Coney Island

Today was our first full day in New York, and we did a very New York thing: we went to Coney Island. Jim was off doing good works, and Cass, Henry, Devon and I drove there. I've never been to Coney Island, and it's a pretty interesting place -- the thing that struck me the most was how untouched it seems. It's still got sideshows, cheesy souvenir and hot dog stands (including the original Nathan's), and barkers pitching games including one memorable one called "Shoot a Freak" that involves shooting paintballs at a guy running through a "terrain" of scrub. It retains a seediness that's more than a veneer. Cass at one point wondered why it hadn't been developed, since it's in a major metropolis and highly accessible by public transportation; and I wondered the same, since you'd think the location (across from a subway stop on a very nice sandy beach) would be calling the likes of amusement companies across the nation. But it's nice that there's still some corner of America where sideshows live next to old guys on the sand frying themselves to a mahogany crisp.

Coney Island, aside from having an awesome old wooden roller coaster, the Cyclone, also has a great kiddie park with rides. I wasn't sure if Devon would like this, since she's never been to any type of amusement park; I don't know why I worried. As Jim said, who doesn't like rides? She and Henry went on several together, and they were really cute sitting on the choo choo train or riding on the little motorcycle ride. Cass took several photos (I couldn't fit the camera in the bag; Walt is bringing it later), so I'll post some when I get them from her. All in all in was a HUGE hit -- Devon loved the place. We had to ditch Cass and Henry a couple of times because she was so insistent in begging to get on the rides. She didn't always look like she was having fun when she was riding, but it was clear she was as she wailed to get right back on. She was really having a great time riding with Henry, too, perhaps because she goes to daycare and spends time with us but doesn't get a lot of one-on-one playtime with other kids (and Henry has the double cachet of being a big boy too).

After we had exhausted our tickets, we went to the beach where there is a play structure with a slide and other amenities. This was Cass' excellent idea, since it let both kids run off a lot of energy and got Devon tired enough to sack out on the ride home. I was very excited that Devon fell asleep, both because it allowed us to avoid having an ice cream (and get sugared up) and she really needed a nap - she was so tired on the way to the car that a couple of times she lay down on the sidewalk (even though each time I picked her up to carry her she wailed like a Banshee).

I didn't want to have a repeat of last night, where she woke the entire house up at about 1am with a good half hour of screaming, so shortly after we got back to Cass and Jim's, Devon and I went to the local playground. The one near their house in Prospect Park is really amazing -- I think it had about 5 play structures plus swings and a sandbox. Devon was, if you'll excuse me for saying, in heaven. She ran around like crazy, so I think she had a good chance to burn off any extra energy. It still took some doing to get her down to sleep tonight, but I have hopes that we'll at least avoid a repeat of the screaming tonight.