Brooklyn as Seen in the LA Times

It's always interesting to see how Brooklyn is viewed, especially in light of its inclusion over the last year or so in a ton of travel section stories. In any case, here's a little something from yesterday's LA Times that we're including for fun:

The [Brooklyn Cruise] terminal, at Pier 12 off Bowne Street in the Red Hook area, isn't a neighborhood you want to stroll around after dark.

The best bet for staying overnight near the terminal is the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, which has big, comfortable rooms and a good restaurant, Archives. The other feasible (but less enticing) option is the Holiday Inn Express, farther away in Park Slope. It's no great shakes, but a good, inexpensive choice.

One of the best things to do is the most obvious: Take a walk on the historic Brooklyn Bridge for classic views of the Manhattan skyline from the pedestrian walkway above traffic. It takes 30 to 40 minutes to cross, or you can cheat and walk halfway and back. From the Marriott, turn right on Adams and continue to the waterfront, about a 15-minute walk. There's no public transportation available to the port terminal.

The Brooklyn Historical Society, in an 1881 Queen Anne building, and historic Montague Street are both a short walk from the Marriott. The historical society holds the papers of abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, who preached at Brooklyn's Plymouth Church, and memorabilia about the long-gone Brooklyn Dodgers. At the end of Montague Street is a knockout view of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. Gardeners may want to check out the 52-acre Brooklyn Botanic Garden at 1000 Washington Ave., which has a bonsai museum and an outstanding orchid collection.

For a little local color, I ate one night at Frankie's 457 Spuntino in Carroll Gardens. It's a friendly brick-walled neighborhood place with good salads and pastas.

Another night I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express and found the delightful Moutarde a few blocks away. The menu is very French — onion soup, mussels, pot au feu, beef Burgundy — as is the bistro ambience.

Nearby Park Slope has delightful boutiques, such as Nest, for cutting-edge jewelry, tableware and toys. Bird sells high-end fashion for women.

We could point out that the writer says the Holiday Inn Express on Union Street is in Park Slope, but that would be wrong.