Brooklyn Promenade & Brooklyn Bridge Park (with pictures!)

No water fun this weekend. The hold crew is planning a sushi paddle tomorrow, but I can't go because my drysuit is still at Kokatat being fixed (I really am kicking myself for not shipping it off back when we were still in drysuits-optional water temperatures, i.e. fifty degrees fahrenheit or above). I hope hope hope it comes back next week, I was hoping to call for a Christmas day paddle. Fingers crossed. I may call next week but Kokatat is not like Fedex, they're not going to have some sort of tracking that says "12/9 pressure test, 12/13 seam resealing, 12/15 gasket replacement, 12/16 curing...".

I did get in a really nice outdoor activity today though. Haven't written about any of my long walks lately, but I have taken a few. Turns out that Pia is fond of a good ramble too, and isn't afraid of a little cold weather, so today we met up on the Brooklyn Promenade and meandered all over the place under the Brooklyn & Manhattan bridges. This was GREAT - I have been meaning to go check out the Brooklyn Bridge Park for AGES. The section we were in today actually opened to the public in 2003; I've been to meetings about it, and I've seen it both from the water and from the Manhattan Bridge (which my train crosses every morning...strike? what strike? I am in denial about this strike - actually not so much denial as "I'll deal with it if it happens"), but like the Christopher Street Pier in the Hudson River Park, I was always seeing the place from afar, and thinking "Gee, that looks nice, I should go there sometime" but just being so busy that I didn't get around to it. I rectified that today though, and I can say that it's really very nice!

I could now wax eloquently descriptive - but why bother when my Optio Pentax WP can show you much better?

Downtown skyline from the Promenade:


They have plaques set into the pavement here and there. They come in sets of four, and they show the development of the view at which you are looking. The first three are innocuous historical views - Colonial times, late 19th century, and early 20th century. The last one is sad, though:


Fulton Ferry Fireboat House. Built in 1926, this historic structure now houses the Brooklyn Ice Cream Company. We passed on the ice cream on this walk, though - it was a little too chilly for ice cream!


Wedding pictures! These folks actually got chased out of where they were a minute later - where they were being the entryway to the veddy posh River Cafe, a fine dining establishment on a barge - but I bet they got some nice shots before they did. Her dress was one that left her arms bare...we were hoping she didn't get pneumonia!


Chilly pigeons in an alleyway. I loved the way they had their feathers all fluffed up.


The Brooklyn Bridge - Brooklyn side.


The Brooklyn Bridge - looking South (we'd walked under the bridge)


The Manhattan Bridge, looking North, showing some of the Brooklyn Bridge Park in the foreground. The next bridge to the north is the Williamsburg Bridge. The mnemonic you can use to remember their order is that the first initial of each forms a familiar trio of letters - BMW.


The sky turned quite spectacular by later in the day - we'd been wandering around in DUMBO, then decided to head back to Brooklyn Heights for hot tea - we passed by one of the approaches to the Promenade & were just stopped in our tracks by this view.