Zen and the art of paddleboating

If it's Friday, is it too late to update about my experiences of last Friday? I meant to do it on Monday as a sort of "weekend report," but then somehow this week has gotten away from me. But it's my blog, and I see no problem with a little tardy reporting. Also, I have to update because I recently started taking my camera when I go places, so that I have no choice but to record things. Then it's like you're right there with me. Living life. Enjoying last Friday. So let's see...what did we do last Friday.

Because it's nearing my last few summer Fridays (is it just me or did this summer fly by?), I wanted to leave the city. On the spur of the moment I journeyed to a random state park in Long Island. It was supposed to have horseback riding and canoeing, but ultimately we weren't able to do either of these fine outdoors activities. In lieu of canoes, they did have these beauts though:
They're like canoes, but more hardcore.

Paddleboats don't quite have the same outdoorsy spirit of actual canoes, but you certainly do get a better leg workout. And how many boating experiences can you really say that about? Here's another pic of me, out on the open water, like Huck Finn (if he paddle-boated), paddle-boating my heart out:
The fact that I'm wearing a life jacket just proves how difficult this is.

I didn't really take that many pictures of the actual park (hey, I'm new to this whole "taking my camera everywhere" thing), but I did get this flower from the parking lot:
You don't get this kind of natural beauty in the parking lots of the big city. I can tell you that right now.

On the way back, because we had some extra time (mostly because I didn't think to reserve trail ride horses in advance) before I had to get the car back, we stopped at the Queens Museum of Art in Corona Park. This was the sight of the World's Fair in 1964. I'd passed it from the highway, but never had a chance to stop and check it out. The Eiffel Tower of Queens

You also might remember these (at least I do), not in conjunction with the World's Fair, but with the landmark 1997 film Men in Black:
If anyone can look at these and not picture the alien spaceships of a galactic cockroach, then they are clearly less of a slave to popular culture than I am. That's totally the tree that Linda Fiorentino was dropped on! Sometimes I marvel at the landmarks that can be found in my fair borough.