done a pretty great job at that. Here’s a little of what we’ve done:

We’ve made it our mission to try out new bars and restaurants that have been on the ‘must hit up list’ for a long time now, and we’re doing a pretty good job of it. (Like here, and here.)
We took a trip to Charlotte and Arizona.
We saw the New York Philharmonic play in Central Park.
Carla and I woke up at the crack of dawn and sat in Central Park for six hours for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park. Totally, absolutely worth it!
My nephew came for his first ever visit to New York City.
We took a bike ride in Central Park.
I checked out DUMBO in Brooklyn with a friend.
I took a quick trip to D.C. to help a friend throw a baby shower for her sister.
I went to the Central Park Zoo for a bit of research for a project I’m currently working on.
We went sailing in the Hudson around the city for a friend’s birthday.
We took in a Mets game and checked out the Warwick Valley Winery with my family.
I took my dad to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for father’s day to check out the amazing Civil War photography exhibit they had over the summer.

All in all, I think I’d have to say that it’s been a busy, fun summer. I cannot complain. With the weather slowly changing into Fall (hurrah!), Chris and I decided to do one more summer-ey thing before we hit the new season head on. So we woke up early, caught the express train down to Bowling Green and hopped on the (free) ferry over to Governors Island.

Governors Island is, in my opinion, a hidden treasure. I’ve only been over there twice now, but it’s so much fun, relatively easy to get to, and has such a laid-back, welcoming vibe, I always wonder why we don’t go more. My purpose for heading there today was to check out the Fete Paradiso, a traveling festival of vintage carnival rides and carousels from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s over on Sept. 29.

While there we ended up renting bikes and riding all over the island (if there is a possibility to rent bikes somewhere, my husband will find it), stopping for some seafood and beer at Little Eva’s Beer Garden, and then grabbing a Mr. Softee (my first this summer!), before taking the ferry back into the city.

Here’s a bit of what we saw:

^^ Helicopter tours were taking off while we waited for the boat to take us to Governors Island.

^^The island is very environmentally friendly. They have this little composting center where they teach all about it.

^^There was something beautiful, and at the same time creepy, about the old carousels of Fête Paradiso.

^^ View of the Freedom Tower from Governors Island.

^^ Lady Liberty, making an appearance in the background.

^^ A boy walking a goat. You certainly don't see that every day. — ^^ A boy walking a goat. You certainly don’t see that every day.

^^ The cute little beer garden where we ate lunch.

^^ I recommend the Mahi Mahi fish tacos...although they were a bit expensive. — ^^ I recommend the Mahi Mahi fish tacos…although they were a bit expensive.

^^ Me, eating my ice cream, in front of the structure that was made entirely of recycled water and milk bottles, filled with blue liquid.

^^Buh-bye Governors Island ... see ya next year! — ^^Buh-bye Governors Island … see ya next year!

And that’s it my friends — our trip to Governors Island in a nutshell. Next weekend we’re off on Chris’ Super Secret Birthday Trip. Can’t wait to share those details here! Then in three weeks we’ll be heading over to Australia for our wedding celebration with Chris’ family and for our honeymoon at the Great Barrier Reef.

Bis bald, friends! And happy last days of summer!