rock, rock, rockaway beach

today was one of the most relaxing days of the summer. corey and i woke up bright and early and headed to rockaway beach via the a train (and a short shuttle). once we resurfaced from the train we knew we were right at home because 116th street and rockaway boulevard is nothing but kitschy beach shops, dive bars, and a dunkin donuts/baskin robbins combo. as we walked toward the beach, it no longer felt like we were in new york city, but rather that we were transported to a touristy town in northern florida. we were lovin' it all around.

the beach itself was unexpectedly clean. plus, we arrived pretty early so it was yet to get crowded. after about an hour of chillin' on the sand, we ran into the ocean and allowed ourselves to be beat up by the waves. despite the obscene amount of seaweed that ended up in not-so fun places, it was such a fun time.

after a few hours of beaching it, we walked back into town with intentions of walking to breezy point. instead, however, we ended up on a bus that took us to a dumpy park somewhere in between. we got off the bus and started to walk. soon we saw a food wagon with the appropriate slogan "home of the breezy dog" so we decided to stop and ask for directions. the locals were friendly, but gave us poor advice (i.e. they told us the best way to get to breezy point was to "hitch" and not to be scared because she's lived there twenty-two years and that everyone "hitches"). yeah right, you crazy lady. needless to say, we gave up on our dream of breezy point.

back in town we stopped for some local flavor at a chinese restaurant that advertised lunch specials $4.60. how could we resist? it's a good thing neither of us has gotten violently ill...yet. we also stopped for a drink at one of the local dive bars, where a loud pinball machine and crocodile dundee on the tv sullied our experience...ah well, a good trip to the beach overall!

i'm not going to talk about the two and a half hour train ride home because i still don't believe it. i will say that it was the first time i've ever been stopped for an extended period of time on the train because of an "emergency" up ahead. you win some, you lose some, i suppose.