Huzzah! Another Big Adventure in the books. Yesterday was truly memorable and the general consensus is that it was one of the best Big Adventures yet. Thanks to everyone who came out - the ridiculous crew we roll with is what truly makes it an adventure. Feel free to post any photos from the day. See ya next Adventure...

Coney Island Fact!

To properly prepare you for the fun tomorrow, The Big Adventure presents some fascinating Coney Island facts: The hot dog was introduced to America in 1867 on Coney Island by German immigrant  Charles Feltman. With business booming, in 1915 Feltman hired a young man, Nathan Handwerker, as a roll slicer and part-time delivery boy. By 1916 Nathan opened his own competing hot dog stand. The rest as they say is History in a Bun. Okay, no one actually says that...

The Big Adventures reccomends

The Big Adventure definitely recommends that you check out Trivia, A.D. in New York City. These guys offer the finest in Bar Trivia throughout the city in Gramercy, Upper East Side, Murray Hill and beyond. The main appeal of Trivia A.D. is that they specialize in your favorite TV Shows Of Yore. Sex and The City Trivia? Done. Saved By the Bell Trivia? Oh, you're so excited. Seinfeld Trivia? We can personally attest that it is great and very tough.
 

Trivia A.D. has several events every month and a great Facebook page, we suggest you challenge your noodle and check them out...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Trivia-AD/95793219158

Holy Cow - we're just TWO Days away from The Next Big Adventure! Swing on over to the Event Page and let us know if you'll be joining us. We've picked up some great Coney Fare Giveaways including....wait for it...the longest candy necklace ever imagined by the heirs to the Oh Henry! fortune.

The History of the Freakshow

Coney Island is a fascinating place from an American History point of view. One of the most historic and eyebrow-raising components is the Freak Show. 

Since waaaaay back in 1880 and over the years one could see Lionel the Lion-faced Man, Violetta the Limbless Woman and The Four-legged Woman which, oddly enough, was Phil's nickname when he played soccer in 8th grade. See this great article on Mental Floss (an freakishly great site in its own right): http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/12341

 

What Venue are YOU most looking forward to on Friday?

We're pretty friggin' excited about some of more colorful bar choices for the Big Adventure this Saturday. So, The Big Adventure wants to know which joint most grabs YOUR curiosity/ interest/ thirsty throat? 

• Ace Bar
• Freak Bar
• Ruby's
• Beer Island 
• Otto's Shrunken Head

The Coney Island and Carnival Big Adventure Final Itinerary!

The Coney Island and Carnival Big Adventure!

For the photo gallery from this Big Adventure click here!

The Coney Island and Carnival Big Adventure went down on Saturday, August 28^th we wanted to send out the complete itinerary and detailed plan for the day! We were extremely excited for a chance to bid farewell to Summer and kept our fingers and toes crossed for great weather. We started around 1:45 PM in the East Village, trekking out to Coney Island and ending back in Manhattan later that evening. 

As always, you can join us at any stop along the way and The Big Adventure is open to all and we encourage you to bring friends, loved ones, etc. Be forewarned that the bars we’re visiting all have two things in common: they all sell Coney Island Lager and they are all Cash Only. Also, Make sure you bring your ID - we’ve found some of these places would even card our 93 year-old grandpappy. Feel free to also bring gear for the beach if you choose. Perhaps a Frisbee, bathing suit or favorite Dick Dale record. 

1:45 PM- Ace Bar and Skee-Ball Tournament - 531 E 5th St (between Avenues A & B). Well kick things off at one of our most beloved game related bars which is opening a touch early just for The Big Adventure crowd. This is also home to the Inaugural Big Adventure Winner-Take-All No-Holds-Barred Skee-Ball Tournament. We’ll be playing on dueling lanes for prizes, a cash purse, fame and bragging rights. 

3:30 PM- VIP Transportation to Coney Island- If you want to ride down to the beach (and back) in style, we’re leaving from Ace Bar right at 3:30. A truly amazing ride would have a DVD player, comfy seats, A/C, a bar and more! Yeah, we’ll have none of that. But our bus will be very, very yellow.



4:15 PM(ish) –Our bus arrives at our featured destination and we head right to Freak Bar and Coney Island Circus Sideshow- Surf Avenue and 12^th. We’ll hang out in the laid-back lounge enjoying local craft beers before heading into the freak show. (Show tickets should be about $5-7.) From this home base, we’ll also explore The 99 Cent Coney Island Museum, The Coney Island Lager Mini-Brewery, El Dorado Bumper Cars (where $6 unleashes that inner road rage warrior),The El Dorado Arcade and legendary Nathan’s where Brooke and Phil will try to eat 59 ½ hot dogs in twenty minutes.

7:00 PM(ish) –Ruby’s and Beer Island- Coney Island Boardwalk –We’ll move up to the beach and imbibe right on the boardwalk as our bar visits continue. We’ll hit the last family owned bar in Coney Island, complete with surly bartenders (Ruby’s) and a sand inspired spot with beach umbrellas and a hundred-bottled beers all priced at five dollars (Beer Island). From here, you can venture out to explore The Wonder Wheel, The Cyclone ($8 to ride, but the coaster thrill is apparently not to be missed) and Shoot The Freak where “the freak” has to be one of the worst jobs on Earth. 

 
9:00 PM—We promptly depart Coney Island via our yellow bus and arrive back in Manhattan after a bit at Otto’s Shrunken Head 538 E 14th St (also between Avenues A & B) Otto’s is a world class Tikki Bar with great, cheap drinks. We’ve set up some fantastic drink specials just for the Big Adventure. If the Photo Booth and impressively strong specialty drinks like the Volcano Blast aren’t reason enough to visit this pharmacy turned bar, the rockabilly band playing in the back will be. 

 Midnight – Led Zeppole 328 E 14th St (between 1^st and 2^nd Avenue) From Otto’s, we’ll take a short walk to our late night final fair food stop. This beloved but tiny gem offers the city’s finest in Fried Oreos, Cream Puffs, Funnel Cakes, Cannolis and the Italian-donut like creation: the Zeppole!

Hope to see you next Saturday, August 28^th for a day we promise that will be unique, affordable and distinctly NYC

What is YOUR Favorite Fair food?

It can be debated that the world can be divded into three and only three types of people. How? Based on the preferred choice of classic fair food. This stunningly accurate characterization is now being used by anthropologists world wide to help us better understand societies.

So, which is your carnival cuisine of choice: The Corn Dog, Funnel Cake or the Deep Fried Oreos?

Say Hello to Otto's Shrunken Head

Another bar locked in and now revealed for the Big Adventure on August 28th: Otto's Shrunken Head. To say this place is one-of-a-kind is an understatement. Plus, secret photo booth in the back room. Indeed.


http://www.ottosshrunkenhead.com/

NYC Keys To The City

So, this was too good not to share. Newly-Found-Friend-of-the-Big-Adventure Doug told us this earlier this week about a citywide public art project called Key to The City. It is clever, it is unique and it screams "only in NYC."

The gist of it is that the program involved several Keys to the City were bestowed to...well...anyone in Times Square recently. But these are ACTUAL keys that unlock twenty-four various secret places in all five borough. In a way, what was once a symbolic gesture for the elite, has turned into a functional way to get access to secret parts of the city. Pretty cool, hunh? There is much more to it and the pictures that are posted are worth the click to the site alone. You can still obtain a key without the need for a insanely expensive locksmithbut you only have till Labor Day to get involved.

http://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2010/keytothecity/

Less than two weekls away from The Next Big Adventure!

Ahhh...We're getting closer! We are exactly two weeks away from packing the cooler and taking a trip down to the coast when we embark on The Carnival and Coney Island Big Adventure! Hoping that you'll join in two Saturdays on August 28th!

America's Fastest Growing Bar Sport is....Skee-Ball?

Okay, well that might be a stretch, but we thought the article from this week's Time Out New York was pretty fascinating. In line with the "Something for everyone" maxim of NYC, there is apparently a "Brewskee-Ball League" social league Skee-Ball league in Brooklyn. The good news is that it apparently is a hot league for a romantic connection. The bad news is that it apparently costs a $100 to join....why? Do you get personal coaching lessons by Skee-Ball great Kensington Chichester?

We only bring it up becuase we're definitely starting the next Big Adventure on Saturday, August 28th with a Winner-Take-All Skee-Ball Tourney at Ace Bar at 2:00 PM. It will be nothing shy of epic. (And, no, there is no such person as Kensington Chichester)

http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/sex-dating/88075/pickup-scene-social-sports-leagues

Announcing the Carnival and Coney Island Big Adventure on Saturday, August 28th!

Brooke and Phil are pleased to announced the next Big Adventure -The Coney Island and Carnival Big Adventure! Few things say Summer, Big Adventure and Americana more than a slice of the Carnival and Coney Island. On Saturday, August 28th, we're going to celebrate summer as we take a trip out to beloved Coney Island. While we're still working out the details, we're planning a trip to the Coney Island Circus Slide Show (aka the freak show), El Dorado Bumper Cars and Arcade, The Historic Cyclone Roller Coaster and some of the finest bars on and near the beach whee you can try a Coney Island Lager (or, for the bold and daring, an Albino Python Ale)

We'll start and end the day in Manhattan with some great Carnival and Fare themed bar/restaurants/locations.We're working on a Skee-Ball Tourney and some VIP transport to Coney Island and back (screw you, NYC Subway!) We'll have more detailed information by August 10th, but we're excited to hit the beach and hit the bar on August 28th! We're certain that you'll have a splendid time beating the heat and enjoying the last week of summer before Labor Day Weekend. If you've never taken the trip to the southernmost point in Brooklyn we invite you to join us, won't you? As always, all are welcome - so bring a family, loved on or even a stranger off the street. Let us know your coming today by RSVPing at Our Facebook event page here or commenting below.

In honor of our next upcoming Big Adventure (and perhaps as a tease to the theme of the day on August 28th), the Big Adventure wants to know what your favorite Island is? Hhmmmmm?

The Big Adventure is friggin' fascinated by this: http://www.welostourgold.com. Friend-of-The-Big-Adventure-Stephanie brought this to our attention last month. Now that the quest is about to begin, It seems to be a true-to-life scavenger hunt for $10,000 worth of one dollar coins buried below the surface somewhere in The Big Apple. The people behind the site aren't saying who they are or why they are doing this, but it seems legit . And there are puppets involved. And the treasure is not in Central Park.And there is a ninja...because everything is more awesome with ninjas.


The hunting starts today Sunday, August 1st. Very strange and very cool. So....can we borrow your shovel?


:http://bit.ly/cZT10z