NYC: Rockaway Beach – Saturday in the sun

While the sun is still shining and the summer doesn’t seem too long gone, I thought I’d tell you about my day at Rockaway Beach. Getting there was easy. I got on the ferry from Wall Street (Pier 11), and the ferry ride only took around and hour and felt even shorter, because of the nice views along the way. During the first part of the trip, everybody was taking photos of the Lower Manhattan skyline, and later on, it was the Brooklyn coastline.

I arrived early at the beach, so I went for a walk by the water, before I found a quiet spot to sit down and catch some rays. Rockaway Beach was much nicer than I had expected, and I liked the vibrant atmosphere.

Leah was bringing a well-stocked picnic basket so I went up to get us some empanadas and fried plantains at Caracas. I waited in line for more than an hour, and got bitten by annoying sandflies a million times, before I finally could pick up my food at the counter.

We found a spot on the beach and sat down in the sand. I’m not really into bathing, unless the water is very warm, but luckily, I had forgotten my towel, so I was excused. While the other went swimming, I guarded the food and ate up Leah’s green Pringles. They are the best. Wonder if they add something to the chips which makes it impossible to stop eating them?

On my way home I took the subway, which turned out to be a big mistake. Because of delays, it took me almost 2 hours to get back to Lower East Side, so if you’re planning to visit Rockaway Beach from Manhattan these days, I will strongly recommend that you take the ferry both ways.