The Great Bridge Adventure

"What should we do tonight?" I asked Joe.

"I want to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge." he replied.

"Then we can go to that pizza place!"

And it was set.  That is what we would do.  And "that pizza place" is specifically Grimaldi's (click for more information).

We quickly set out - the N train to the 5 train and we emerged at the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall stop.

Now THAT is a building my friends!  Wow.  What an amazing work of architecture!

Onward to the bridge.

Both Joe and I...and even Henry...have done this walk before.  It doesn't take long and provides breathtaking views, as you'll soon see.  It's a lovely way to spend a warm evening in New York City - you get a great breeze off the water.

Almost to the beginning of the bridge, it was rush hour, so plenty of cars for Henry to marvel at.

Joe's office building is the building furthest back in this picture.

This view NEVER gets old!  So, so, so pretty!

Stealing Sarah and Shaun's idea here with the holding hands shot.

My thought at this moment, "I can't believe we live here."  Each day Joe and I talk about how we still find it hard to believe this is HOME.  We both love the City so much- it's completely surreal and awesome!

Henry was in awe of how big everything was.

Love it.

He's 1.5 Brooklyn Bridge stones tall.

Holding onto Mommy "very tight!"

Little boy, big bridge.

Me and H walkin'.

This makes my heart happy.

Henry spotted a "big boat!" in the water.

Joe's office - the building you see the most in this picture - and that wee little thing poking up on the left is the Statue of Liberty.

Hugging the bridge.

Here Joe makes it obvious what building he will be working in. :)  He'll be on the 48th floor.

The Manhattan Bridge.

Henry had a good time running around in this little section.  He got a real thrill out of the cars driving right under us and watching the boats in the water.

Gettin' schooled about the bridge.

No thank you!

We made it!

My old neighborhood in Brooklyn.  I paid a LOT for rent.  Nice place though.

View from the street in Brooklyn.

 

We found it pretty easily.  We also found a line!  I didn't even think about having to wait in line just to get inside, but sure enough...  So we joined the line.  Joe and Henry visited a tourist shop next door and within under 10 minutes a guy pointed at us and said "Three!" and thumbed us in.  We were pointed to a teeny little corner table that was really fit for two, but apparently Henry's butt doesn't count at Grimaldi's.  They knew we would fit, and we did just fine.

 

 

 

There are benches along the walls with tables in front of them, a chair on the other side.  In the middle are long tables - so chances are very high you will be seated next to a stranger.

 

 

 

 

 

 We quickly reviewed the menu and knew what to order.  A large pizza with sausage and onion, 2 Diet Cokes and a milk.  (my stomach just growled as I typed that...)

The wait was NOT long at all.  Very quick in fact.  There was just enough time to snap a few pictures and wash my hands.

 

 

Henry enjoyed watching them.  They have quite the assembly line process going.

 

Before we knew it our pizza was here.  We demolished this thing.  I ordered a large thinking we would take some home, but -ahem- there were NO left overs.  We couldn't stop eating.

 

 

 

 Henry learned how to do a "thumbs up"while we sat there and appropriately gave one when Joe asked how it was.  Me too man.  Delish.  ZERO complaints.  It was hands down the best pizza I've ever had.

As we exited the restaurant we realized it was raining.

Wait, scratch that.  It was POURING.

I quickly put on Henry's rain cover for his stroller and we stepped out.  We did not have an umbrella with us, so we became drenched before the block was complete.  When we got under the BQE we stopped so I could wipe my glasses off on the 2 centimeters of dry material I could find on my skirt.  It was then we realized we had ZERO clue where the closest train was.  A nice guy observed our predicament and pointed us in the right direction.  It was still pouring, but we were soaked anyway, so we off we went.  We found the train without any problem and got to the platform just as a train let passengers off - many groaned when they saw us and asked us how bad it was raining - obviously they had forgotten their umbrella as well!  We boarded the very well air conditioned train and froze our way back to Queens.  Thankfully Henry was completely dry.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and eating at Grimaldi's is something I have wanted to do since 2002.  I loved doing it with my two favorite boys in the world - and certainly will never forget the experience.  We were soaked to the bone, but it was memorable!