Astorian Weekend Edition 07.06.07

Lots going on this weekend! First, Water Taxi Beach is having a Vegan Dinner event Saturday evening. Food will be locally grown and wines organic, with a cooking demonstration and lecture (the lecture is free). Be sure to buy your tickets ahead of time, here. It looks fabulous and I'm sure it will be an occasion to remember.

Tonight, head over to Hell Gate Social for Astoria's own Nuerotics. They're doing 2 sets, one at 9:30pm and one at 10:30pm, and it's totally free. Be sure to check out HGS's tasty Hellgate Lemonade, my favorite cocktail in the place. Another well-loved Astoria musician, Richard McGraw, is also performing this weekend. He'll be at Domaine's Hoek (48-17 Vernon Blvd) on Saturday at 8pm.

Saturday evening at Astoria Park the Astoria Symphony presents a free outdoor concert, featuring a lot of great popular classics. The concert starts at 6pm, and at 7pm a free jazz concert featuring the Jacob Varmus Quartet will follow at the Beer Garden (no cover, no charge)! On the other end of the musical spectrum, Sunday at 3pm the Noguchi Museum presents the Kioku Group, which performs traditional Asian folk music combined with western improvisation and sensibilities. You'll hear Japanese taiko, Korean gongs and Filipino kulintang along with saxophone and live electronics.

Sunday also brings us a variety of outdoor, community based activities. At 10:30 that morning, stop in at Gantry Park for its Ninth Anniversary Celebration (complete free breakfast!). Festivities will be out on the pier. It should be a beautiful day for it, too! Later that day you can take a waterfront bike tour from Gantry, which runs from 5-8pm (call 718.706.8044 for registration). It will also be a nice day for spending time at Socrates, which has tai chi from 11am-12pm. LIC Boathouse also sponsors free canoe and kayak paddles at Hallets Cove, every Sunday this summer from 1-5pm.

Finally, I recommend you get yourself over to the San Antonio Bakery #2 for one of their fantastic Chilean hot dogs. We've talked about them before, and not that it's summer, it's time for hot dogs! Was just over there this past weekend they are as good as ever. They have fun, new display cases, which make the baked goods look better than ever. Also, as I came back from my run on Saturday, looking passed the jacknifed big-rig on the corner of 24th Ave and 29th Street, I spied outdoor seating at Sparrow! They have great beer, great, food, and eating it outside is a fantastic addition. I also had a slice of pizza at nearby La Vita Mia, and it was pretty darn tasty. They play the Yankee games on their TV, which is a definite plus.

More fun, here.

Photo credit (Water Taxi Beach): Streetsblog
Photo credit (Gantry): about.com