Swans in Sheepshead Bay

Although some stores are still closed, it seems to me Sheepshead Bay isn't in as bad shape from Hurricane Sandy as Gerritsen Beach still is. The area has really changed since the last time I was there, which was a couple of years ago.

 Emmons Avenue is pretty much all Russian now with the exception of one Italian restaurant that has been there as long as I could remember -- Randazzo's. On this trip I had decided I would eat all the foodstuffs I cannot get in Roanoke so although I had longed for raw clams at Joe's Clam Bar, which is no longer there, I had to settle for some at Randazzo's. My friend chose the fried calamari in hot sauce which was served with a hard tack. I sampled hers and it was okay, but I was disappointed in mine. $16.00 for a dozen raw clams, which were not cleaned well enough for my palate, seemed to be a little high. After we ate and realized we were still hungry, we both looked at each other and remembered that this place always felt like it was geared more to tourists than locals. It was worth the money just to eavesdrop on some of the conversations taking place around us. What a bunch of characters! I would have taken their photos, but I probably would have had my camera broken.

We walked across the bay and I was shocked to see swans in the ocean water. When the heck did that happen???

As we were walking along the avenue I saw two police vans pull up and a slew of ticket nazis emerged. The parking situation in Brooklyn deserves a post of its own so that will be coming at a later date.

After we went back to the car my friend decided I needed to see other parts of Brooklyn, so she kidnapped me and off we went...

Brooklyn Boids, I Mean Birds

Although I actually have even more pics from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens I thought I would show you some pictures of some birds I captured in Brooklyn. Now when you think of Brooklyn birds you're probably thinking, "dirty stinking boids" like the rats with wings, pigeons. At our Brooklyn house we have a huge pine tree in the back yard that the neighbors have been bugging me to cut down since my father died. I refuse to cut that one and the other pine that I have in the front of the house. Both trees house some songbirds including one that wakes me every morning singing, "Sweet Marie, Sweet Marie." I imagine that's my dad saying good morning to his granddaughter.

For the most part the birds are the usual ones that you would see here in Roanoke -- cardinals, bluejays, bluebirds, sparrows, wrens, pigeons along with many seagulls. This trip I saw two more types of birds I had never seen before in Brooklyn.

On our way back from the Botanic Gardens we stopped at Greenwood Cemetery to see my folks...



The place is huge and even though they issue maps it's easy to get lost. We know we finally found the gravesite when we stumble upon this gargoyle-filled monument.



My parents are located near one of the two huge ponds. We usually get lost trying to leave as well even though we follow the pond. This time we saw a beautiful bird that we've never seen there before.







Later on I took my daughter to Shore Parkway to go shopping. As usual we walked to the shore to take pictures of my favorite bridge, the Verrazano...



I had to look twice after taking the picture because I thought I saw some birds in the ocean which were too large to be ducks or geese...



We walked closer to the shore and saw that there were two swans diving for fish in the ocean...







My daughter said she didn't know swans swam in the ocean. Neither did I! You never know what you're going to find in Brooklyn.



Wouldn't this shot make a nice postcard? "Greetings from Brooklyn!"