Rock (and Roll) Away

Last week was quite a monumental week in New York City. We're both hoping it was not a teaser but the weather improved remarkably and it was the first sign that winter was really coming to an end. I think I've blogged before but this winter really has been anticlimactic and was nothing compared to the 2010-11 monster that we had. 


I remember my first year here. It was around this time that I left NYC and went to France for a month. When I returned something felt different and it was that little buds of green had shot out from all the trees and the bleak empty feel of the city in winter was beginning its transformation towards summer. We're not quite there yet with green but equally promising was that last Thursday was the first night of the year that cafes and restaurants put their tables out on the sidewalks for some alfresco love. For foodies like us this was very exciting. 

The good weather extended to this weekend and we thought we'd make an escape from the city to the beaches of Rockaway. Rockaway is about an hour's subway from Manhattan on the A train. It's a massive stretch of beach along the eastern edge of Brooklyn. We were quite excited as dogs are allowed on the beach until May 1 so we thought it would be a great opportunity to get Dasha on the sand again.


The subway to the beach was a lazy 10 minute walk through Truman Show style housing. The beach is bordered by a boardwalk which runs as far as the eye can see. I think we might do our summer bike ride along it this year. We headed straight for the sand and Dasha was absolutely loving it trying to chase every seagull possible. There was nobody around and we practically had the beach to ourselves so we eventually let him off the leash for a bit of a run. We don't do this very often and I was quite nervous but he was well behaved and didn't go running off.


So if you're wondering what a New York City beach is like then let's just say it. I'd been to Coney Island (Gross) on the south side and Long Beach (swimmable) which is further North East and this kind of sits in the middle from a cleanliness standpoint. The sands ok and the water was surprisingly clear but it isn't no Wye River.