土曜はコニーアイランドでの人魚パレードに•The Coney Island Mermaid Parade!

Band on a Bus

パレードは午後１時から、マンハッタンからコニーアイランドまでは地下鉄で約４５分（各駅で）、余裕を持って出かけると冷房がガンガン効く空いた車内（自 由に写真を撮っていました）からは想像もつかないような沢山の人が終点駅（コニーアイランド）で、あれよあれよと溢れるばかりに一斉に出口へ押し出す人の 波.（汗）

Conservative Mermaid Beachwear

普段は帽子をかぶらないけど、日差しがやけに強いので映画インディアナジョーンズ風を出かけに買いました。ここでは稀な草履と 足裏の間に汗をかくほど湿気のある暑い日でしたが、凄いパレードの熱気に吹き飛ばされ写真にビデオと忙しく暑さを忘れてしまっていました。（笑）

過激的とも開放的とも言うのでしょうね、あらら...と真昼間から刺激的な上半身殆ど裸同然の女性群に圧倒されました。日本の皆様にも目の保養に美体をお魅せしようと思いましたが、ワイフにカットされてしまいました。ごめんなさい！（汗）

These Firemen Had a Perfect View

コニーアイランドは既に海開きと なっていますが、元気なコニーアイランドを Mermaid Parade によって公に知らせる催しでもあります。パレード通りだけでなくビーチに遊楽地も人の波で混雑しては、Mermaid Parade が大きく広まって来たのを知りました。今年で造築９０年記念、３０年居て有名な Wonder Wheel に乗った事（乗り物に弱い体質です）がなかったので、今回初めて挑戦しました。強がりにスライドする激しい方に乗ったら、あらら、写真やビデオ を撮るのが難しいのを忘れていました。当日は楽しんでそれほどではなかったですが、今でも目眩が少し残っています。（汗）

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Elephant Fish? Zebra Fish?

This was our first Coney Island  Mermaid Parade, and we got lucky - it was sunny (a little too sunny for great photos, sorry about that), but not too hot. I didn't realize that it would be as crowded as it was, but at the risk of almost getting arrested by standing in the press area, we did see some of the funny and wild costumes.Some of the mermaids and mermen worked really hard to get "the look". We didn't stay on Surf Avenue for the entire parade (Aki got restless, wanted to go to the ocean) but that was OK, because a lot of the paraders were wandering around even after the parade, so we got to see them up close.

Just Walking Our Pet Shark…

The parade was very "Coney Island"; - a little corny, a little cutting edge, a little risque, and so of course, I loved it. Who knows, maybe you'll see me here next year exposing my fishtail for all the world to see! Oh, by the way, yes, it's true, I did crop the topless mermaid photos, but not because I had anything to fear, I just didn't want Google to give us an adults only rating; I'll leave that to the pros! The ladies did look pretty good though; next year come to the parade and see for yourself!

Then we wanted to grab a bite at Nathan's but FUHGEDDABOUDIT! It was so crowded that we would have starved to death on the line! We'll be back soon for the Friday night fireworks (see our Brooklyn Fun page - right column), and we'll get our fill of the best hot dogs/French fries then.

Wonder Wheel 90-Year Anniversary!

My brother and sister-in-law were with us, and we decided to go on the Wonder Wheel. I've been on it many times, but this was Aki's first time, and he wanted to go on the moving cars, even though he tends to get motion sickness. To make things worse, since he wanted to take photos, he wasn't facing front, so he did feel a little dizzy (of course, he wouldn't admit that in front of my brother, but he swears that he was dizzy for three days.

View from the Top

Ok, so next time we can go on one of the non-moving cars, which go much higher, and will give us a better view, too, so maybe you'll get to see some "Coney Island night shots", all lit up like a summer Christmas tree.

Anyway, like everything else I like to do,  I like the beach much more at night. In the meantime, here's a slide show of some more "merfolk" etc.:

日本語/明　English: Liz Y