Brooklyn: Prospect Park and Brooklyn Heights & then the West Village

This was a day to wander without deadlines or detailed itineraries.  Just this morning, we decided to head over to Brooklyn.  First stop: Prospect Park.  Second stop:  Unknown.

We took the 2/3 train to the Grand Army Plaza stop.  Here we saw the 1892 Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch honoring Union veterans of the Civil War.  It was neat to see an African-American included in this old memorial.

There was a farmers' market very near the arch so we meandered there for awhile.  We also had fun listening to The Calamity Janes (a band playing Appalachian music) singing Mama's Little Baby (loves shortnin', shortnin' bread).  It made us want to break out in some sort of dance.

We wondered just a little into the actual park.  It's very large and it's also home to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.  The garden is in the northern part of the park so we didn't see it in the distance.  We traced our steps back and wandered into the neighborhood in search of lunch.

We didn't see much in the way of a business neighborhood so we had to ask.  We were told to head down Sterling and make a right on Vanderbilt so that's what we did.  It was a pleasant walk; we passed Brooklyn brownstones, some of which had historical plaques from the 1800's.

There were several food choices on Vanderbilt but I'm glad we bypassed several until we stumbled upon Le Gamin
in the Prospect Heights neighborhood. (I learned later via the internet that there is an East Village location.)  It was a charming yet gritty cafe with a nice outdoor patio.  (It was a little too chilly for us so we sat indoors.) 

The cafe was busy and populated with a diverse crowd - gay and straight, young and old, and mixed race couples.  (We watched an older couple polish off two bottles of white wine with a bowl of mussels and two orders of eggs benedict.)  We both loved the atmosphere. We each had soup and salad, both of which were fine but the lentil and white bean pureed soup needed a little something to make it great.

After lunch we decided to jump back on the 2/3 train and head a few stops west to the Clark Street stop.  We were heading into Brooklyn Heights.  In Brooklyn Heights, we walked to the "main drag" (per our Frommer's guide) of Montague Street.  We stopped at a craft fair (where I bought a book cover) and just strolled and took in the sights.  We wound up down on the Brooklyn Promenade where we enjoyed views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan.

We hoped to catch a water taxi over to the West Village.  According to the signs, the taxi was running.  We waited past the allotted time, as did many people, but it never showed up.  We decided to walk back into Brooklyn to get back on the subway.   In retrospect, we probably should have just walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and caught a subway there.  This is because we wandered for probably 30 minutes looking for the subway on the Brooklyn side.  We found some folks who guided us but realized they gave us the wrong directions.  They continued to walk with us and eventually we found the subway and were on our way to the West Village.

In the West Village, we stopped for a drink and then had dinner at a pub.  After that, we walked around and enjoyed the nonsensical streets and people-watching.  While, for much of the day, we didn't know where we were heading, we knew at this time that we were ready to head back to my apartment for some rest after a very fulfilling day.