Relaxing Day Trip #1: Brighton Beach!!

People love to leave the City for the weekend and escape to the beach. Beaches in NJ and Long Island are beautiful, but getting there can be a pain! Rushing to the train station and paying big bucks to fight for seats and sit on the train for hours sometimes just doesn't seem worth it.

Enter Brighton Beach.

A short subway or bike ride from central Brooklyn (and totally doable from Manhattan), Brighton Beach is where it's at! Russian delicacies along Brighton Beach Boulevard, plenty of space to set up shop on the beach, amazing people watching, shimmering water, and waves just high enough to jump over--what more could you ask for? There are also relatively clean bathrooms and changing areas and Coney Island amusements are just a short walk along the boardwalk away.

For those of you who have yet to experience Brighton Beach, I highly recommend taking advantage of the designated bike path (built in 1894 and the nation's first!) along Ocean Parkway, which will get you to the beach in less than 30 minutes without worrying about getting hit by a car of crazy hipsters or being stuck on a stalled F train.