Coney Island Mermaid Parade
June 24, 2006
I am not sure you could ask for a more gloomy day for a parade. Typically, it is bright, sunny, and hot, but no, not today. While it was warm, a hazy gloom fell upon Coney Island, and a blanket of fog rolled in and out of the beach.
That, however, did not dampen the spirits of the marchers.
I got to Coney a little after 11AM. I usually park on the street, but instead decided to park in the aquarium?s lot. It used to be that parking there was cheap, but you had to get there early. Well, no longer. Now it is a whooping 22 bucks, but that comes with a free ticket to the aquarium, making parking ten if you actually wanted to visit the aquarium, which, really, I didn?t. But, since I was so early, I ended up deciding to go in anyway.
The aquarium is nothing really exciting, but I did manage to get some very nice photos.
After leaving the aquarium, I wondered around the parks for a while, keeping my eye pealed for the Liberian Goddess (AKA adriahea AKA Danielle) and the Chechnyan Rebel (AKA hrrytraver AKA Tom), but found neither before the parade started.
I am not sure how to best describe what the parade is. If you are from Philly like me, it is best described as New York?s version of the Mummer?s, on a smaller scale, and with just the comics. They call it an ?street art? parade, which I suppose works. All I can really tell you is you have to see it for yourself.
I started out watching the parade from the boardwalk near Astroland, but the press photographers were also there and kept getting in the way, so I headed further and further down the boardwalk toward the end where I could get some clear shots, so here they are:
The official unofficial Mayor of Coney Island:
I call these Lobster Ladies:
The King and Queen:
Some dancing beach bums:
Having a great time:
Mer-Mateys:
Dead men tell no tales:
Not sure what these ladies were:
Finally, a few Mermaids, little mermaid, big tail:
Mermaid Suffragettes:
More mermaids:
Along the route I meet up with Danielle, who is sporting her vintage bathing suit with the Polar Bears:
We meet again at the end of the parade route where we hang for a bit before heading to the Polar Bear?s Summertime Headquarters, marked by a sign Danielle created for the club:
She gives Tom a call and within a few minutes I am meeting him and his lovely girlfriend Jackie:
Tom is a pretty interesting guy, well traveled, he is the eclectic Bohemian sort. We hung for a time talking about this and that before finally deciding we had to ride something, and the Wonder Wheel seemed ideal since the Cyclone was closed for some reason (weather perhaps):
Jackie had never been on the Wonder Wheel and was taken by surprise by the swinging car. We all were, really, because on one swing we hit is just right and just kept rocking back and forth. And then the rain came, and came, and came. It started pouring into the car, so much so Danielle put her umbrella up, in the car:
We got off and made our way to Nathan?s for some grub. The rain just kept coming down in bucketsful, and everyone dodged for cover:
It was even too much for a mermaid:
We hit the nearby candy shop and then called it quits. Tom had to get going anyway, and riding on a weekend at the parks was just too expensive anyhow. We did have a great time none the less, and I got some great photos, so be sure to check them out, there are a few I decided were best not posted in this report:
http://cyclonic.smugmug.com/gallery/1597455http://cyclonic.smugmug.com/gallery/1599142Hope you enjoyed. I decided to let the pictures do the talking here.
Topic: Coney Island Mermaid Parade (Read 1600 times)