Rafael Blunt Walk

Now This month you might be asking would ride The train line that would take yourself, “why would Ralph go to Coney them home but for me, any train that could Island in November?” Well before I tell take me to a New York City beach was you about my trip let me take you down always a great place to spend time away memory lane. Back in high school, while from my regularly scheduled programing. most friends were playing basketball in and one beach in particular stood above WANDERthird period, I would play hookie just to be on the early tip with my dealer cuz he had a severe case of DDT (Drug Dealer them all, Coney Island. WANDERtiming). I was a pro at disappearing after attendance, that was easy. the hard part was finding things to do to pass the time before I was suppose to be home. The goal was to WANDERbe out of sight from truancy, cause if they caught me, I’d be riding around all day in a paddy wagon, with more than a stern WANDERtalking to waiting for me when I got home. One way to avoid all that was to ride the MTA from the last stop to the last stop and Imagine that, a chunky 13-14 year old kid the real kicker was NYC schools would in Nike ACG boots and full on North Face give us metrocards to travel to and from jacket trekking it through the sand in 30 school with. So It was like I got myself a degree weather. I know It sounds crazy but city sponsored golden ticket out of school. this is how I fell in love with the beach. My fool proof plan was, if I was stopped, I could say I was headed to school or I Now 13 years later, I find myself with a lot just got let out early. Every day I’d choose of spare time and lucky enough to have a different train line, and I explored the some weed and backwoods packed away, entire subway system either listening to so I caught the Next D Train straight to music or reading comic books. Most kids Coney with some loud ready to be smoked

upon arrival. It was an early afternoon ride so it was fairly quick with views of Intricate Graffitied walls and beautiful suburban esque Brooklyn neighborhoods. By the time the train was pulling into the last stop, the train car was empty, so I rolled up two backwoods and hit Stillwell Avenue. Right when I exited the station I was hit with the smell of salty fried foods and hotdogs. Across the street is the original location of Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs, which has been around since 1916, pumping out some of the best Hotdogs in the world and let’s not sleep on their crinkle cut fries cause they are to die for. With Nathan’s on the mind, I now had a final destination after I built up an appetite. I lit one of the blunts and made My way past Nathan’s and I saw this graffiti museum were they have these giant walls with murals from various artist that lead right up to the boardwalk. Once I’m on the boardwalk, I see people walking around taking in the day and a couple of groups having photoshoots while the beach is empty. The neighborhood is mostly Russian, black, and Latino, so every once in a while I’d see a cute old Russian couple sharing cookies or an impromptu salsa jam session with a Puerto Rican flag flying high.

I walk to the water to get some sun on my face cause it was actually a pretty warm day, so I was able to take off my jacket and try for a mid winter tan. I walked along the water, smoking away at my blunt, just watching seagulls sleeping In The sand. I end up walking under a pier and I relax in the shade looking into the infinity of the ocean. I finished the first blunt listening to the soothing sounds of the lapping By this point, the only thing I wanted to waves. With out a second thought, fire was see was the pride and joy of Luna Park, cherrying the second blunt, as I walked the Coney Island Cyclone. It is the oldest toward the parachute jump spire. Which running wooden roller coaster in the city was a ride built for the 1939s NY Worlds Fair in queens, and it’s now a landmark fitted with lights for special occasions. Right near that is the entrance to the pier, as it was built in 1927, and is another landmark from the days of Coney being the largest amusement area in the United States from the 1880s to the 1940s. Luna park was WANDER where I could see fishing rods lined against the railing for days. The pier seems to be the local hangout spot as well, cause ever closed but I got a glimpse of the coaster from outside the park. By now the blunt was pretty much done and my stomach WANDER granny’s book club and card game was going on out there. They really didn’t take a liking to me smoking all to much, so I left before I had issues with some bridge players. was reminding me of those freshly made crinkle fries from Nathan’s, so I hustled my way back over to Stillwell ave. and I hopped in line. The service was so fast and the food WANDER WANDER looked so good I barely had time to put it down for a picture. There’s something about their mustard and relish that just makes all the difference and the cut of the fries were perfect to soak up condiments. It was the cherry on top, as I had fries left over for the ride back home. After a meal like that my eye lids were definitely heavy, One moment I was in coney then lower east side then upper west side, all within blinks of an eye. The whole way back I was dreaming of running away from truancy, if only they could catch me on my next blunt walk. - Rafael Hernandez