The Annual Mermaid Parade at Coney Island
I’ve never been to a parade before (barring Mardi Gras, which really should have clued me in) and was pretty excited about it. We saw some mermaids on the 4 train to Brooklyn and followed their progress (as they were ogled and chatted up by leering men) all the way to Coney Island. The crowds were insane and the closer we got to Coney Island, the more colorful the characters who joined us on the train became.
Turns out we should have just stayed up in the train station. The best view of the parade was from the train itself as it pulled into Stillwell Avenue. For the rest of the time, as the photos will mostly show, we were stuck behind a mass of people climbing over each other to get a peek at proceedings.
So, first, we couldn’t see much, and then we couldn’t move much. Somehow baby carriages were smashed through the crowd, and this didn’t help the general feelings of hostility festering in the 90 degree weather. Finally we just muscled our way into the parade itself and followed it along until an escape could be found. This is why so many pictures are taken from the back if they aren’t taken from the sides.
[EDIT: ROCKYOU SLIDESHOWS ARE OBVIOUSLY UNRELIABLE PIECES OF SHIT, SO… if all you see below this is an error message, check the pics out at flikr]
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Completely soaked through with sweat we sought ice cream and a passage back to Manhatten. I’ll admit that being an hour late probably didn’t help with the whole experience, but next year we will probably skip the parade and just go to the Mermaid Ball.
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