Monday, April 28, 2008

A Sheepshead Bay Day

A nice thing I've noticed since I've begun blogging is that I am seeing things in my day-to-day life with new eyes and new appreciation.

This weekend my husband and I visited one of the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York, not far from where we live, which has the fanciful name of Sheepshead Bay, after the fish that was once found there in abundance in the early 1800s before the area became developed.

The shore along Sheepshead Bay became a cove for recreational party fishing boats in the 1930s and has been taking sporting fishermen out to the Atlantic Ocean in the early morning hours to fish for the seasonal runs of fluke, porgy, blues, ling, mackerel, cod, striped bass, and blackfish since then.






Some of the returning boats sell fresh fish caught that morning from coolers on their deck. Customers line up on the dock, yell down their order, and the fishermen will fillet and scale the fish if desired, and pass up the bags. I have many fond memories of going along with my father and siblings, when I was a child, to buy fresh fish on weekends this way.


Now there are also some luxury yachts available on the piers that offer tours of the Lower New York Bay, dinner cruises, and excursions to see the famous Macy's firework displays on the Fourth of July.


The Sheepshead bay inlet is located across from another neighborhood of Brooklyn called Manhattan Beach, which faces the Atlantic Ocean on its southeast side. Here is the pedestrian walkway that is a connection between the two neighborhoods.



The waters in this area are full of ducks and swans who are hoping someone will toss a crust or two their way.



Opposite the boat piers, many different restaurants are offering a multitude of different cuisines, such as Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Italian, and American.
No surprise, my husband and I chose a famous Italian establishment to have our lunch: Randazzo's Clam Bar





There we both had delicious bowls of creamy New England Clam Chowder.


As for entrees, my husband had one of their signature dishes, scungilli with hot sauce. ...



...and I had a dozen oysters on the half shell -- a delicious taste of the sea!


To help digest lunch we went to a nearby beach to take a walk, and watch the windsurfers and kiteboarders.




I hope you had a nice weekend, and that you enjoyed your neighborhood! It is a wonderful way to celebrate life, and "bloom where you are planted."


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25 comments:

Rosie's Whimsy said...

You have the best posts! So interesting.....your pictures today gave me such an urge to run off to the beach! :-) Rosie

Louise said...

Great post and photos. What a lovely day you had, and your lunch, what a feast. I don't like shellfish, but I do love fish. These views are not what I would imagine of New York, I only think of skyscrapers. The photos in this post could have been taken down the road from us, here on the coast in Southern England! One question, what is scungilli? x

Cape Cod Washashore said...

LOVE your photos! They look just like Cape Cod! And I was surprised to see New England Clam chowder (not the NY kind with tomato). =) I had fried clams twice last week (I splurged because it was my birthday last Monday). =) One thing I've never been able to eat are those oysters! (But my Dad and brother and hubby love them.)

Edie Marie's Attic said...

Hi Pat!
Glad you had such a great weekend! What wonderful memories of your childhood going to buy fresh fish. I'd heard of Sheepshead Bay but never saw any photos of it until now. Thanks for taking us with you! I love these trips with you!!
Hugs, Sherry

Mrs. B said...

Hi Pat! I really enjoyed all your photos. All that fresh seafood sounds fabulous! And your lunch looked great! I love clam chowder and my hubby loves oysters! This little excursion would be perfect for us.

Rue said...

I agree with Rosie, you DO have the best posts :)

I could almost smell the ocean. I've never seen swan in it before. In the Pacific you see Mallard ducks. Isn't that odd?

Now I'm STARVING, thank you. So I must get something together for dinner...

Have a wonderful night my friend!
hugs,
rue :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Pat - wish I could have joined you at the clam bar!! My kind of food! I have an award for you at my bog :)...Donna

Tess Kincaid said...

Well, I've have to admit you are planted in a really fun spot!

Kathleen Grace said...

My goodness girl, you do get around! And since you are sharing your adventures with us, I guess I get around too:>) That clam chowder looked sooo good.

Susie Q said...

You do have the best posts! Yummy too!

What a fun day....filled with sunny skies and good food.
Oh how I love clam chowder!

Your blog is such a delight!

Love,
Sue

Unknown said...

beautiful pictures, seafood chowder and oyster..i'm game for it anytime. what is scungilli? never heard of them here?

Vee said...

You have such a wonderful neighborhood to enjoy! Do you ever buy fresh fish this way now? (Thankfully, we have a local man who is a weekend lobsterman so we put in our orders with him. It's always so much better than buying form the fish bar at the supermarket.)

Joanne Kennedy said...

Hi and thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm happy you did because it meant I got to come to your blog.

I have to say I LOVE New York and reading your posts were so fun! I also love the way you said you are looking at things through different eyes since blogging. That is just what I said today to my sister.

It does make you appreciate the little things more doesn't it.

I joined the reading club. That sounds so fun. I can't wait to start getting my emails every day.

I''m going to put you down in my favorites so I can come by all the time and hopefully others will too.

Classics and Country said...

Wow I need to see more of Brooklyn not just from the highway. It seems wonderful.

Junie Moon said...

I love your travelogues, so full of great pictures and such fun discoveries. And I do agree that blogging has helped me look at things differently, not so much for blogging topics but more that I pay closer attention to the details of life around me.

Eseya, Muñecas con historia said...

Hello!

Your blog is beautifull!
Concgratulation for the Arte y pico!

Thanks for your visit

Anonymous said...

miss the beach! thanks for hte trip back.

Lisa's RetroStyle said...

Geeze, nothing would help me digest those oysters. I get the he-be-ge-bes just looking at them. I don't know why, but I never would have imagined such a lovely beach so close to the big city nor people using the water so recreationally. You are really educating me. Thanks again Pat!

MJ Ornaments said...

Hi Pat,
I bet the fish you can buy is so good and fresh. I would love to be able to buy it that way, but instead am forced to get it at the store. Lovely photos.

Your beach sure looks different from ours. Unfortunately a swimmer was just killed by a shark about 15 minutes from where I live. Very rare to happen though.
Take care,
Martha

Michelle said...

I just love my visits - This looks like a place me and hubby would love to visit!

Michelle

Proud Italian Cook said...

Hi Pat, I'm getting to know New York so much better through your posts. Your such a great tour guide! I'm still thinking about that pizza tour. (Chicago needs something like that) Another great day out with your Hubby, chillin and eating mighty good food! My kind of girl!!

Gina said...

Wonderful photos of your outing Pat, looks like a beautiful beach and a special lunch..I'm not an oyster eater and have we don't seem to get clam chowder here but it does look yummy..scallops, abalone and oysters are our main shellfish. The spicy dish looks interesting, lots of hot sauce!! Thanks for taking me along :O) Gx

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your post brought back so many memories of living in Brooklyn.(I lived there from 1973 to 1980) I so remember Randazzo's and getting great stuffed clams. I am a native Long Island, New Yorker living in San Diego. I just started a blog about a month ago. We love a lot of the same things, its that Italian heritage. I am going back to your previous posts to enjoy all the wonderful things that I miss about New York. Come by and say hi!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I'm sorry not to have answered before now Louise and M. kate, but Scungilli is the Itlain word for the mollusk conch. Quite chewy but tasty.

Anonymous said...

On behalf of Sheepshead Bay, we thank you for the excellent post. It was nice seeing our neighborhood through your eyes.
From Ray at SheepsheadBites.com