Summer is easily my favorite season in the city. We hang out at the Splash pad all day and end the evening with ice cream on the stoop as we people watch and take in the best sunsets the city has to offer. It’s the season when I fall in love with NYC all over again and can almost forgive her for the miserable winters and insane cost of living.

Today I’m sharing my NYC summer bucket list that I hope to check off by the end of the season. Some are old classics that we revisit year after year and there are a few things we haven’t done yet that I’m excited to try. Click through for the full list!

• Ride all the rides at Victoria Gardens
• See Shakespeare in the Park
• Enjoy one of BRIC’s concerts in Prospect Park
• Go to our first Yankees Game
• Eat elote and more tacos than we can handle at Habana Outpost 
• Beach day at The Rockaways
• See some Summer Movies Series
• Spend the entire day In Central Park
• Head to our favorite Splash Pad
• Eat a Mister Softee (or two, or three, or four…)

• Have a picnic on Governor’s Island
• Take the Water Taxi to South Street Seaport
• See a movie at iPic on a day that’s too hot
• Eat at Shake Shack’s Maddison Square Park location and check out the nearby playground
• Go to all of the local block parties in the neighborhood
• Mini golf in Industry City
• Eat a funnel cake at Coney Island
• Sing a longs at Norman & Jules
• Go to Brooklyn Flea in Ft. Greene
• Walk the High Line

• See the sea lion show at the Brooklyn Zoo
• Go to Red Hook for Brooklyn Crab and Steve’s Key Lime Pies!
• Celebrate Bastille Day at Bar Tabac
• Bike down Park Ave during Summer Streets
• Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge at night
• Stock up on tons of sidewalk chalk, water balloons, and bubbles! Because even if they aren’t having the best time, those are sure to cheer them up!

What do you guys like to do to stay busy during the summer?

Girls dresses c/o Rockets of Awesome. Photos by Julia Elizabeth for Lucky Penny.