July 4 On The Irish Riviera

It's midsummer so it's back to Betsy's cabana at Breezy Point Surf Club in the Rockaways for another run at the Guinness Book record for the world's longest-running hangover.



This is like my fifth or sixth visit to Breezy. I wrote about another party last year. As always, I came armed with sangria: three gallons of red and two gallons of white. I'm not too modest to say that it's always a big hit, and of course a major ingredient of my hangover. I'll post the recipe below.

I've mentioned my lovely and lively neighbor, Betsy, a bunch of places in my blog. She and I are always coordinating on house reno projects. For instance, we designed and built the back fences and designed our new front stoops. I built her a planter stand; she made me macramé curtains for the guest room. She feeds me at least once a week; I decorated her cabana with every cheesy neon and hanging light I could find. We did stained glass class together. Betsy has been a great resource for Brooklyn Row House so I figured it was time to show her pic. Betsy is the queen of B Court, doing business from her cabana, B52: The Rock Lobster.

Cabana is a euphemism for a 7 x 15 foot storage locker with cold water and one ancient 15 amp circuit that should have burned this place to ashes decades ago. Nevertheless, Breezy folks have turned many of them into mini-palaces with full kitchens, hot water, showers, fold-out sofas and even DirecTV dishes. Even though the cabanas are leased annually, they're so hard to get that they become legacies which get handed down to your kids.

What's a bit bizarre about Breezy Point Surf Club is that the surf is about a half mile hike from the club, through a federal bird sanctuary. As surfs go, this one can also be a bit treacherous so you don't actually find many cabana owners at the beach. Betsy's SO, Joe, is one of the exceptions.



This is the more typical scene: lounging in front of the cabana, nursing a beer and socializing with your neighbors. It's a classic Brooklyn stoop hang. See that green patch out on the horizon? That's about half way to the ocean.

Breezy is a blue collar family scene and the regulars wouldn't have it any other way. Lots of cops, firefighters, bus drivers, building contractors and small business owners. Lots of kids, teens and grandparents too.

Late afternoon, three NYPD helicopters orbited the club. I suspect there's probably an NYPD Aviation lieutenant among the cabana folks and they were sending him a message about how happy they were to be working on the Fourth.

I have to send a shout-out to Kathy, one of Betsy's cabana neighbors who I learned is also a BrooklyRowHouse fan. She's on the left (toasting a glass of my white sangria). It's always nice to know that one or two people actually read this crap. Hi Kathy!

Actually, the white sangria this year was made by Doc Karen. I think she's finally gotten the knack of it. She's a surgeon so she's a lot better at chopping up the fruit than me too. Karen's the designated driver at the Breezy parties.

When we left the club we encountered a horrific, three car accident on the island's only main road. Sometimes you can tell that alcohol was a factor just by the wreckage.

So, back to the booze. Here's the recipe. This makes three gallons of sangria, which is best made in a large thermos-type cooler. Just don't get behind the wheel after a glass or two of this.