A day of exploring....

Ethan and I had a busy day on Saturday. We went to 3 different neighborhoods (one in Brooklyn and 2 in Manhattan). The weather was perfect--not too hot or humid.

Our first stop of the day was in Brooklyn Heights. We got some lunch at Ethan's fave, Chipotle, and then headed down to the waterfront. The Floating Pool Lady is a swimming pool on a barge docked at the Brooklyn waterfront. We went to check it out but since we had other places to stop during the day, we didn't go swimming.

The Parks Dept also turned an old parking lot into a man-made beach. It seemed a little weird, with the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) in the background and truckloads of sand covering asphalt. I'd rather go to the real beach.

On our way to the Chelsea Piers, we saw this building. I was curious and Googled it when we got home. It's occupied by some sort of computer company and was just completed this year. It's designed by Frank Gehry but isn't quite as psychedelic as EMP.

The Chelsea Piers are located on the West Side of Manhattan. It's a huge sports complex built on 3 piers along the Hudson River. You can ice skate, golf, bowl, rock climb, and hit some baseballs all in one location. We decided to try the driving range at the Golf Club. I thought the Inter Bay range in Seattle was fancy but it's nothing compared to this place. We were on the 3rd level, hitting balls out towards the river. There are no buckets of balls used here---the tee operates on an automated, underground system. After each swing, the tee sinks down into the "grass" and like magic, it pops up again with a ball on top. It was pretty cool. Dad, next time you are in town, we'll take you here.

Steve Forbes yacht, "The Highlander" is moored at the piers. It's ridiculously huge.

Next on our agenda was Dylan's Candy Bar, a 2-floor candy shop on the Upper East Side. But along the way, we found the Mac store and had to take a look. This glass cube is the entrance, you walk down a glass spiral staircase or take the glass elevator to get to the store. Lots of glass in this place. The store itself seemed like all the other Mac store we've been to, just a little bigger and more crowded. Once we had our Mac fix, we continued on our way to Dylan's.

This candy store has everything---a soda fountain, gourmet chocolates, and any kind of candy you would ever want. We didn't go too crazy, but did leave with a few treats. Definitely worth another visit.

We had a full and fun day of exploring and I'm sure we'll do it again soon. This weekend we head out to Randall's Island for the Farm Aid concert. (Unfortunately for Ethan, it's at the same time as the Bears game).

Have a good weekend everyone! We miss you all!