A visit to Coney Island in Brooklyn

Written by Tania, Video

After discussing the 4th of July fireworks with my colleagues at work, one suggested that I visit Coney Island for their weekly Friday fireworks display. Seeing as visiting Coney Island was on my 2012 summer To-Do list, I strongly considered. Tania picked me up from the city at around 7:30pm and we headed down to the Manhattan Bridge and made our way down to Brooklyn. We made it there around 8:15pm and decided to try some Russian food from Taste of Russia on Brighton Beach. We bought some Russian Oreshki and some other sweets. I also picked up some stuff to bring home for my mom. At about 9:00 we headed towards Coney Island. Considering that there were tons of people there trying to catch the firework display as well, we had to park several blocks away from Surf Avenue.

We walked in on Stillwell avenue and Surf Avenue. We immediately noticed that there had been a lot of renovations done to the place. There was a new go-carts attraction. Several new rides and many replaced bulbs. The place looked like it was coming alive again. From my visits in the past the place looked like it was hanging off one screw.

We made our way to the boardwalk. We noticed that there was a fireworks display from afar. After seeing the Macy’s Fireworks display, we were immediately disappointed. They were so far that we thought it was a waste of time being there. While watching the distant patches of light with squinting eyes, we heard someone say, “don’t worry the fireworks will start in a bit”. A rush of relief. We then made our way onto the sand and down to the short. We literally stood a couple of feet away from the water. We saw the first spark going off and the crowd shortly followed.



The show lasted about 15 minutes and ended with a loud finale. I particularly liked that we were literally right under the entire thing. Also, us being close to the shore gave a nice breeze which helped cool us down. After the show we made our way to the boardwalk and walked for a bit. I snapped a couple of shots and was bitten by some mosquitoes. I then tried to convince Tania to go on a coaster.

It was difficult, but definitely well worth it. Tania kept saying to me that she disliked coasters, and I was trying to convince her that one bad experience should not be the end of it. She told me that she was on scull mountain, and that she did not like the ride. Ever since then she was not too fond of roller coasters. I actually side with her on that one. Scull mountain was all that great a ride. It is dark and therefore impossible to judge when the next turn is coming around. I remember being paranoid of something hitting me against the head as I made a turn.

I was trying to be fair. I gave Tania the option of choosing the ride we went on. I knew she would not pick the cyclone, and I also told her that the wonder wheel and other slow paced rides were out of the option. After about a 10 minute conversation we decided to get the tickets. I promised her that the ride would not be that bad, and it indeed was not.

We headed for the Circus Coaster. It is a moderate thrill ride which takes riders two times around its tracks. It was fun to see Tania smiling while on it. I think she enjoyed it just as much as I hoped she would. Also, I’m hoping that next time we could build up and try something a bit more thrilling.