Postcard from Memorial Day Weekend
As much as I love taking advantage of a three-day weekend and going somewhere far-flung, sometimes it’s really nice to skip the traffic and the crowds and enjoy a quiet weekend in New York City. The city is actually fantastic on long summer weekends: even if the touristy spots are full, my local coffee shop and neighborhood garden are empty.
We didn’t have any huge plans for the weekend, so I managed to do a lot of what I love: ride my bike around the loop in Prospect Park, read in a sunny courtyard with an iced coffee, have an impromptu barbecue with friends. It was my first weekend in New York City in almost five weeks, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
On Saturday morning, I woke up early and deep-cleaned my apartment–which is honestly my favorite way to kick off the weekend. I feel like once that’s done, I can fully enjoy not only going out and doing fun things–but also lazing around a spotless apartment! Once I finished that, I hopped on my bike and headed down to do the loop at Prospect Park.
Pro-tip: the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens are free to enter between 10am and noon on Saturday mornings. Good incentive to get there early. I stopped in for a wander after biking around Prospect Park. Even though I don’t think anything can beat cherry esplanade in full bloom, I was pleasantly surprised by bluebell hill.
After Prospect Park, I biked back to Williamsburg and set up shop in the very sunny and delightful courtyard at St Balmain with my book.
Even though Smorgasburg is now a bit chaotic on the weekends with tourist crowds, I still love walking over to the water and soaking up some sunshine and the Manhattan skyline down at East River Park. 
And after a long walk, we stopped by one of our favorite cocktail bars in Williamsburg (and also the scene of our very first date) to sample the new summer tequila cocktails. Extra Fancy has a great outdoor seating area, and I can vouch for the deliciousness of the Honey, I Spiced The Kids. Next time, I want to try the Ultimate Hipster Girlfriend: rose and a shot of Evan Williams! 
On Sunday morning, I met my friend for (free) yoga in Elizabeth Street Garden. We were both expecting a vinyasa flow, so we were very surprised when it ended up being an introduction to acro-yoga. Our teacher was a total character, so we basically laughed for an hour and learned a few fancy aerial yoga moves.
I’m (still) working on my handstand, and I fell flat on my face right after this was taken. 
After yoga, we popped over to Epistrophy Cafe for mimosas and croissant sandwiches. They have the cutest little sidewalk seating!
After yoga, I took a long wander through East Village and tried to find all of the neighborhood gardens. They are such gems of greenery and urban community! My favorite was definitely 6BC Botanical Garden, although 6B Community Garden had a turtle pond (!) and the Liz Christy Community Garden had such a beautiful pathway.
I spotted a couple of kids selling lemonade on the street, and if there is one thing I cannot resist: it’s young entrepreneurship! When I was in third and fourth grade, I used to sell cold cans of soda to high school kids on Friday afternoons for my college fund. I bought a cup of strawberry lemonade (and tipped well!) and enjoyed it on a sunny bench. 
On Monday, we took the East River ferry from Williamsburg down to Governors Island: basically my favorite place to enjoy summer in New York City. 
What did you do on Memorial Day Weekend? Do you have any fun summer plans coming up?
