My daughter and I went to Prospect Park in Brooklyn TWICE in a week in early June. More accurately, it was two times in four days to see two of her cousins, one each from her mother’s and father’s side, who are, of course, also two of my nieces.
In both cases, it involved my daughter driving us from our house in Albany to the Poughkeepsie railroad station, us taking the Metro-North to Grand Central Station in NYC, then a couple of subway rides to a 526-acre location that spans parts of five ZIP Codes.
It’s a lovely setting, with lots of bicyclists riding around. My daughter and I swear some scenes of the various Law & Order TV shows that were shot in specific locations.
Monday, June 1: One niece, Alexa, was getting engaged at c. 11 a.m. But the surprise for her partner was that their friends and family would be gathering for a large picnic lunch. This meant leaving our house at 6 a.m.
The couple has some very nice friends, who, with the relatives, collectively brought WAY more food and beverages than could be consumed.
The one major hitch was on the return trip. Both of our phones died; the drag of Metro North is that, unlike on Amtrak, there are no charging stations. So we found a place to eat while my daughter’s phone slowly charged. We got home about 8 pm.
BRIC
Thursday, June 4: We learned that BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn’s Opening Night, featuring Sheila E., Leon Knight, and DJ Spinna, was taking place at the Lena Horne Bandshell. Rebecca Jade would be performing with Sheila, as she has since 2017, off and on.
This time, we had our portable phone chargers, which we had purchased the night before. When we got to Poughkeepsie in the early afternoon, getting across the Mid-Hudson Bridge was particularly difficult, with stop-and-go traffic. There were no parking spaces nearby, so the daughter parked in a place she THOUGHT would be okay (4-hour parking between 9 and 5, and it was after 1 pm). We bought tickets from the kiosk (the human ticket sellers were closed until 3), and made it on the train with about 30 seconds to spare.
We eventually had Mexican food with Alexa at a local eatery. Then the Daughter and I walked for at least half an hour to the bandshell. The concert was free, but it allegedly required tickets, which weren’t checked.
We went to the musicians’ tent, saw RJ, and spoke to her briefly, but she had to get dressed for the performance. The opening act, the rocker Leon Knight, was okay. DJ Spinna started his set without an introduction, keeping the crowd engaged.
Sheila, Lynn, and Rebecca
When Sheila was about to begin, the Daughter and I moved from sitting on the lawn a distance away to standing as close as we could. She, the legendary vocalist Lynn Mabry, and Rebecca, along with the fine instrumentalists, were in great form.
Here’s just a snippet of the vocalists in Europe in 2019, which was the last time my wife, daughter, and I saw them perform. Sheila gave a couple of vocals to Lynn and RJ. Watch some short pieces of this show here and here.
Sheila is a very positive performer. When she said it was her birthday (that didn’t seem right, and it is actually December 12), she was suggesting that we should be celebrating each day.
As is often the case, she leaned into the Prince catalog. Her group would be performing in Minneapolis two days later, near his birthday, and a decade after he died.
Afterwards
We went to the tent. By then, we COULD hang with Rebecca and also another relative, the eldest child of my second cousin Anne, whom I had last seen on Thanksgiving 2013.
We briefly spoke with Sheila and Lynn about their trip to Albany on the 4th of July 2023, which was canceled when a last-minute lightning storm hit the Empire State Plaza.
My daughter and I got to Grand Central at midnight. The next train was not until 12:48 a.m. It was a local, making all of the stops. Miraculously, my daughter slept through most of the trip.
We got to the car. The GPS directed her to state routes 9G and 23 before we finally reached the Thruway near Catskill. We got home at 4:45 a.m.
These were two great trips, though I wished they had been spaced a bit further apart…