recreation, hiding in plain sight

One of my only complaints about this awesome city is the lack of outdoor recreational space.  Despite all the park space, the availability of open space for sports blows.  This is especially true for tennis courts.  So it’s pretty dang fantastic to find a neat little park tucked just minutes away. – sporting a couple of nicely-maintained, minimally-used tennis courts.  I hesitate to even write this, because I don’t want anyone else knowing about it, but the South Oxford really does deserve some props for being such a delightful hidden gem.  Yay!

(I’m linking to an article that also includes a note about Teardrop Park in Manhattan, which is genuisely landscaped to squash an amazing amount of terrain and park experiences into one small pocket of land.)

Here you go: South Oxford Park (and Teardrop Park, too)!

burger time

I don’t often go out for burgers because most restaurant veggie burgers are a little bit too much like the frozen patties I can buy on my own. However, tonight I hit up the Fort Greene joint 67 Burger for the first time and LOVED IT. They had a truly tasty veggie burger, a basket of wicked good curly fries and even a pretty good set of onion rings. Whoop! And – GOOD LORD – they even had RC Cola on tap. RC Cola! I haven’t seen a single other establishment with the RC since I moved here. OMG OMG OMG.

Here you go: 67 Burger!

on the farm

The Flatbush Farm, that is.  Going to this Brooklyn joint for brunch is every bit as good as going to their Web site to read a clever restaurant manifesto.  Or maybe the other way around. Or, whatever.  All I know is that their buckwheat pancakes (with season fruit) are AMAZING!

Here you go: Flatbush Farm!

cricket in the bronx

I had my first adventure in Van Cortlandt Park this past weekend, playing cricket on the parade ground and scrambling up a giant rock to gaze at views of the city.  This is one vast, rambling, beauty of a park.  In The Bronx!  The wonders never cease here in the big city.

Here you go: Van Cortland Park!

a forest grows in brooklyn

Before I moved to this city, Central Park dominated my imagination about parks in New York.  Now that I live a 20 minute walk from Prospect Park, all that has changed.  To me, Prospect Park is so much the heart of this borough and I look forward to getting lost in its 585 acres of green awesomeness this summer.

Here you go: Prospect Park!