A Day at the Park

My cousin Christina and her husband Peter came up to Queens specifically to celebrate the anniversary of the World's Fair in NYC. They invited us to join them, so Stephen, A., and I headed out to Flushing Meadows Corona Park; it was my first time to the sprawling complex of professional sports facilities, recreation areas, parkland, amusement rides, the zoo, the gardens, the museum, etc. It was quite the scene!

One thing that has been nice about this period of living in New York is that I'm learning a lot more about the outer boroughs. I haven't been to the Upper West or Upper East side very often at all. Instead, I'm learning the neighborhoods in Brooklyn, eating in Flushing, and here, observing the wonderful diversity that can be found in the public spaces of Queens. I always think of living in New York as being impossible for so many reasons, but it really is a different experience outside of Manhattan.

The Unisphere, which I totally thought was just a movie prop. Turns out it's very real.

The siren song of the carousel

Someone had a very good time on the carousel!

I *met* Mr. and Mrs. Met! <wince>

This is the incredible panoramic scale model of New York City in the Queens Museum. It's 100 feet:1 inch, and they keep it updated. There are little airplanes that land at and depart from La Guardia, and the lights simulate from dawn to dusk. I'm standing basically over Coney Island; that's Manhattan towards the top left, with all the tall buildings surrounding the "empty" rectangle of Central Park.