Katy Was Here: WONDER WHEEL!!!

The day finally arrived! Yesterday I got to ride the Wonder Wheel. It was no disappointment.

Laura, Rachel and I took the Q to Coney Island yesterday afternoon. The weather was beautiful and sunny and breezy when we stepped off the train. We headed straight for the Wonder Wheel. I have been waiting SO long to ride the most famous Ferris Wheel in the world. The Wonder Wheel has two kinds of cars on it: the white ones are stationary, as it were, and will give you a standard ferris wheel ride. The red and blue cars run along a track and rock and swing, like beads on a bicycle wheels spokes. Of course we got moving cars. It was so fun. The ride was so pleasant and the moving car was exciting but not scary. I am over the moon for that ride.

Laura and Rachel on their way in!

I have my ticket!

Fun!

View from the Wonder Wheel

Afterward we headed to Nathan's for lunch and then to the Cyclone, Coney Island's other famous ride. The Cyclone is a 100 year old wooden coaster, but you wouldn't know it from the ride. It was 20 times smoother than the wooden coasters at Kings Dominion, and a more thrilling ride to boot. When you get to the end you don't have to get off if you want a second ride, you just hand them cash so we rode twice and both times were great fun.

Next we headed to the boardwalk for some cold beers. We walked along the boardwalk with our beer in cups and stopped to watch 'People Loving Music Loving People' which seemed promising at first as it was public dancing on the boardwalk, but upon closer inspection, was creepy middle-aged people dancing to techno in broad daylight. Then we went down to the shoreline so Rachel could put her toes in the ocean.

Toward late afternoon we decided to try and find a bar that had a television in it so we could watch the Kentucky Derby. None of the places on the boardwalk had tvs (there's no need at all, you must experience the people watching at Coney Island someday) so we headed inland a couple blocks trying to find a neighborhood place to watch. We didn't find any bars but we did see an off-track betting shop. I was nervous at first but Laura once worked at a betting shop in England and lead us in. What a terrific idea! What better place to cheer for your horse than the place where people REALLY care about the results. We all picked horses to win and stood among the various gamblers watching the beginnings of the race. I tried to sing My Old Kentucky Home but only know some parts, even though its my favorite part of the whole tradition. Then they were off and we were cheering and it was a lot of fun. None of us picked Super Saver so it was for the best that we hadn't bet in the heat of the moment there in the betting shop.

Now the sun had set and the ocean breezes were getting to be a bit much. We headed to a gift shop and all bought Brooklyn sweatshirts for the rest of the evening. We headed back to the boardwalk to check out some Coney Island microbrews at Beer Island. We sat in the outdoor sandbar at Beer Island drinking our Coney Island Lagers and enjoying the juke box until it was dark and all the lights of Coney Island were twinkling. We decided to head to 773 for the rest of the evening.