No wonder the South lost the Civil War! While we were planting cotton, New Yorkers were planning and designing the Brooklyn Bridge. It is a marvel how well it was engineered. At 140+ yrs old, it has NEVER been re-furbished (other than a paint job). It has 3 lanes going in both directions with a walking/cycling path in the center, and it took us about 45 minutes to walk across. The East River separates Manhattan and Brooklyn . Once you cross the bridge, you arrive in an up and coming trendy area called DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) which runs along the waterfront between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. We also checked out Brooklyn Promenade with views of lower Manhattan, and strolled in quiet, lovely Brooklyn Heights--which is a tree lined area of brownstones that seems a world away from the fast pace in NYC.
