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◂︎ Mandy & Lexi's New York Adventures
New York (The Bronx)
Pelham Bay Park
Date visited: 9/23/2022
This is a wonderful park located in the northeast corner of The Bronx. Yes, that's right...The Bronx! We hiked the "Hunter Island Loop" trail, that loops around the northern peninsula (it's not really an island). We were immediately greeted by Bambi, who ran a few feet passed us. Then she stalked us for a while from the shadows. I was able to get a couple of pictures of her. The rest of the trail is very scenic. There are quite a few side trails that branch out from the main loop that provide access to the scenic shore. It was the first full day of fall, and it felt like it. The temps barely got out of the low 60's. While there was a gathering going on right near the huge parking lot (parking is free this time of the year), there wasn't many people on the trail at all, despite it being nearly perfect walking weather. After we completed the loop, we headed over to the Orchard Beach section of the park. It was a really nice afternoon in The Bronx!
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Orchard Beach
Date visited: 9/23/2022
This beach is actually part of Pelham Bay Park. It was low 60's and windy, so not really a beach day. But we've visited beaches on much worse days! There is a large promenade area that must be very busy during the summer months. The sand on the beach looked perfect. It was a windy day (Hurricane Fiona was well off-shore, but causing wind and high surf conditions in the Northeast). The wind had blown the sand around so it was very smooth, and undisturbed by foot prints. Despite it being the off-season, dogs aren't technically allowed on the promenade or the sandy areas until October 1st. There was practically nobody here, so I don't think anyone minded that we were a week early. In fact, we passed a NYC patrol car driving by on the promenade, and the two officers just waved at us! I'm thinking that there is more important stuff for them to deal with in The Bronx than a guy walking his dogs on the promenade a week early! We pretty much just walked the length of the promenade out and back. It was a very nice walk on a cool and breezy day.
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Orchard Beach
Date visited: 4/15/2024
Unlike our first trip here, our second trip here was on a beach day. Temps were in the low 80's. We stopped here on the way home from our Randall's Island adventure. Dogs are allowed on the beach from October 1st until the day before Memorial Day weekend. Mandy and Lexi went straight for the water! We walked a good portion of the beach, but were warned off one end by other beach goers due to someone with an off-leash pitbull. It looked like they were re-building some of the old beach buildings. There was some construction going on that wasn't there the last time we were here. We only stayed here for a half hour or so, but it was plenty of time for the dogs to cool off on a hot day.
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Yankee Stadium
Date visited: 5/7/2023
I've been wanting to take these photos for a long time now. As you may know, Mandy and Lexi are big time Yankees Fans! I was waiting for a nice day when the Yankees weren't in town so there would be less people around and I could park. I actually parked right on "Rivera Avenue" in front of the Yankee Shop. While I was taking the pictures, my wife went into the shop and bought the dogs new Yankees hats (the hats are actually made for infants). This meant I had to go back and take additional pictures with the new hats. Let me tell you, keeping hats on dogs is a real challenge. A few passerby's were amused and stopped to take their own photos. It was fun, but I was envisioning better pictures in my mind. It's hard taking photos of small dogs in front of big structures. We also crossed the street to Macombs Dam Park, the site of the old Yankee Stadium, where part of the facade from the old park has been preserved.
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Yankee Stadium
Date visited: 5/11/2025
Over the winter, the dogs got new Yankee hats. Unlike the old ones, these are made especially for dogs, with ear holes and a magnetic strap. They are really high quality, official MLB licensed dog hats. We had to come back here to try them out! I don't think any of the photos I took around the stadium came out any better than the ones I took last time. That said, the new hats made it much easier, as they didn't fall off every two seconds. Since the photos around the Stadium aren't much different from last year, we also walked across the street and explored Macombs Dam Park, and Rev. T. Wendell Foster Park, just north of the stadium.
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Macombs Dam Park
Date visited: 5/11/2025
We did visit this park on our first visit to Yankee Stadium two years ago, but just the section directly across the street from the Stadium. This time, we walked around the entire park, and we were even able to take a photo on one of the baseball fields that sit on the site of the old Yankee Stadium. (There was a game happening on the main field that sits on the exact spot as the old infield). Legends like Babe Ruth, Lou Gherig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera have stood on this field...and now Mandy and Lexi have too! The rest of the park consists of benches, a playground, athletic fields, and a pedestrian walkway.
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Van Cortlandt Park
Date visited: 3/24/2024
It was completely overcast to the east, but bright and sunny with practically no clouds to the west, so we headed west, southwest actually, to The Bronx. This is a pretty great park. It's the third largest park in New York City, so there is plenty to see here. There was free parking at the lots near the golf course (at least it was free on this day). I initially thought I would just walk the Putnam Greenway, a paved bike trail that connects to the South County Trailway in Yonkers, but we wound up not walking much of that at all. The rest of the park was more interesting, so we just went exploring instead. We mainly followed the cross-country track that loops an open field area, but took side excursions off that trail to other parts of the park. I was very impressed with how clean and well-maintained the park is kept. There was also quite a few spots with early spring blooms. The area received nearly 3 inches of rain the day before. One of the dog parks was flooded, but mostly everything else we saw was dry. We wandered around here for over four miles, so it was a good walk.
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Ferry Point Park
Date visited: 9/12/2024
We've had really good experiences at New York City parks in the past, but not this one! The park itself would be wonderful if it was better cared for. The real issue is that there is trash and broken glass everywhere, especially along the shore at the fishing points. I've seen this elsewhere, not just at this park or in New York City. There are a lot of people who go fishing and leave their trash all over the place. There's really no excuse for it here, especially since there are garbage cans every 20 feet! There's an eastern and western section of the park. We visited the western section. It looks like the eastern section is now mostly a golf course. The western section of the park offers views of the Whitestone Bridge, as well as the Manhattan skyline. It was a perfectly clear day just about everywhere, but very hazy over Manhattan for some reason, so the skyline photos aren't that nice. The dogs were hot, so against my better judgement, I let them cool off in the East River. Despite being up the river quite a ways, there are all sorts of sea shells that have washed ashore. There's a nice paved walking/bike trail around the park, and the restroom was remarkably clean. There is a large, free parking lot, but it can fill up since there is a ferry port located here as well. (In case you're wondering, it's a 56 minute trip to Lower Manhattan by ferry from here). At any rate, the park would actually be quite nice, if it wasn't for the careless visitors who leave their trash all over the place!
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Seton Falls Park
Date visited: 2/18/2025
New York City parks have been hit or miss for us. Most have been nice, but this one is a definite miss! I though the last place we visited in the Bronx was bad, but that place is a garden paradise compared to this park! Basically, the park is full of garbage. There was trash everywhere. Also, the loop trail was washed out so we couldn't complete the trail. The "falls" was the worst part. There was what looked like half deflated balloons that landed near the small trickle of a waterfall, amongst all sorts of other garbage. The Bronx has some nice parks, like Pelham Bay Park and Van Cortlandt Park. Stick with those and skip this one!
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Rev T. Wendell Foster Park
Date visited: 5/11/2025
This is another city park, directly across the street from the north side of Yankee Stadium. We walked through the park, but only stopped for the one photo.
