That's alot of Bikes

             Flea markets, antique shows, thrift stores, and yard sales are always a great way to stock up on items someone else has been trying to get rid of for the past five years. With a nice summer's day that wouldn't be too hot, Williamsburg - Brooklyn was going to be my destination for a one day flea market bonanza with at least two venues on the menu. The area has turned into a haven for hipsters over the past several years, and the overflowing amount of vintage clothes and random goods for sale plays right into the hands of the natives.

              Williamsburg used to be a bonafide Puerto Rican neighborhood, with a healthy mix of drug-dealing motorcycle clubs, but the overflowing population of hipsters and beatniks from Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side of Manhattan who either ran out of room or were being priced out, migrated across the East River to slummier surroundings that accommodated their budget. Over time a culture has developed there and many have flocked to the neighborhood seeking acceptance to an alternative lifestyle. The waterfront section used to feature massive warehouses and factories, but now that the place is hot for the real estate market, those old fixtures were torn down (and set ablaze by their owners), in favor of developing high-rise condominiums with picturesque views of the Manhattan skyline. Williamsburg used to be part of my territory while I was selling copy machines for Konica Minolta during 2004 and 2005, and although the hipster presence was visible, nearly ten years later it has spread considerably, along with newly built luxury quarters to support wealthier inhabitants seeking to buy their way into the scene. I did return a few times to Williamsburg, but those times were quite brief and with use of my car. Now I was going back by train, and was going to pound the pavement to stroll the streets I once had to stroll as a copy machine salesman.

              The best train to take there is the L line, although the J, M, or Z can also take you nearby and provide a ride with a great view over the Williamsburg Bridge, but it will require a few extra blocks of walking. A third public transit option is the East River Ferry which leaves from two locations: E. 34th Street and Lower Manhattan. I went with the L train and took it to the Bedford Avenue stop, then found puzzlement when I stepped foot off the train and noticed an empty mega-box of Welch's Fruit Snacks had ended up on the tracks somehow. Once out of the station I was immediately hit with a Thrift Store and the secondhand shopping spree was on!! Most of Bedford Avenue is lined up with street vendors selling all sorts of different goods such as books, movies, toys, comic books, shoes, and alot more. I could never understand why many were selling VHS tapes still, but there were plenty of those going around. The plan was to visit the Brooklyn Flea on the East River Waterfront and another place located on Wythe Ave. Not seeing anything special from the Thrift Store, I headed towards the waterfront down North 7th St. (N 7th St.) and came upon a little gem I had not been expecting; Artists & Fleas. It's a large indoor garage space that had been converted into an inside flea market with dozens of tables. There was even a DJ inside spinning rare hits from old vinyl records. I found most of the items inside to be more interesting to females, such as jewelry, art, and clothing. Featured, but not for sale, was a kid's school chair that belongs in any home setting. The most intriguing attraction overall was from a company called Golly. They had the ingenious idea of creating t-shirts out of cutouts from old bed sheets from the 70's and 80's. I recognized a square of the Ghostbusters bed sheets I used to have immediately. Prices ran from thirty to thirty-five dollars, and even though its a great idea, I wasn't looking to part with any funds for it. Some of the tables accept credit/debit cards, but there is also an ATM on the premises if any cash is needed.

             There were a couple coffee and tea stands in front of the market, which is open every Saturday and Sunday, but the stand that caught my eye was the Trop Pops. For four dollars you get a frozen fruit pop bar with pure dark chocolate on the back. The choices of fruit were mango, kiwi, and two others. I went with the mango to accompany me to my next destination; the Brooklyn Flea. Getting closer to the East River, I saw the Manhattan skyline standing in the background, and appreciated more why certain old unused warehouses had been burnt to ashes. The East River Waterfront spot caters to the Brooklyn Flea on Sundays (that has other locations in Fort Greene - Brooklyn as well), and the Smorgaburg on Saturdays (which is basically the same type of affair as the Sundays). There were a couple of ATM machines on site as well, and this outdoor spot had four times as many tables as there was at Artists and Fleas. In addition, this one also had about a dozen different food and snack stands, which overall, made it more worth the trip than the flea market itself. Unfortunately I ate big before leaving, so my stomach wasn't empty enough to sample more of the options. There were sausages, pizzas, tacos, ice cream, malteds, burgers, hotdogs, and more. It was very difficult to hold back, especially when I saw a mini-cupcake cart, charging only a dollar each. I told myself I would only get one if they have red velvet. Of course, upon closer look the indeed had the red velvet so I kept my promise and bought one. I was also getting a little thirsty, plus the sun was beaming down, so I went with a slush from Kelvin Natural Slush. They serve two flavors, ginger or Arnold Palmer, plus after you add a fruit topping. The guy behind the counter told me the Arnold Palmer ice would take about five minutes before it would be ready again, so I took a ginger with white peaches, which was available immediately.

            Most of the prices from the vendors were quite steep, and I didn't find much that I really found myself drawn to. The only piece I considered buying was from this guy who had a bunch of old license plates - going back to the 1920's. Those really old ones were more expensive than what I felt like spending, but he did have a 1967 Ontario plate for ten dollars that was very tempting. Most of my time at the Brooklyn Flea was spent deciding whether I should get it or not. I even took to the East River and the ferry loading up passengers to see if could jog an answer in my head, but ultimately I realized I could get something like that off of Ebay anytime, so no need to impulse buy a 1967 Ontario license plate. I walked along the waterfront on my way out of the Brooklyn Flea and looked up at some of the towering glass buildings erected recently that overlook the East River. Walking down Kent Avenue to the next stop on the flea market train, there were a number of unused buildings covered in artistic works, and just plain old graffiti. There was also the old Domino's sugar manufacturing plant which had since shutdown and relocated elsewhere. Once I reached the Wythe Ave. location there was one little problem: It wasn't a flea market spot anymore, it had turned into an outdoor bar. My legs were growing quite tired by this time and the sun's power was more eminent than I predicted earlier in the day, so I figured it was best to walk back towards the train and head on home. I stuck with Bedford Avenue the whole way back and discovered the street vendors and their tables offered more interesting stuff than what was found inside those two markets.

             Upon passing one block, I saw a sign of defiance from the dwindling Puerto Rican remnants. It was two clotheslines hung from one apartment building to another across the street, and they supported about fifty Puerto Rican flags flapping in the wind. Some other houses and buildings as well seemed to be going out of their way to display a flag or the image of the Puerto Rican flag, likely as a method to remind the hipsters who was there first and that the gentrification of the neighborhood isn't appreciated. It's not really the hipsters alone that have forced them out, but they sparked business in general that has taken its normal course of action in terms of real estate and the trade-in of bogedas for coffee houses. While I was there I heard several different languages spoken, likely French or German; tourists checking out the area to see what all the hype is about (and likely spending money on the local shops). I do find it somewhat hypocritical that most of the free-spirits there are against eating meat or even an egg hatched from a caged chicken, but have no problem being part of a movement that has forced most of a neighborhood to abandon its roots and seek affordable housing elsewhere.

             Soon after, going block by block and passing by a countless number of tables set up on the sidewalks with goods for sale, I came upon one amusing moment when a girl was trying to purchase a Davy Crockett fur cap. The table's owner was asleep inside a shopping cart and it was difficult to tell if he ran the table, or if he was just some junkie or homeless person sleeping in a cart with his feet hanging out the back. The girl had to wake him up, but it took a few pokes from her until he finally came to. When I arrived back at the Bedford Avenue L train entrance I noticed there were hundreds of bikes lined up and locked to the poles, something I didn't realize when I first got there. Just about every street in Williamsburg includes a bike lane to help promote exhaust-free transportation (while turning a blind eye to gentrification). I'm guessing these hundreds of bikes represent people who where going into the city, parked their bike at Bedford Ave., and then will have a ride home once they get back to Brooklyn. It was the most amount of unmanned bikes I ever seen in the confines of New York City out in the open like that. I understand it was daytime and there are tons of people walking around to scare off any would-be bike thief, but its certainly a bold move. It turns out I didn't purchase anything with the two flea markets, Thrift Store, and rows of sidewalk tables, outside the red velvet cupcake and ginger slush, that is.

              I would've at least settled for finding out how the Welch's Fruit Snacks wound up on the tracks......

Chasing a Cardinal around Brooklyn

            A couple of months ago I had made my way to the Brooklyn Museum and told myself I shall return soon to visit its neighbor, the Brooklyn Botantical Garden. At the time I first went the sun was just about to set, leaving little time to go in and see everything. This past Saturday, the forecast called for near 60 degree weather, in January, which would have been the perfect weather to go back to the Garden with.

            I took the usual subway lines I took last time I visited to the area, only except this time I transfered at an earlier stop which cost me about ten minutes. I had gotten off at the Fulton St. station and was led through a maze of halls, corridors, stairs, escalators, and even a reference directing passengers to the 9/11 Memorial, which popped out of nowhere. There were signs and arrows pointing in every which direction to different train lines. Eventually, I went down a final stairway and there I found the train just about pulling into the station. When I came out from underground the weather was quite pleasant as joggers and children on their bikes were enjoying the surrounding areas of Prospect Park. The entrance to the Botantical Gardens is just yards away from the subway station and I walked up to the ticket booth to pay the $10 entrance fee. There is a children's park right next to this entrance area, and really if someone wanted, they could climb over the short fence from the park and get in for free. The first main attraction when entering the place is a great lawn with its clean and well-maintained grass.

           The only downfall of visiting in the winter was that many of the outside plants weren't in bloom, so most of the time it was a case of looking at twigs and sticks. Another issue with the winter was that most of the fountains and water displays were either frozen, or the water had been previously removed to prevent icing. With that in mind, there were still plenty of colorful trees and bushes to provide nice visuals, and with the warm weather some of the remaining water displays offered some interesting surprises. Outside the main greenhouse there was a few man-made pools with plants and goldfish. I was quite shocked the fish were outside in the middle of winter, I'm guessing they live out there all year and simply hypernate when the water freezes. There were still signs of the water being frozen from the chilly week before, but on this day it was almost all liquid and the fish were swimming around fine. I entered the greenhouse, which is probably the main attraction, and didn't need to be concerned about the winter since these rooms are all climate controlled, so they're the same no matter what season it is.

            The greenhouse has two floors, the main level, and then a downstairs where the more interesting rooms were set up. The best room of the main level was a Japanese focused display of different types of bonsai plants. The downstairs was seperated into three main rooms, the Tropical Rainforest, Warm Temperature, and the Desert. The rainforest had nice mini-waterfalls, mango trees, cacao(cocoa) leafs, and a banana tree as well. My favorite of the downstairs rooms was clearly the desert room with its funky cactus trees and something called "living stones", rocks that are actually alive like a plant. As I exited the greenhouse, I made my way down the path which led me to a children's section, with the golden arches of a neighboring McDonald's learing in the background. I breezed by that area rather quickly and as I continued to walk I heard an unfamilar bird call. Looking to my left I saw two red birds on a small hill, I knew immediately they must have been cardinals, which don't appear as often as they used to. As I got closer, one of them flew away immediately, but the other staye longer and picked through the dirst. When I had gotten too close, it flew into a bush to hide from me, but its red feather against the green leaves allowed me to find it easily. Again, I drew closer, and this time it flew up to a nearby tree to escape me. As I looked up at the cardinal perched on a tree branch, I noticed other cardinals flying around the area as well, it seems a flock of them must have made their home at the Botanical Garden.

            After all that excitement I was just about ready to leave for the day, and had thought I saw everything there was to see at the place. Turns out I was wrong, and this one little path took me to an entire Japanese-themed area which consisted of a pond, statues, caves, and yes, even more goldfish. The goldfish featured in this area were far greater in size and had more reviting colors to gaze upon. One side of the pond featured an outdoor deck with benches that people were sitting on either to converse, or like one gentlemen, to use their laptop in the peaceful surrounds. I was certainly glad I didn't call it a day sooner, otherwise I would've missed out of this section, which was to me the best part of the entire Botantical Garden. The sun began to set, it was getting darker and darker by the minutes, and I was rather confidant I didn't miss anything, so now it was time to leave. Instead of immediately going back home, I thought it would be a nice idea to visit the infamous Junior's Resturant off the Atlantic Avenue station on my way back. It had been a long afternoon of walking around and I didn't get lunch before, so I planned on having an early dinner and a slice of their world famous cheesecake for dessert.

            The only problem is that there were alot of changes done to the area around Junior's from since I was there a few years ago. The inside of the Atlantic Ave. station had gone through some rennovations, there was the Atlantic Mall(which was there the last time I went as well), but the biggest change is the basketball arena being built for the soon-to-be-Brooklyn Nets, who are currently the New Jersey Nets. With the landscape looking different with the new arena under construction and the fact it had been a couple of years since I was last in that area, finding Junior's was turing out to be a difficult task. I knew it was within blocks of me, but where and which block? Was it on Atlantic Avenue, Flatbush, Fulton, there's so many famous streets in that area it was tough deciding which one to start with. I don't have internet on my phone, and I wasn't desperate enough to ask someone, so I simply walked around for about twenty minutes until I saw streets and stores that looked familar to me. Soon enough, one block led to another, and I found my way to Junior's on DeKalb Ave.

           Since I was by myself I took a seat the counter and had an unfortunate waitress who I couldn't tell was on her first day of the job or just hated her job. She was an Indian woman in her late forties, she was smiling and friendly on one hand, but on another hand she was completely out of touch. I wanted to order a soup, a meal, and then the cheesecake after. As I told her I wanted a matzah ball soup, she walked off without taking the rest of the order or asking if I wanted something to drink, which I found quite odd. I was thinking of getting the steakburger with onions, which I anticipated would be a lean piece of beef with cooked onions on top. When she came back with my soup, I ordered the steakburger with a vanilla egg cream. When the steakburger dish came back to me only minutes later, it looked like a superthick hamburger, and instead of cooked onions, there were two gigantic fried onion rings on the side, in addition to the big french fries that came along. It didn't exactly look like what was described in the menu, so I wasn't sure if she got the order wrong or what the situation was. That being said, I was hungry and it was a burger after all, so I just went at it. Usually I'm able to finish a burger with no qualms, but even though my stomach was empty, this burger was so thick I was only able to accomplish 60% of it, maybe 65%.

            The matzah ball soup and sides of onion rings and fries didn't help either, but that was sure one big burger. If I really wanted to I could have persued more of the burger, but I also wanted a slice of cheesecake, so I made sure not to fill my stomach completely at that point. The plan was for a slice of cheesecake and a cup of coffee, but when I told her I was done with the dinner, she took it with done with everything and came out with the check without asking me if I wanted anything else, which is pretty standard for waitressing. Without confusing things further with multiple checks and orders, I decided I would pay this check and then take a slice from their take-out counter in the front. I bought a slice of plain cheesecake, without coffee, and ate it outside the resturant which has benches for people to enjoy their desserts on. I didn't finish the entire slice, but it was well worth getting lost for twenty minutes looking for the place. As I made my way back to the Atltantic Ave. station, I was a little dissapointed I didn't have a cup of coffee to go along with the cheesecake, so I entered a trendy-looking establishment to get myself a cup. The way they make it is they place coffee beans in a special cup, then pour hot water in it, the hot water mixing with the beans pours down as coffee into the cup. By the time I finished the coffee, I had arrived at the station and must have entered through the wrong entrance because I ended up looking at a Long Island Railroad(LIRR) car initially and felt very confused. Luckily, at the end of the tracks of the LIRR was a connecting entrance for the subway and I was on my way back home.

            I think from now on, it should be one train for one station, and that's it....