Bunchland

The Williamsburg Bridge, connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan

At Bunchland, we’ve got friends in different area codes: awesome families who want you to come visit them so they can show you around. In this issue, Sweet William shopkeeper Bronagh, her husband, Peter, and their 3-year-old son Fiontan invite you to spend a whirlwind weekend with them in Brooklyn. Her family will play tour guide, your family will be the photo-snapping, Hawaiian shirt-wearing tourists. Enjoy your stay!

Saturday

First, you meet up with Bronagh’s family at her Williamsburg kids’ clothing shop, Sweet William, where you rifle through racks of pint-sized ensembles crafted by independent and eco-minded designers. Your kids squeal with delight at the store’s plush menagerie wall display.

Sweet William’s wall of toys

Bronagh suggests stopping for brunch at her family’s favourite spot, Five Leaves. There you might nosh on truffle fries, ricotta pancakes or house-cured gravelax.

A decadent brunch at Five Leaves Cafe and Bar is just the thing to kick-off your weekend in Brooklyn

Time to work off that big meal with a family bike ride through Brooklyn. After buckling the kids into bike seats, you bike over the Williamsburg bridge but turn around without setting one toe in Manhattan. As Branagh points out, Brooklyn’s so rad there’s no need.

Next, you indulge your kids’ craving for crafts with a visit to the best craft store in Brooklyn, Spacecraft. This place offers daily walk-in craft projects, so you guys get busy making wooden skateboards. You leave, but not before picking up some tree-free paper and tattoo books.

You’ll never be bored at SpaceCraft

After dinner, the gang grabs a cone from the sunshine yellow Van Leeuwen artisan ice cream truck on Bedford Avenue. Bronagh insists you order the vanilla, which is made from organic beans aged in oak barrels and flown over from Papua, New Guinea.

Van Leeuwen’s artisanal ice cream cones will satisfy any sweet tooth

Sunday

Everyone wakes up early and has a big breakfast of oatmeal scones with strawberry-rhubarb jam and Devonshire clotted cream  from Marlow and Sons.

Marlow and Sons is the “it” spot for Sunday breakfast in Williamsburg

Then it’s on to the Fairway Market in Red Hook to wander the labyrinthian array of stalls, searching for fresh produce, meat and cheese for  lunch. The grownups follow the scent of just-roasted coffee, the kids gorge on mini-bagels. While browsing, your family checks out a perfect view of Lady Liberty herself.

The kids are clamouring for a trip  to a toy store, so you take them to Brooklyn’s finest: the toy section of Moon River Chattel. Among their collection of rustic antiques, you might score a vintage wind-up toy or bicycle bell. After browsing for an hour or so, you grudgingly leave, but not before scooping up some 1930′s candy jars for yourself.

Vintage bicycle horns at Moon River Chattell

Your family’s Brooklyn adventure is drawing to an end, and Bronagh suggests celebrating with comfort food at Enid’s. After filling up on blackened catfish sandwiches and mac and cheese, the grownups get tipsy on tequila while the kids play with the pinball machine.

You end the weekend with a family constitutional along Grand Street, where you all “ooh” and “ahh” at the gorgeous view of the Hudson River, as well as Brooklyn’s amazing shops and restaurants. You bid farewell to Bronagh’s family with a round of high-fives, and she tells you her family hopes you come back to visit them soon.

The Hudson River is the perfect backdrop for a family stroll as your weekend in Brooklyn comes to an end

This Bunch:

Photos by caruba, laverrue via Flickr. The rest were provided by the establishments.