Flatbush: Places to go, sights to see

When you're immersed in the hustle and bustle of Manhattan life, getting away for the weekend is harder than it seems. The quick fix is to hop on a subway bound for one of the outer boroughs. In my case, it was Brooklyn — Flatbush to be exact — for an adventure at Floyd Bennett Field, a former airport that now houses a recreation center and numerous gardens.

The first step in planning a day trip is to prepare for the conditions. Be sure to bundle up for this trip — the temperature is about 10 degrees cooler since the field is located right by Jamaica Bay. No subways stop directly at the field, so you'll have to prepare yourself for quite a journey.

First, you'll have to take a subway down to the Brooklyn College-Flatbush Avenue stop. When you get off at the stop, climb the stairs to street level and you'll see a Target down the block. Across the street on Flatbush Avenue there are several bus stops. Be sure to get on the Q35 bus heading toward Rockaway Park and take it to the stop right outside of Floyd Bennett Field at Flatbush Avenue and Aviation Road. The Q35 comes around every 20 minutes. You can see the stop coming just by looking out the window — there's a golf course nearby that is hard to miss.

Buildings seven and eight of Floyd Bennett Field are the first in sight. Inside of the two former airplane hangars is a recreation center filled with an ice rink, an arcade, a food court and a crowd of screaming little kids. Ice skating is available during certain hours of the day for only $14.

But this building is just a warm-up for what awaits in the rest of Floyd Bennett Field. The road around the field leads you to the gardens and the older airplane hangars. The photo ops here are unparalleled. Although you can't actually enter the hangars, you can peek through the broken windows and check out the inside. With so much to explore, be sure to leave several hours for this part of the trip.

After a few hours of ice skating and peeking into abandoned hangars, you're bound to get either tired or cold or both. To get back to Manhattan, hop back on the Q35 and get off at Target, where you can shop to your heart's content for cheap goodies before getting back on the subway. If the day's stroll has your stomach grumbling in protest, check out Flatbush, Church and Nostrand avenues for some cozy ethnic restaurants before getting back on the 2 train home.