AMANDA'S BASKETS: THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK & FULTON'S LANDING

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK & FULTON'S LANDING

Remember I said that Monday's plans were delayed until Tuesday, that is today. Well, I followed through with my plans and had a great time doing it.

My aim was to walk around DUMBO. But instead of transferring trains, I stayed on the R and got off at Court Street which is not exactly the DUMBO area. But I found a few places to visit on the way.

While walking in a lovely old neighbor, I was surrounded by the most sweet smelling perfume. Do you know what they are?

They are Lilies of the Valley...

And the entire yard was covered with these sweet-smelling flowers.

I passed by an old Gothic Revival Church built in 1844. The congregation, The First Unitarian Society of Brooklyn; A Unitarian Universalist Congregation, was started in 1833.

And look at these flowers on the side of the church...

Leaving the church, I walked by the St. George Hotel which is now co-op apartments. It was once the largest hotel in New York City. It was 30 floors high with 2632 rooms. Many of the soldiers returning from WWII in the 1040's stayed in this hotel.

I then headed for Willow Street to check out the Truman Capote home. This is where he wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's. Unfortunately, it was being remodeled so it was totally blocked and shrouded. To give you an idea of what the house looked like I took a picture of the home next to it.

From the Capote house I walked to the promenade, a short block away. You can see Manhattan from the promenade...

And from the promenade you can walk down to the Brooklyn Bridge Park which is next to the East River. I spotted this historical sign about the Brooklyn Bridge Park area, something I didn't know about...

It's a beautiful place to sit and watch the water traffic, read a book or just enjoy the sun. The walk continues on to the Fulton Landing where Robert Fulton first showed his steamboat in 1814.

You can also catch either a ferry to Manhattan or a ferry up the East River from the landing. And you are very close to the Brooklyn Bridge...

There's a restaurant on the landing...

And the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Cash only. A bit on the expensive side but the ice cream was very good...

On the landing fence, I spotted something a bit unusual...

...tons of locks!?!?

You can see the Manhattan Bridge from the landing...

...which is where I headed after enjoying my ice cream. But I will save those pictures for tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by...
Talk to you later...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?