Do you ever find a gem in the rough and want to keep it all to yourself? I semi let the cat out of the bag last week in my post “Escape Plan for New Yorkers“, but since I received yet another email in my inbox this AM from another blog I subscribe to, Fathom, raving about the Rockaways, I feel like it is right to share the love with y’all and not just my friends.
Yesterday I corralled some of my Manhattanite friends and ushered them all the way to Queens (oh my!) to the beach in Rockaway to celebrate the 4th. Who knew all it would take would be a day off of work mid-workweek and the enticement of cold beer on a hot July day? Or maybe they just wanted to see me carry my 9 foot surfboard on the subway? Little, unexpected things to New Yorkers are sometimes the most entertaining…
Of course, you knew that you were not gonna get away with reading this post without a little history lesson, so listen up and take good notes kiddies: The Rockaways is actually a peninsula on Long Island, but located on the outskirts of the NYC borough of Queens. Beginning in the 1830s, when the Hamptons was still growing potatoes, Rockaway was a popular summer resort area for the very wealthy, with beautiful Victorian houses and beach bungalows. Although the area suffered decades of major decline, starting in the 1950s, Rockaway is now experiencing a renaissance.
Ok, enough with the history lesson. I will leave it to y’all to experience the awesomeness that is Rockaway, but please lets not make this into the Hamptons!
And, I must say that my friends are now certainly riding the wave of Rockaway. And since I am moving out of Manhattan and to Rockaway very soon, I think it is required that I put some additional items on my Endless Summer List:
Endless Summer List (continued):
- Hit up Rockaway Beach Club (especially Rockaway Taco): Check! Seriously, the food and the beer at these boardwalk concessions is AMAZING. Well done Rockaway!
- Host my friends for a Rockaway Funday…check, check and oh, CHECK!! (see my post “With a Little Help from My Friends“)
- Do as many Dawn Patrols as possible aka surf every AM: OK, how about I change this to Glass Offs? Now I can say check, check and check!!
Oh, and I hope you had a great 4th of July! Happy (belated) Birthday America and God Bless this amazing country! Thank you to all the service men and women out there who have fought and fight to keep us safe and free!
XOs
Kristen
