no passport needed

The beautiful weather led us to journey outside of Manhattan. And as luck would have it the Q train deposited us right in the middle of Brighton Beach otherwise known as Little Odessa. Every nook and cranny is Russian. Every sign is in Russian. Every conversation we attempted to eavesdrop on was in Russian. Every restaurant was well, Russian. It is incredible and certainly deserves a complete day of its own tour.

If we had not already promised our smallest traveler a trip to the infamous Nathan's down the boardwalk in Coney Island we definitely would have dined at the this place! It is right on the boardwalk and looks to be not only delicious but filled with great characters as well. It has been bumped up to the top of "Must do in Near Future" list.

After a cold, snowy, wet, did I mention cold, snowy, cold winter we were soaking in every ounce of sunshine available. We walked to Brighton Beach's most eclectic neighbor...the one and only Coney Island. As previous posts mention, I heart Coney Island. The color, the sounds, the people, the smells make it truly one of a kind. Even on this random warmth of a mid-March day the boardwalk was alive and filled. Nathan's had many people in line to enjoy the birthplace of the famous hot dog. It was as if a huge winter cloud had been lifted...and it had!


While the sand in Coney Island is not the greatest we took direction from the sun and enjoyed a view hours of the beach.

Kites were flying, children were playing and the waves sounded like true music to our ears.

This week's forecast doesn't look so grand. After discovering a new place to check out (Brighton Beach) and soaking up some delicious rays of goodness from the sun I think we just might be able to make it through. Spring has to be on her way right?