the heartbeat of american kitsch

inspired by the latest curb your enthusiasm ads on the new york city subways, i've a hankering for a rousing game of knock down clown....which, in new york, means a trip to coney island for a day of nathan's original hot dogs, the death-defying cyclone, and an endless supply of carnival games i just can't win.

so...in preparation for a saturday shrouded in the delectable seediness of coney island--a place that, though it sparks my fear and loathing, i secretly adore:

first stop, nathan's original hotdogs, on surf and stillwell avenues, was founded by nathan handwerker in 1916... and quickly became a vile mecca for anyone looking for good, cheap eats. according to history of amusement parks, good old nate sold his garlicky dogs for 5 cents a piece...and the recipe hasn't changed. now, if you can survive the lines in the sweltering summer heat, you can reward yourself with a hotdog and a giant lemonade. (even better...nathan's is now open 24/7...for the midnight snacker in you.)

but after eating too many hotdogs, there's nothing like a ride on the jewel in coney island's crown--the cyclone. built in 1927, the cyclone is one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the world--you're strappend into the car by a bar of and there's nothing quite so thrill-inducing as feeling the car you're barely secured into (i've seen sturdier plastic wrap) lift from the track as you're careening down the first drop. honestly? you could die on it...but that's part of the fun.

for the visual learners in the crowd, check out the PBS film Coney Island: The Ups and Downs of America's First Amusement Park.

Coney Island is the story of a tiny spit of land at the foot of Brooklyn that at the turn of the century became the most extravagant playground in the country. In scale, in variety, in sheer inventiveness, Coney Island was unlike anything anyone had ever seen, and sooner or later everyone came to see it. "Coney," one man said in 1904, "is the most bewilderingly up-to-date place of amusement in the world." Coney Island is a lively and absorbing portrait of the extraordinary amusement empire that astonished, delighted and shocked the nation -- and took Americans from the Victorian age into the modern world.

between the coney island mermaid parade, a must attend new york city event, and this guy...the self-proclaimed mayor of coney island and founder of the Coney Island Circus Slideshow (starring insectavora for the time being)...it's a pretty bizarre place...but worth every second...as long as you only go once a season, and disinfect thoroughly when you get home.

fix your jones for all things coney island @ astroland, coney island info, the coney island history web site, and the flickr feed of mermaid parade pictures.

Posted by sarah t. at 10:18 PM