Summer Bests, So Far

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC, and for our last 10 minutes, we will lighten it up. We're about halfway through summer. It's about the All-Star break, which represents halfway through summer for people who follow baseball. With these last few minutes of the show, let's spend just a little time away from the news and politics and see how it's going. Have you found a new favorite summer activity? 212-433-WNYC. Or a new-to-you beach? Call or text us at 212-433-9692.

What's been the highlight of your summer? What's been the summery highlight of your summer so far? Have you found a new favorite summer activity this year or a new-to-you beach? 212-433-WNYC. Or this could happen any time of year, but have you seen a great play or a movie, or summery, again, caught a performance at SummerStage or Little Island? Celebrate Brooklyn! starts this Friday night. One of their free shows might be on your agenda that you could even call and say you're looking forward to and tip off others.

Have you found a great taco truck or a new flavor of ice cream? Maybe you rediscovered Papaya King after it reopened on the Upper East Side. The summer edition of Restaurant Week starts Monday. Have you made reservations? Call or text us with one good summer thing that you've done this year that you'd like to share with your fellow WNYC listeners, because maybe they could do something like that too or because you just were so excited about it that you want to say it out loud. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.

Maybe with the weather we've been having lately, you found a new spot to while away the day in air-conditioned splendor. Anyone have anything like that? How about a secret spot that you have where you can duck into for air conditioning because you know it's there and it's on your route? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. The other thing you could do, the flip side of this, is since we're about halfway through summer, you can add to your summer bucket list.

What do you still want to do this summer? What are you still hoping to do this summer that you either know you're going to be able to do or that you hope you're going to be able to do as a summery aspiration? Call up and say what's on your summer bucket list, or call up and share your best midway-through summer finds. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. I'll throw one more in here since we mentioned the All-Star break as a calendar reference point.

Has anybody found a new food at either of the stadiums, Yankee Stadium or Citi Field, or for that matter, if you go to the one at Coney Island or any of the other minor league stadiums in our area, maybe the rainbow cookie egg roll at Citi Field's Wok N' Roll? Love to hear how that was. Any food that's not hot dogs and popcorn and pretzels and Cracker Jacks at the ballpark, we want to know about those too as you call in with the favorite things you've done this summer that you might want to hip other people to or what you still hope to do on your summer bucket list.

Call or text 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. We'll take your calls and texts right after this.

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. For just our last few minutes, let's hear about some of your favorite summer things so far, especially if other people might still do them, but not only. Dean on Staten Island, you're on WNYC. Hi, Dean.

Dean: Hi. At the last minute, we jumped on the fast ferry at the bottom in St. George and we took a lighthouse museum-- a boat tour, and we went all the way up the East River out to Long Island. Basically, this professor, or former professor of the New York School, he basically gave us a whole tour of everything from Rikers Island to all the bridges. It was spectacular.

Brian Lehrer: We live in such a wonderful waterborne city, and getting out in the harbor like that, I didn't know that tour exists. That is a wonderful tip. Dean, thank you very much. How about Casey in Edgewood? You're on WNYC. Hi, Casey.

Casey: Good morning, Brian. How are you?

Brian Lehrer: Good. What you got?

Casey: I just completed last night a 27-day hike on the Long Path, which is a path that connects GW Bridge to the Adirondacks. I left my apartment on East 4th Street in Alphabet City on the first day of summer and walked to my house in the Catskills here in Hunter.

Brian Lehrer: [gasps] Wow. That's great. How long did it take you?

Casey: It took 27 days, and I took my time. There was a swimming hole to be found or friends to visit or other activities along the way, definitely.

Brian Lehrer: Where did you sleep?

Casey: I slept primarily in a hammock in state parks and state lands. I stayed with friends at times. I took a rest day. It was an amazing experience, and I got to know many parts of the flyover part of the state that I usually drive to.

Brian Lehrer: That is so awesome, Casey. Thank you. Great story. Jane in Montclair, you're on WNYC. You got a movie for us, I see.

Jane: Yes. I saw it at The Clairidge in Montclair, run by Montclair Film. It's called Janet Planet, and it's by a playwright, Annie Baker. Apparently, this is her first movie, and I know it got a critic's pick in The New York Times. It takes place in the summer of 1991 in Western Massachusetts, and it's about a relationship between a mother and her 11-year-old daughter. It's just a beautiful, beautiful movie.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Jane. Some coming in via text message. One person just writes, "Häagen-Dazs pineapple coconut ice cream." Another one says, "Saw Suffs with a friend from high school. Loved it so much, I took my 36-year-old daughter. Saw MJ and loved it." A listener writes, "Saw amazing jazz singer Nicole Zuraitis perform at Wave Hill in the Bronx." Another one writes, "Where to go, where to go." "I saw the Harlem Renaissance show at the Metropolitan Museum. It is exquisite."

I think Sherry in Preston Hollow is going to follow that up with our last one. You found a place to get AC, right, Sherry?

Sherry: I did. You can spend the whole day from 10:00 to 5:00 at the Met, and you can wander around and see whatever you want to see. For New Yorkers, just pay what you wish. The air conditioning is great.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. Thanks to all of you who called in with your tips midway through summer. Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Stay tuned for All Of It.

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