Mermaids and Kings

While my German friends were still arguing about soccer — how long does that Soccer Cup run anyway? — I had more important things to do: I helped opening the Atlantic Ocean for the summer season. With a grand key. Okay, not helped, but been there. Today was the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. As usually, I arrived too late and it was so packed that I had no chance whatsoever to see mermaids. Thankfully, I found a first-floor bar, air-conditioned, to watch the parade from above (with a beer).

It didn't feel very summery, though (thanks to the air conditioning and the Heavy Metal), so I went to the beach to warm up. Coney Island has evidently been taken over by Puerto Ricans, btw. Anywhoo, at the end of the parade the King, the Queen, and some guy with a hat walk down the beach with their entourage, mostly photographers.

Before the actual marching down happened, a bunch of mermaids cleared the path by planting red tape in the sand; I figured it out only when I looked up and found myself being the only person still lying on a towel within that path (reading The New York Times Magazine). I hopped out of the way just in time; this, however gave me a head start before all those other photographers (this, and my elbows). 

So, I took a picture of the King, the Queen, and the guy with the hat opening the Atlantic Ocean with a big key. Here is it. Afterwards, I had another beer.