Escape to Jacob Riis Beach
As we discussed in our post for Coney Island, we love the odd winter day trip. Going to the beach in the off season in NY is the best because it's quiet and we can let Whiskey run around. Our last beach excursion was to Fort Tilden / Jacob Riis Beach. Typically on Christmas, we go with James’ family on an afternoon hike, but as this was our first year staying in New York and not being with family, we decided to keep the tradition alive.
After opening presents, we packed up the car and put Whiskey in his safety belt and headed off, grabbing holiday themed Starbucks drinks along our way. We did this at the Cropsy exit, which was odd given that we had just watched the documentary about the five children who went missing called “Cropsy”, but we digress....
Once we got there, the lot was all but empty. As we lugged ourselves out of the car in our heavy coats, duck boots, beanies and gloves, we beelined to the sand. It may have been a little bit different from our San Diego days, but Whiskey did not miss a beat. He ran himself ragged, scampering up and down the beach, jumping into the water, trying to eat the shells because he thought they were his tennis ball. Basically, he went bananas. It was almost like being at home.
After Whiskey finally calmed down, we stopped by Katharina Grosse installation called “Rockaway!” presented by MoMA PS1, showcasing one of the few structure left after Hurricane Sandy. Lit in the shadows of the dark winter clouds, it casts a different light from the summer months when it was first unveiled. We were so excited to see it before it’s run was done. That’s one of the great things about NY, there’s art everywhere.
From there, we walked along the dunes and and through the paths, passing former military barracks around Fort Tilden that are now covered with graffiti ( Kind of… it was actually covered with a ton of instagram and twitter handles… is this the new form of graffiti, just tagging your social media handle?), where we trekked to the top of one of the barracks to get the full 360 view of the city in the distance and the ocean in front of us. We walked around, up and down the sand dunes, the boardwalk, and along the shoreline until sunset, holding onto our lost Sunday beach strolls.
Where are some of your favorite places to go in the off season? Where should be our next escape? We love hearing from you!
Love,
The Nortons
