Another Queens adventure!

A few weeks ago, I received one of my travel e-newsletters (because I belong to many MANY travel website e-mail lists - I want to travel, goshdarnit!!), and this e-mail had an article called "The Best Things to Do in Queens Beyond the US Open."  Well, hello, that title piqued my interest immediately!  I forwarded the e-mail to my fellow intrepid Queens adventurer and we've been talking about trying one or more of the suggestions on their list ever since.  Finally, last Saturday, we had the time to check one out.

Along with a lovely gal pal and an adorable pug named Vito, my fellow intrepid Queens adventurer and I went to Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City.  I left myself about an hour to get there, considering I had to walk a bit to get to the right subway line, then had to change to another subway line.  Even though I got off at the wrong subway stop and had to get back onto the train (sigh. dumb.), I made pretty good time.  If only I had been sitting on the other side of the train, I could've gotten some amazing shots of graffiti near 5Pointz!  Next time.  Even without those photos, it was an amazingly stunningly gorgeous sunny day and the perfect day to explore the neighborhood.

Near the Vernon-Jackson subway stop on the 7 line, Gantry Plaza State Park is about twelve acres of gorgeous coast, looking directly across onto Manhattan.  The views were just lovely.  There are four piers, a dog run, some playgrounds, and many restored gantries and deserted railroad tracks.  It's  really a beautiful park, filled with unexpected treats, and I took hundreds of photos.  I'll include some below.

We just had a really lovely relaxing day, enjoying each other's company, strolling along the park, letting Vito make friends in the dog run, chatting with locals, enjoying Italian ices from a nearby ice cream truck, and we even explored a small flea market!  After the flea market, we wandered around the neighborhood between the park and the subway, which was also a lot of fun.  There are some really cute shops and restaurants along the way and I definitely want to go back.

After so many years of living in Queens and never really checking out much of my surroundings, I'm glad I've gotten out and about to see some new spots.  And I'm ever so grateful to have fellow intrepid adventurers, beautiful gal pals and adorable pugs to explore the spots with!  We'll definitely be checking out more of those suggestions sometime soon!  If I remember correctly, there may have been mention of a spot that serves deep fried pickles... :)

 

Wadin?