A hot beachy afternoon at Rockaway beach!

If you ask most Americans what they are up to for Memorial day weekend, it will usually be something involving BBQ, BBQ, BBQ and then possibly pool, house parties, beaches, shopping sales and picnics in parks.

This weekend, I spent Saturday and Sunday with my friends from Montreal who were in town to shop, eat and dance salsa. They left on Sunday though because they had to return to work on Monday while I get to enjoy an extra day off.

On Monday, D and I had lunch at his parents and decided to borrow their car to check out Far Rockaway beach in New York.

The smell of the salty ocean filled the air

 It's a 35 minutes drive to Rockaway from Williamsburg (About an hour + train ride on the A train/S shuttle from Manhattan).Rockaway beach just underwent lots of renovations. This year, it has been revamped with new restaurants serving artisanal snacks and food. A new boardwalk, skate park, handball courts and swing sets gives kids and adults some entertainment in this desolate beach. We didn't get to enjoy the beach because we did not expect it to be nice so we did not bring any beach gears including our bathing suit. I did bring a bikini top to wear since it was boiling hot out. I had low expectations of the beach as I was told that it was dirty and expected something nasty like the tourist infested beach at Coney Islands. However, D read about the new "hipster" restos that opened including Blue Bottle coffee and so we thought we'd check out the food.

Treat yourself...$4 fries.

 

Parking was a little difficult to find but it was a holiday after all and we were there around 3 p.m. To my surprise, the beach looked nice. The sand was white and looked clean. There were lifeguards, lots of cops and packed with people. I don't know how bad the beach was before but I believe the renovations have been fruitful and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and when there was a little bit of trouble, ten cops surrendered a group of kids who were then kicked out for whatever thing they have done. So, I assume it's safe.

Cops got your back!

We walked for a couple of hours but it seemed endless since the beach front stretches for miles and miles and apparently there's a gay beach too!

"Sir, can I hold your kite?" -Yes, only if you don't let go. "No I won't" -Ok. Hold it, don't let go. I'll go to the bathroom. I'll be back. "..."

I got to fly the longest kite I have ever seen! It was so long that you had to squint to find it.

Thank god for bikinis on a hot hot hot day

After the beach, we drove to NY's fourth biggest Chinatown in Elhmurst, Queens and did some grocery shopping and drank some bubble tea! The end!