Welcome to Brooklyn

Love Inspired Suspense has been running a series called True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn. The covers feature many iconic Brooklyn views. 

That got me thinking - 

 What's the first thing you think of when you hear Brooklyn?

The Brooklyn Bridge?

Image used with permission from Pixabay/Foundry

Coney Island?

Image from stephy@ Pixabay

My personal favorite spot is The Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Like everything else in the world, the gardens have been closed since March, but they were recently reopened for limited visiting on a timed/ticketed basis. Since my daughter has a membership, she took a break from bread baking and visited on the first day they were open. The morning had been rainy (like Biblical proportions rain), so there were few visitors, but the skies cleared enough for her to have a lovely stroll and take over 200 photos!

I thought I'd share some of them with you today (rest assured NOT all 200+). I hope you enjoy.

Some places make it hard to remember you're still in the center of the city.

Then there's the Rose Garden - slightly more cultivated.

The Cherry Trees are no longer in bloom, but the esplanade is still peaceful.

The Japanese Garden

Everything looks a bit murky on this overcast day.

I love the design on this gate.

So that's my Brooklyn!

Prospect Park -- a not so little gem in Brooklyn

A few weeks ago I was posting about front yards in Brooklyn. I meant to include out biggest yard of all, but I completely forgot to include those photos.

So, we may not have big back yards, though some people have created lovely oases in their back yard. But we all get to enjoy this lovely park. Prospect Park is 585 acres in the heart of Brooklyn that first opened to the public in 1867. It was designed by the same partners - Olmstead and Vaux  - who designed the more famous Central Park in Manhattan.

This map shows the entire park. My photos are mostly of the entry by Grand Army Plaza (Top right) and the Long Meadow (labeled)
.

Each Saturday, there is a huge Farmers' Market in entrance tot he park by Grand Army Plaza. I've shared photos of that market before, but here are some from last Saturday.

I headed to the market in search of herb plants for my kitchen. I'd heard rosemary and peppermint were natural bug repellants, so that's what I was looking for.

This is the arch at Grand Army Plaza. On the Prospect Park Alliance's website, I found this interesting bit of information.

The Plaza was one of the first features of Prospect Park to be built and marks the beginning of the Eastern Parkway (1866), the world’s first parkway, also designed by Vaux and his partner Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903). The parkway’s intended purpose was to connect the City’s parks with ornamental roads free of commercial traffic. 

Want to buy wool?

This is where my herbs came from.

Food. Any Texans know of King David Tacos?

Cactus, anyone?

It's peach season.

Once you walk into the park, you could follow the roadway (no cars allowed) ...

or stroll along a path under the arches.

Then you're at the Long Meadow where you may see dogs romping in the morning, or volleyball games on a hot Saturday.

Someone left an artful display on the path.

In the summer, all is lush and green. This is a different park entrance.

Does it surprise you to see such large dedicated green spaces in the heart of the city?

Do you have a favorite public park?


In response to Kav's comment below, I took this snap from Google Earth. The large green part on top is Greenwood Cemetary. The slightly larger green below is Prospect Park.