In what is sure to become an annual tradition, we ventured again last summer to Coney Island. Although it can be a bit of a trek, Coney Island is one of the best, weirdest day trips you can take without actually leaving New York. The first stop is always Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs, a boardwalk staple. A documentary about Nathan’s premiered this year at the Tribeca film fest. A really fascinating story. Here we are above, ready to eat all of the hot dogs and fries we can handle. They also serve what can best be described as small buckets of beer. I stuck with a hot dog, but they do have more exotic seafood selections such as oysters and frogs (although I guess those aren’t quite from the sea but sort of in that category in a sense).

In random holidays at Coney Island, it was Deno’s Wonder Wheel’s annual pet day. Not only could your pet ride for free on the Wonder Wheel, but there was also a pet contest on the boardwalk. We found this little guy chilling out with his owner. Very friendly for a lizard.

After plenty of fried Nathan’s goodness, it was time to ride some fairway rides. For the record, I skipped this one. My personal favorite is the Cyclone, a spectacular wooden roller coaster built in 1927, which is worth the trip to Coney Island on its own. The ride above was a ball that shoots you into the air and bungees back down.

Just in case you wanted to see how this worked….

After some fun on the midway, we decided to cool down with a few local Coney Island beers. Here is the “Sword Swallower.”

Gabe and Sarah taking a break from the sun.

The Mermaid Pilsner. Another a fun event at Coney Island is the Mermaid Parade, which I highly recommend. The Coney Island beers are a lot of fun. I know that you can find them in stores around the NYC area, but I am not sure about outside of the city. There are even plans in the works to open a Coney Island Brewery to the public.

Wrapping the afternoon up on the beach. The water might not seem like its the cleanest, but the sand was fine. It was just beautiful to be out in the sun, near the sound of the surf with good friends. I can’t wait to go back this summer!