Long Island / Coney Island

I love getting out and exploring New York. It's always more fun with someone. That's why I was so excited when Crystal told me she was coming to New York for a college fair. I was so excited to meet up with her in Long Island. I can remember spending many hours in her office in Admissions when I was supposed to be entering tour cards.

Since I'm almost proficient in the ways of NYC, buying my ticket and catching the LIRR was a piece of cake. I didn't really know what to expect of Long Island. It's not one of the five boroughs, but I have this image of New York. I picture snowy mountains, beautiful homes in the woods and lakes. Granted, I'm sure this is how it does look upstate, but that is NOT what Long Island is like. It seemed stuck in the 1980s. The college hosting the fair was straight out of 16 Candles. Everything was old and in need of repair.

But Crystal and I were having a great time. She's one of those people that I hadn't seen in months, but we were able to pick up like nothing had changed - I love that feeling. The highlight of the fair was when she tried to drink water without putting her mouth on the bottle. Did she succeed? No, oh no, she failed miserably and spilled water all down her shirt. We did have a few people stop by our table and it felt great to be able to deliver my Radford schpeel again.

After the fair, we took the train to Penn Station and the caught the Q to Coney Island. Unfortunately, the Q only went half way there because they were doing renovations. Great! So, we had to take a bus to Coney Island. Ah, it was an adventure and we got to see a lot of Brooklyn, which made me glad I live in Manhattan.

Finally, we reached Coney Island only to find that it's closed. And not just for the summer - forever. I later found out that they are tearing it down and revamping the whole area. So, no ferris wheel, freak show, Nathan's hot dog or rollercoaster for me :-(
But we did get to walk on the beach - something I haven't done in years and walk on a pier way out over the ocean. We had dinner at Subway in the subway and then were both extremely grossed out by the ghetto-est bathroom ever.

All in all, it was perfect! It was so much fun to hang out with Crystal and do something. I'm usually the guy who just hangs out home. It was nice to get out and do something for a change. But, now Crystal's recruiting in Boston. I guess I'll go back to being lonely.