Summer Fun in the City

I recently took the ferry to IKEA from Manhattan to Brooklyn and found it to be a quick and pleasant ride. I was accompanying my mom, and we both enjoyed seeing the statue of liberty, the Freedom Tower and the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. We felt like tourists in our city and it was fun. This didn’t exist when I was a kid, and I thoroughly enjoy seeing the city from different angles and falling in love with it all over again. That said, try to go early to avoid the long lines at the dock. We luckily didn’t have any.

There is just so much to do during this time of year in the city – and more fun than a ferry to IKEA – ha! The summer concerts going on throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn; such as Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center that just started last Saturday, where I enjoyed a lovely night of Berlioz at Avery Fisher Hall with my dad on their opening night. Governor’s Island has plenty of concerts going on this time of year as well – I saw Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes there a few years back on a date. It was a great venue in a relatively new performing space. New to me at that time, since I had lived in LA for a while.

So if you are in the city all summer long, fret not. There are so many outdoor festivities: street fairs, concerts, outdoor movies in Bryant Park – that you can really enjoy and get some nature in as well. The tennis courts in Central Park are great, I took lessons there a couple of years ago and truly enjoyed the time spent breathing in all that extra oxygen that the trees provided.

I’ve been lucky to be in the Hamptons this summer, and I will be going to California for a vaca during Labor day weekend, but if you can’t make it to either of these places, there is always Long Beach. They gave the boardwalk a face-lift, as well as the restrooms. It is clean and very enjoyable. If you don’t have a car, it’s a three block walk from the LIRR. Easy.

Make use of all the outdoor activities that New York City has to offer. Soon enough we’ll be wearing scarves and hats again – yikes! Get out in the sun while you can.