Recap.
We departed Grand Central Station at 10:15, bound for Time Out market in Dumbo (Brooklyn).
After arriving, we viewed lower Manhattan form the Brooklyn side. We headed inside to eat at the many upscale places. We found picnic type tables upstairs. I think most of us enjoyed what we ordered. We headed to the F train at 1:05, bound for the Smith 9th street station. It's the highest station in NYC. Great views of lower Manhattan.
cocobird saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time. We then headed 2 stops further to 7th Ave in Park Slope. We did the usual Starbucks stop for a bathroom / coffee break. It was hot. We walked 10 minutes to Grand Army Plaza and sat down for a few minutes. We walked 5 minutes to the Brooklyn Museum of Art. I didn't think we'd get to the Aquarium on time since the last entry was 4:00, and had to buy tickets in advance. The Museum was a substitute. We spent an hour there. It was air conditioned.
We departed the museum at 4:00 pm.
We took the subway from the museum to Coney Island (the beach). We hung out there for a little while. While it was hot in humid from the start, Coney Island was cool, dry, and breezy. It was perfect beach weather. Before we took the train to L&B for pizza, we stopped at Nathan's. Many of us enjoyed the best fries in all of NYC.
The scheduled arrival time on my aggressive time table was off by an hour. We arrived L&B at 6:10, and departed at 7:10. The thing is to have done the day properly, we could have used another 60 - 90 minutes to really enjoy ourselves; but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
cocobird and I took the train back to Grand Central, while the others went elsewhere.
This is a very abbreviated schedule because I have to pack from my trip tomorrow.
See you all on June 3, 2023. Don't buy your tickets until I post the thread in February/March. And now, to start planning 2023.
FYI, there were 3 people that were first timers to Coney Island. The only cost was 6 subway fares. A paid tour would have cost at least 4x's more. I specialize in Flyertalk pricing.
dh