“36 Hours on the Brooklyn Waterfront”

Visiting any waterfront in New York City is a great opportunity to catch the sunset or get a great view of the skyline of the city. One great spot to visit is the Brooklyn waterfront.  Not only can you get an excellent view but you get to experience the growth of Brooklyn.  Brooklyn has many places where it shows it’s amazing history.  The historic feeling that you get is one you can’t forget when visiting the waterfront.  From modern to ancient spots, Brooklyn has to offer various places to visit.  For example Williamsburg has various spots that show how Brooklyn has progressed throughout the years.  It is a  neighborhood known for its unique places such as a vibrant nightlife, contemporary art scene, a hipster culture and various locations to grab a drink. Not only Williamsburg but places like Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Friday

1) 3:30 PM:

A perfect way to start your Friday afternoon and get a good grasp of Brooklyn’s history is by visiting the Dominos Sugar Refinery located in Williamsburg.  It used to be a refinery back in the late 1880’s all the way to 2004.  It has been around for almost two centuries and shows how essential brooklyn has progressed over the time.  Dominos Sugar Factory provides not only the view of the old building but the transfer to Grand Ferry Park which is literally right across the former refinery.  You can sit and enjoy the beautiful park and take pictures to your liking.

2) 5:00 pm:

If you love great scenery then look no further than Grand Ferry Park.  From here you can get a great view of the city and enjoy a beautiful day under the sun and walking on the paved walk path.  Sitting on the bench while enjoying the view can sound cleshay but you can sit there for hours watching ferries pass and make you pass time on the bench for hours.

 

3) 7:00 pm

Like movies but don’t like a crowded theater?  Nitehawk Cinema is the place for you.  In nitehawk cinema, you can enjoy a movie in the small theater with served service that make you feel right at a restaurant at the same time.  You can order cocktails, shrimp, tacos, wings, and a whole menus full with delicious food.  Movie prices range from $12 for general admission for children, $9 and menus prices from 5-16 per item.  After enjoying the showing, and feeling for a drink, then you don’t have to leave the cinema.  Nitehawk Cinema provides full bar service with the bar called Lo-Res-Bar. It is located on the ground floor of the cinema and provides amazing atmosphere late at night.

4) 10:00 pm:

After watching a night showing at Nitehawk Cinema, the next step is to head down to the Barcade.  An exciting combination bar of video games and drinking with moderate price range.  If you are an old school person and enjoyed playing arcade games as a kid, no better feeling than revisiting your favorite childhood memories by going to barcade along with some fine American craft beer.  This Barcade is the original out of the 6 Barcades that are scattered in New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia, and Manhattan.  You can enjoy classic arcade games such as the original and famous Asteroids, the first ever Donkey kong, fighting game Mortal Kombat II, and many more as you can get play up to 51 different classics.  Barcade also serves an exclusive beer you can get at any Barcade but having a cup of beer and playing your favorite childhood game late at night is not a bad way to spend your friday night.

 

Saturday

5) 8:30 am:

The best place to start is to get breakfast at egg.  Yes, it’s actually a restaurant named egg and it doesn’t just sell eggs.  Egg restaurant has been around since 2007 and provides the excellent story of a struggling little restaurant to now a daily spot for breakfast. It has a extravagant menus to choose from and you won’t be disappointed.  You can choose from regular style eggs with any meat of your choosing and also pick the homemade granolas that will surely give you energy for the rest of the day. Sauteed organic kale with eggs rothko and freshly squeezed homemade orange juice is another good way to satisfy to appetite your hunger early in the morning.  

 

6) 11:00 am

Pumping up your adrenaline isn’t a bad idea to start off your Saturday after a good breakfast and to do so is by going to the Brooklyn bike park.  Here you can enjoy the recently opened bike park for a moderate price of $30 per person.  This park is filled with huge slopes and hills to ride and if you don’t own a bike or any gear, you can rent gear and a bike without any problems.  If you happen to be paranoid about injuring yourself in these dirt paths, don’t be worried, the park provides a beginner road for any newcomers to the park and bikes for children as well.    

7) 1:00 pm:  

Wander the streets of Red Hook, Brooklyn and you will run into the Gowanus Bay Terminal,also known as Red Hook Grain Terminal, and nicknamed “The Grain Elevator”.  The Gowanus Bay Terminal is a component of the historic NYS Barge Canal(Erie Canal) project. Get to see Vane Line Bunkering and how they deliver fuels to ships and how they use massive barges.  Get to know the historical setting of brooklyn and  how heavy industry with maritime bulk shipping has been revived.  Tours last one hour and half and prices are $20 for general admission and $10 for OHNY members only which you can apply at www.ohny.org.

 

8) 2:30 pm:

To spend a nice saturday afternoon, visit the Brooklyn Historical Society located on 128 Pierrepont St. located in the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. The Brooklyn Historical Society is a  museum, a library, and an educational center all in one provides every detail and change that Brooklyn has gone through.  Every decade and even every year, Brooklyn changes drastically not only in appearance but in numbers as well.  Explore the halls to learn not only the history but also the current changes and current events that is happening in Brooklyn.  The Brooklyn Historical Society was founded in 1863 and shows how far this society has come.  Get to read and sit down in the library of the Brooklyn Historical Society where you see and feel the old and yet modern architecture that will ease the mind when researching or reading.  

 

9) 4:00 pm:

Find historical and important event in the Waterfront Museum located 290 Conover St. Red Hook , Brooklyn.  It is actually a wooden barge that was used to carry goods from ocean vessels to the train tracks of Brooklyn and New Jersey.  It is a listed place in the National Historic Landmark Places.  It is open to the public thursdays and saturdays and it’s free.  No better place than getting to see the former vessel to carry goods without having to pay a penny.  

 

10) 6:00 pm:

Grab a bite at the exquisite Brooklyn Crab.  Here you can get a fresh seafood shack that offers buckets of crabs and raw oysters.  Built in 2012 to represent the history of fishing and the beauty of seafood ,you can sit down with your companions and enjoy another great view of city’s skyline and a wonderful view of the statue of liberty.  It doesn’t only offers seafood but you can choose from steaks and burgers if you’re not sensing the appetite for seafood.  It also offers a kids menu so no is left unhappy.  Enjoy your seafood with delicious and various options of drinks such as the Crab cooler that includes an option to choose lemon or lime juice and mix it with vodka, or bourbon.  Prices range from $5 to $49 per food item.  

11) 8:00 pm:

Explore Fairway Market located on 480-500 Van brunt St. Fairway.  The Fairway Market dates all the way back from 1933.  It is a well-known market and no better place to shop for food and supplements.  It offers great deals and wonderful prices that won’t leave you unsatisfied.

 

Sunday

12) 9:00 am:

To start off your sunday morning, Get to know more about Brooklyn and its industrial past by visiting the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  You can also get a good glimpse of the future as you explore sprawl of docks, cranes, and warehouses at historic federal shipyard that is the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  It now employs over 7,000 people and continuously increasing.  Hear the stories of sailors and shipyard workers that once filled the 300-acre waterfront complex.  You can get tickets for the tour at expedia.com.  

13) 12:00 pm:

Spend your sunday afternoon by getting photos of Williamsburg Bridge and going to the Continental Army Plaza.  Another place that has been around over a century shows how Brooklyn still keeps its historic landmarks.  Get to see the statue of George Washington mounted on his horse that lies in the center of the plaza.  Recent renovation of the lower plaza has made it easier to access and other improvements has made it more better to enjoy the plaza.  Improvements such as new paving, benching, plantings, redesign of the balustrades, inclusion of a performance area and a directional medallion indicating the orientation and distance of Valley Forge Memorial Park.   Right across from the Continental Army Plaza stands the once and former home of the Williamsburg Trust Company.   The once trusted company is now a different and distinguished look that still holds how Brooklyn has come a long way over the long tenure it has had.  It is now the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Exile.

 

14) 4:00 pm:

After a long day exploring the historical and popular landmarks of Brooklyn, get a drink and something to eat at the Woods. The bar has a taco truck parked in the back patio for customers.  A spacious bar named The Woods located on 48 S 4th St. is wonderful place to spend the late afternoon and here you can have a pleasant time enjoying the outdoor seating with music provided in the background.  Drink the delicious drinks Ginger Mai Tai, Blue Hawaiian, and Beach bum.  These are Drinks that are strongly recommended and you should definitely taste.  You can reserve seats for private and semi-private events by emailing them at thewoodsbar@gmail.com.  Prices range from $6 and up and $5 on happy hour specials. Arrive around 4pm to enjoy the sunday cookouts they provide every sunday along with the performance by Sammy Miller and the Congregation.  If you like sports, sports are played as well on the tv monitors.   

15) 8:00 pm:

If you want to end your travel to Brooklyn by taking out a special someone on a date then enjoy a good relaxing night view of the Manhattan skyline and New York Harbor in Brooklyn Heights Promenade.  Located in one of the oldest neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights.  It has interesting history as its construction came as unplanned because it is a byproduct of competing proposals for the highway’s route that were resolved in the middle of World War II.  The promenade runs between the ramp north of Atlantic Ave and the Brooklyn Bridge.  It is four stories high according to its Topography and one third of a mile long.  The promenade was made famous when it made cameo appearances in the films  Annie Hall and Moonstruck.  If you are also planning a wedding proposal then no better place than the beautiful lights of New York City to illuminate your proposal.

References:

-News, NY1. “First Look: Inside the Domino Sugar Factory Site’s Sweet Transition.” TWC News. N.p., 21 Apr. 2017. Web. 3 May 2017.

-“Nitehawk Cinema | The Official Guide to New York City.” NYCgo.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2017.

-Gould, — Emily. “Barcade.” NYMag.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.

-Preston, Marguerite. “How Egg Went From Breakfast Pop-Up to Williamsburg Institution in 10 Years.” Eater NY. Eater NY, 05 May 2015. Web. 07 May 2017.

–Brooklyn Historical Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2017.

-“Brooklyn Navy Yard Industrial Park.” About BNYDC : BROOKLYN NAVY YARD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.

–GBX – Gowanus Bay Terminal | OHNY. N.p., 09 Sept. 2014. Web. 03 May 2017.

–“Museum History.” Waterfront Barge Museum. N.p., 02 Mar. 2012. Web. 03 May 2017.

-Productions, Mixit. “Brooklyn Heights Promenade.” New York Harbor Parks. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.

-“About.” Brooklyn Crab. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.