Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

I grew up in New York (in Manhattan). I lived and worked in New York. But I never walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. Until yesterday.

It was worth the wait.

What a wonderful way to spend a sunny Saturday in New York. And it's free!

Here are some of my favorite photos from our Brooklyn Bridge walk yesterday. (Scroll down for details about the walk.)

Details about our Brooklyn Bridge walk:  We drove into Manhattan and parked in a garage near the pedestrian entrance to the bridge (only $12 for up to 6 hours!). We then walked from the Manhattan side of the bridge into Brooklyn, a little over a mile (around 5800 feet or 1800 meters).

Once on the Brooklyn side we walked around Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn and stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. DUMBO, or Dumbo, has lots of great little shops and cafes and some beautiful old buildings -- as well as a lot of construction. And if you have the time, it's definitely worth strolling around. As opposed to when the spouse lived in Brooklyn, many years ago, when the neighborhood was populated by gangs and drug dealers -- and you'd be dumb to consider hanging out there, even during the day. (Of course, there may well still be gangs and drug dealers in Dumbo, but it's often hard to tell them apart from the hipsters who now populate the area.)

We picked up lunch (and a bottle of water) from Calexico, a "gourmet" California-Mexican food cart selling burritos and tacos, and picnicked in the park. Then we strolled back through Dumbo and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan.

All three of us -- me, the spouse, and the teenager -- had a wonderful time and plan on doing it again, soon. Next time, we plan on strolling through Brooklyn Heights. Stay tuned!