Lawn Furniture Right In The Middle Of Broadway!

In May, the City closed Broadway between 42nd and 47th Streets to traffic and set up lawn furniture. The result is the Times Square Pedestrian Mall:

The original lawn furniture was hastily purchased from a local vendor and before it was recently replaced, gave the space a sort of whimsical beach look:

We’ve taken visitors there and it’s a hoot. It’s also been profitable as an event space and a bonanza for vendors. No word yet whether it is actually better for traffic — the ostensible reason for the experiment — but people have their theories.

Fourth Of July Weekend, 2009

Three states (four if you count a wrong turn near Bristol, RI), four days via car and ferries . . .

July 2, 2009: Queens to New London, CT

I have been to the Interstate 95 Northbound Service Plaza at Fairfield more than once. And while in Fairfield, don’t miss Super Duper Weenie.

We drove through Mystic and had dinner at Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough in Noank, Connecticut (highly, highly recommended):

Alas, spent too much time enjoying ourselves at Abbott’s, so we got to Monster Mini Golf in Groton too late to play a round . . . but we did sleep at a Holiday Inn.

July 3, 2009: New London, CT to Newport, RI

Breakfast at Kitchen Little in Mystic, Connecticut, then to Newport, Rhode Island, over the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, where we drove by the mansions on Bellevue Avenue and walked a portion of Newport’s Cliff Walk, where it was cloudy up there on the hill:

We also took a sail around Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay:

We finished the day watching the Fourth of July Fireworks over Bristol Harbor . . .

July 4, 2009: New London, CT to Nassau County, Long Island via Bridgeport, the North Fork and Montauk

An early wakeup to catch the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry Across Long Island Sound:

Lunch in Riverhead, then out to the North Fork to Shinn Estate Vineyards in Mattituck and Croteaux Vineyards in Southold — both are excellent. Shinn has started selling nice wines under $20, which was different than when we visited there in 2005 and Croteaux has perfected Long Island Rosés, which is great for summer. Croteaux has a nice tasting, and the sangria they made was unusual and fantastic (recipe at the link). The grounds of Croteaux are beautiful as well:

Then the North Ferry to Shelter Island, and the South Ferry to the South Fork, and we were on our way to Montauk, where we made a pit stop to buy shoes and I saw a man steal an American flag at Gosman’s Dock:

No kidding! Who steals American flags right out of the planter?

Then the Montauk Point Lighthouse:

Dinner at the Clam Bar at Napeague just outside of Montauk, then ice cream at Scoop Du Jour in East Hampton, where we walked around a little before heading back to our Nassau County base for the night . . .

July 5, 2009: Nassau County

An afternoon at Jones Beach followed by lobster at Jordan’s Lobster Farms in Island Park (not as good as Abbott’s, but then again, there is probably nothing as good as Abbott’s south of New Haven). Oh, and ice cream in Lido Beach.