Aliens Eat Free

We dined out a fair amount - Indian, Mexican, Chinese, and Japanese.  But I almost wish we'd eaten here:

Aliens Eat Free in Brooklyn Heights

We were kidding around about whether this was a marketing ploy ... or a DOJ sting operation!  But according to NY Magazine:

That "aliens eat free" sign? They do hold to their word if you come dressed up like a green visitor from outer space. But having resident or naturalized alien citizenship status won't cut it—Gabriel Byrne already tried that.

We explored Brooklyn Bridge Park for a while, but could only find a toddler-scaled playground ... and saw no sign of the purported carousel (well, except literally - we saw a sign pointing upriver that said "Jane's Carousel").  

We walked over toward the Promenade to track down a more age-appropriate playground, and L quickly made friends with another girl there.  When they said goodbye, L said with cheerful confidence: "Bye!  See you soon - I hope!"  Of course, we'd stumbled on to this playground almost by chance while L and her family were visiting from out of town, the parents hadn't introduced or even identified themselves, and the girls had not attempted to exchange any sort of contact information.  I could tell that L realize this about halfway through her goodbye, but nonetheless plowed ahead with it, entirely upbeat.  

Early Practice in Catching a Cab

Girl on Board!

After the playground, we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge.  And of course, we saw the missing carousel from the bridge!!  Both girls did a great job - it was a lot of walking for them.  (L even made it all the way under her own steam; luckily some of us went slowly enough with all the foot and cycle traffic that L had time to rest up a bit while waiting for us!) 

We then walked up to Chinatown (I'd forgotten which bridge ends at Canal Street - oops!) and enjoyed a good meal.  It may have been a little heavy on the MSG.  We went back to a store we'd gone to before, and L picked out some more erasers, while her parents bought a few more dishes that have proved to be the perfect size for their needs.  

A highlight of the visit was watching Wicked on Broadway - it definitely lived up to the hype.  B and R graciously treated me to the show, which was very kind of them. (Thanks again!!)

Just one more thing!

It was a lovely weekend, and we got to celebrate two birthdays with Crumbs cupcakes.  What can be better than that?!