yee-haw, cowboy

brooklyn has a thing for old mechanical rides. apparently, so does ryder, and alexis and i have a thing for watching him ride new york's finest horses, dinos and cars. nothin like life in the city.

the hood

i am in love. i am in love with brooklyn.

we've been here almost a month now, and i am seriously considering a move to the big city...eventually. i've never been interested in visiting new york, perhaps because of the "touristy" nature of the place. times square, the empire state building, wall street, etc. haven't ever motivated me to come to new york. but, if i had known how cool brooklyn is, i would have visited long, long ago.

i know it's only been a month, but i feel quite comfortable here. i know the lady down at the dry cleaner, the pizza man on the corner, and most of our neighbors. right now, this feels like home. so, ladies and gentlemen, here's the hood.

the pad
the street: st. marks place, between 4th and 5th

atlantic station: it's up the block
playing with a new train from auntie brookie and a new race car from grandpa t

chillin in our neighborhood: park slope playground

strolling through the water on a hot new york day

brooklyn playgrounds are serious business

"chillin on the stoop is what new york is all about" -forrest cole

we spend a lot of time scooting down our street

ryder made mommy the king of brooklyn

park slope ward building

more stoop time after church

ryder playing in front of our favorite bakery, est. 1904

an old church on court street

my favorite street in brooklyn. it's in cobble hill, my favorite area of brooklyn. someday, i want to live here.

story time

the best part about being up north for the summer is spending time with my nephew, ryder. there's nothing quite like it: he randomly tells me he loves me, gives me kisses, makes me laugh till i cry, asks me to play imaginary tennis with him, says the cutest things in the funniest voice ever like "hot tamales" and "you're nice. i like you." on sunday, he told me that i looked pretty. so, life is good.

one of my favorite things to do is read him stories at nap time and bed time. mike and alexis are gracious and let me in on the fun. ryder will fill in many of the words in the stories if we stop reading. it's adorable. one of the few books that made the trip is there's a wocket in my pocket. when i was a kid, this was my favorite dr. seuss book. now that i'm an adult, it's still my favorite dr. seuss book.

since we only have a few books with us in NY, we've read this one a million times. ryder knows almost all the words. the other night, i read it to him, saying only the first part of each rhyme, e.g., do you ever have the feeling there's a wasket in your..., and ryder filled in the final word. he knew the end to every rhyme in the book. it was precious. i'm loving my summer!

adventures in pennslyvania

one of the first stops in my summer east coast tour was the lovely state of pennsylvania. j bird promised to take me camping, and that he did. we had an amazing weekend full of roller coasters, steam-engine trains, and coal mines.

if any of you happen to find your way to the coal country, you have to hit knoebels. it's this amazing amusement park, built in 1926, tucked in the lush green of eastern penn.
much like the towns that surround it, knoebels is stuck in time. i felt like i should be wearing an outfit like this:

i didn't, but i did feel like i had taken a time machine back to a more magical era. there's no admission fee for the park; instead, they sell ticket books. yes, i said ticket books with $1, 50 and 25 cent tickets in ticket booths that have been there since the 20's.

we rode the grand carousel, which was built in 1913 by george kremer of long island, NY. he purchased the hand-carved horses from wood-carver charles carmel. carmel immigrated from russia in 1883 at the age of 18. he made a living carving carousel figures in his brooklyn wood shop until his death in 1931.

the carousel is accompanied by 3 organs. the largest of the three, which is housed inside the carousel building was built in 1888 by frati and company in berlin, germany. on the carousel, you can still try to catch the brass ring for a free ride. i caught lots of rings, none of them brass. but, on our second ride, jared caught the brass ring and did, in fact, win a free ride! it was all very exciting!



there are plenty of other reminders of times gone by, like old cars, fire trucks, steam engines, black smiths, and wooden roller coasters. in fact, all of the coasters in knoebels are wood, most of them decades old.


the phoenix was my favorite roller coaster. we rode it three times. i would have kept riding, but we used all of our tickets. and, there was something cool about that. this coaster was built in 1947, and was, in its time, the largest coaster in the world. it's original home was at playland park in san antonio, tx; in order to preserve the ride after the closing of playland, knoebels bought and relocated the coaster to pennsylvania in 1985. this was the first time a large, wooden coaster was relocated. all i have to say is that the phoenix did not disappoint. please see video for proof!



i also totally loved this ride; this is not surprising, as i've always wanted to fly, and being on this little ride almost feels like flying. the sign on the front of the ride says it's been "flying high" since 1971.
we rode the ferris wheel, as well. it was the first time in living memory that i've ridden a ferris wheel. beautiful views and a moment of relaxation in a day of thrills and laughs. we ate lots of yummy food: 2 funnel cakes, hot dogs, and an ice cream sunday big enough for an army. we left exhausted and with smiles from ear to ear.


the next day, we went to ashland, pa for some coal mining fun. we took a train into a coal mine that has been preserved since the day it was closed in 1932, due to the depression. it was pretty spectacular. please note the tiredness visible on our faces from the day before.

mushrooms...growing out of the rock. sweet.

just in case we missed it. haha.

this car was found full of coal when the mine was reopened as a tourist attraction.

then, we rode the henry clay, an old steam engine built in 1927. we learned about the history of coal mining in ashland and centralia from a very cool guy in a very cool conductor (as ryder would say) outfit.


thank you, j bird, for an unforgettable trip!

what i miss most about south carolina

right now, i'm in between homes. i am spending the summer living with mike, alexis, ryder and baby coconut poelman before i leave for korea. thus far, this summer has been indescribably marvelous.

however...perhaps because of my homeless-esque state, it's only just starting to become real to me that i won't be going back to south carolina. i've decided that i miss it and that, before i forget, i need to make a list of things that i miss about it. so, here's the list, in no particular order.

the candy-scented air
day trips to folly beach
anna
the movie theater at harbison
friends from the lake murray ward
the carolina roll at fusion bowl
gold's gym in lexington
hanging out in the WC with graham
driving over rivers everywhere i go
running into students on campus
southern accents
beezers
my office
so many former students who are now some of my dearest friends
walking through the horseshoe
elizabeth and nicole from USC's FYE
my apartment, particularly my bed
all the single ladies: jean marie, aimee, kelli, jessie, and mara
teaching

ok. so, i realized in writing this post that i could go on forever, and this is by no means an exhaustive list, but i have oh so many other things to blog about. i will just say that, despite its craziness, the south has sunk into my soul, and i miss it dearly. i feel lucky to have met so many incredible people in south carolina who have changed my life forever. to you all, i am in debt. i will always remember my time in columbia with a smile. farewell, dear south.