Sixty at Sixty - Coney Island Mermaid Parade, NYC

What better way to recognize the beginning of summer than with a mermaid parade? And that's what Coney Island, New York City has been doing for the last 36 years. Despite having lived in New York for twenty years, I'd never heard of the parade until recently, but once I did I couldn't resist going to see what it was all about.

The parade was created by Coney Island USA, a not-for-profit arts organisation, in 1983 and is the largest of its kind in the nation. It is made up of floats, groups and individuals representing mermaids, sea creatures and other themes set by the organizers.

Sixty at Sixty - Holiday Train Show, NY Botanical Gardens

Since 1992 the NY Botanical Gardens has been host to the Holiday Train Show, an event which is now considered one of the highlights of NY's holiday events. The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory becomes a magical world of large-scale model trains running through a landscape dotted with miniature iconic NY buildings and bridges, made wholly from natural materials.

It's an event which I've meant to go to for years, yet somehow always managed to miss, but in keeping with my Sixty at Sixty challenge I decided this was the year to finally go and see what it was all about.

Walking the South West Coastal Path - Day 4 - St. Just to Sennen

Day 4,  we woke to sunshine and brilliant blue skies. a welcome sight after the previous day and given that our day's walk would end at Sennen Cove, one of Cornwall's most popular beaches.

Instead of heading straight to Sennen however, we decided to see some of what we had missed the previous day by walking to Cape Cornwall, a picturesque headland about a mile and a half along the path in the opposite direction to Sennen.

The three-mile round trip was well worth the extra effort. The scenery was fabulous.

Sixty at Sixty - A Challenge

I recently celebrated my sixtieth birthday, an event which has me both wondering where the years have gone, given I still feel much like I did in my late twenties, and excited about what this next decade will bring.

I've always been a restless kind of person, eager to explore, who much prefers to be on the go than sitting still (except when I'm reading or writing!), and loves to learn. Maybe it's why I write fiction, it both fuels my desire to delve into subjects I may never otherwise have considered (forensics, criminal law) and allows me to examine alternative lives through my characters. It's also reflected in my love for travel and walking and a constant sense of wanting to challenge myself to try new activities.


So, to celebrate this big birthday I decided to create an appropriate challenge. I'm calling it Sixty at Sixty, the goal being to complete sixty different activities, big and small, before my next birthday. Hopefully, most will be activities I've never done before, but some could be revisiting those that have fallen by the wayside over the years. Some will deserve a blog post of their own, others probably just a mention but I intend to keep track of my progress on this blog.

I've already got several ideas for places I want to visit and activities I'd like to try, but I'm always open to new ideas, so if you've got any suggestions, please let me know.


Mel Parish writes contemporary fiction with a twist of mystery and suspense. Her latest novel Trust No One is now available from Amazon. 

Walking in the City - Inwood Hill Park, NY

A planned walk in Inwood Hill Park on Saturday with Shorewalkers turned out to be more of a treat than expected following last Thursday's snowfall which blanketed the park. While the snowy conditions made walking harder work than normal, the additional exercise was more than compensated for by the wintry views.

Looking across the Hudson River towards the Palisades.

Walking in the City - Edinburgh

Looking out towards the Firth of Forth

Apparently, on average, Edinburgh gets 192 days of rain per year. Which means you take your chances with the weather if you go for the day. I'm not sure how many windy days the city averages, but unfortunately the day we visited it was both wet and windy. So wet and windy that we decided to head straight for the Castle in the hope we'd find some shelter. The Castle dominates the city skyline meaning even on an overcast day you can see for miles from the battlements.

The First Radio Interview

In my last blog post I wondered whether there was anything as nerve-wracking for a writer as waiting to hear the first readers' opinions on the latest manuscript.  Last week, I discovered there was.

I was invited to be a guest on Good Living with Michele Thomas on WGCH, a local radio station, to talk about my writing and self-publishing. I've never been on the radio before and the potential for disaster played vividly in my mind beforehand.

Walking in the City - West Side Monuments and Sculptures, Riverside Park South, NY

One of my favorite activities in Manhattan is walking by the river. Nowadays, it is possible to walk almost all around the island via either park or greenway, enjoying river views on one side and the cityscape on the other. One of the newest stretches of the river walk is through Riverside Park South which runs from 59th Street to 72nd Street on the west side and offers not only great views but some interesting sights as well.

An Independence Day Walk - Fort Lee Historic Park and the Shore Trail

I hadn't planned on walking on Independence Day, but when I discovered Shorewalkers and AMC were holding a joint walk across the George Washington Bridge to the Long Path via Fort Lee Historic Park it seemed like the perfect activity for the day - history and exercise combined. I obviously wasn't the only one to think that - over sixty people joined the walk, certainly one of the biggest group walks I've ever been on.

Walking in the City - the Brooklyn Shore Line and Coney Island, New York

The last Saturday of February promised to be a spring-like day, offering the perfect opportunity to get out in the fresh air for some much needed exercise, so I jumped at the chance to join a Shorewalkers walk along the Brooklyn Shore Line to Coney Island. With the exception of a short visit to Coney Island fun fair many years ago, I'd never been to this part of the city before and, to be honest, if I hadn't seen the advertised walk, it's not an area that I would have ever thought of visiting.

Historic Houses - The Mount, Lenox, MA - Edith Wharton's Home

Impatient to view the glory of fall colors back in October, I decided to take a short road trip north into the Berkshires where nature's annual art show was at its peak. I didn't want to just drive for the sake of it though so I did a little research online to see whether I could find some other justification for the trip. In the process I came across the website for The Mount, the former home of novelist Edith Wharton. I was surprised to learn that not only did Edith Wharton write novels but she was also considered an authority on travel, architecture, gardens and interior design, and was closely involved in the design and building of The Mount. 

Rio de Janeiro - A City of Surprises

What do you picture when you hear mention of Rio de Janeiro?

For me, it used to be the enormous statue of Christ high above the city

seems no matter how far away you are, you can still see the statue

or the famous beach of Copacabana.

September Road Trip No. 3 - Brookville, PA and Gold Eagle Inn

One of the joys of travel by road is chancing on some place that you never knew existed, whether it is a small town, a restaurant or a sight worth seeing. Of course, there’s also the possibility that you will be disappointed by your choice of stops, and I’ve certainly made a few mistakes in the past, but fortunately that wasn’t the case on my third road trip in September which took us from Westchester, New York to Howell in Michigan.