The Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn is not far from my mine so I took a walk last weekend. Come along.
1. Architecture.
Apartment Building
This building is home to the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It was built in 1857 and is on the National Register for Historic Places. It was originally the Hanson Place Baptist Church.
Not technically in Fort Greene, but I like the look of this building.
2. Signage. Conflicting messages?
Hmmm…what are they trying to tell me?
3. Greenlight Bookstore. This is one of my favorite indie bookstore in the city. (Yes, we still have those here in Brooklyn.) A great indie bookstore is part of the fabric of the neighborhood. The staff knows you and you know the staff, even if you’ve never been formally introduced. I could spend all afternoon browsing in there, much to the chagrin of friends and former boyfriends. I now go alone. It’s better that way anyway. Then I can linger over the Staff Recommendation shelves, analyze the covers and read the intros and acknowledgement pages. Then I flip through the expensive coffee table books (even though I don’t have a coffee table) and spin the racks of travel books (even though my spring trip is already planned).
A neat place to sit.
This guy found a more comfortable spot.
Dogs allowed!
Planning a trip? (Stay tuned for a fun giveaway surrounding the destination of my trip. Shh! It’s coming soon.)
The Haruki Murakami section. Right next to the Alice Munro section. Right next to a book I just added to my TBR list: Me Before You. Can’t wait to read that one!
Hungry?
4. Snacks. Why, yes. Yes, I am.
A chai pistachio muffin
5. Murals.
A tribute to Biggie Smalls, a.k.a Notorious B.I.G., a hip-hop artist from Brooklyn, who was killed 16 years ago this month.
Not Ray’s Pizza is a local joke. Ray’s Pizza is a chain which seems to have a location on nearly every corner in the city.
“Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.” ~ James Baldwin
Time to go home. Have a great weekend everyone!
I loved the walk!! And that bookstore looks like heaven. And chai muffins?! I’ll take two please.
You won’t regret it. Those muffins taste as good as they look. Yum! 🙂
Thank you for a lovely walk around your neighborhood. I have just read A tree grows in Brooklyn and I really want to explore the area.
So many tourists to NY never make it over the bridge, but Brooklyn has so many interesting flavors and vibes. It’s definitely worth a visit. Okay, I know I’m biased!
I hope you get to come back soon, Debra.
Please tell me this counted as my exercise for the day. That would make the first time I exercised in 2013. (sigh)
What a great walk, Jackie. The Not Ray’s Pizza place is hilarious. I like the owner already. The building reminds me of the Triangle building/fire.
Exercise. Check! You’re good until at least May as far as I’m concerned. 🙂
I think Not Ray’s is hysterical too. I’m glad the guy has a sense of humor. Now that you mention it, the building does look very similar.
Have a great (exercise free) weekend!
A bookstore that allows dogs. Miles give two paws up. And not sure about the grumpy parking people. So glad I don’t own a car anymore.
Miles would love the bookstore. He’d probably head right for section on pets, discerning dog that he is!
I had good friends who lived in Fort Greene when I lived in Carroll Gardens and I remember feeling like the area was on the rise even then–thank you for giving me a tour of how it looks now, Jackie. What fun for me! I’ll have to get back there one of these days–and see you, of course!:)
Correction: –and see you AND REGGIE of course!;)
Reggie and I would love to be your guides on a tour of your old haunts. First stop: pizza of course! (Reggie would like to submit a list of dog parks as well.) 🙂
Getting ready to read Me Before You also. Lemme know what you think after!
Dogs should be allowed in more places – if they behave themselves, which that cute little guy appears to be doing. Zeus would probably bark his head off and act like an insane, possessed hamster if he saw any other dogs, so unfortunately those places are off limits, for us.
I can’t wait to read Me Before You! I hope it lives up to the buzz.
You’ll probably find it interesting that this neighborhood is home to three terrific authors: Jennifer Egan, Jhumpa Lahiri and Colson Whitehead. What a literary triumvirate!
Reggie is like Zeus in that he would not sit quietly like that dog in the bookstore. He’d be sniffing and slobbering on everything in sight! Probably not good for the books. 🙂
I am drooling over the architecture and that bookstore! I love the convenience of amazon.com, but there’s nothing like an old bookstore.
Really looking forward to hearing your travel destination. Southeast Asia?
It was great to take photos on my walk. I see these buildings so often, I tend to “look but not see,” but this gave me a fresh perspective. I bet that’s how you feel when you take your camera along.
Southeast Asia. Maybe, maybe not. 🙂
I’m so excited for the contest. It will be fun to see how long it takes for people to guess the correct place.
Oh, how I miss bookstores! You are so lucky to have one to visit. There isn’t a single one within one hour drive from my house.
My mom’s town is the same. That would be really hard for me (though it would probably save me quite a bit of money).
I just recently found your blog and have been reading a lot of the older posts. Such an inspirational blog! It gives positive energy for my day. You have a true gift of finding funny and touching stuff that for so many people just pass by…As a dog owner I also like that you write about Reggie and post videos of him. (Cat videos were also hilarious)
Thank you so much for stopping my Minna! I really appreciate your kind words. What kind of dog do you have?
It’s a photographic wonderland *please see ‘LOVE’ sign* !!!
Fascinating architectural details… many of them feel like they would be right at home in a Hopper painting – which is awesome, of course! Speaking of ‘building bits’… I really like the light fixtures in that bookstore, too…
🙂
Also, I’ve had ‘Hypnotize’ stuck in my head all week, now…
I feel like you’re kind of responsible for this…
I accept full responsibility!
Sadly, I came across a clip from the Kardashians show that played Hypnotize. Wonder what old Biggie would think about that.
That bookstore looks SO dreamy!
I can spend hours in there. I feel very fortunate to live near several indie bookstores.
You live in an interesting neighborhood and the architecture is elegant.
I always see something new when I walk around the neighborhood, Rebecca. I love that!