Your parents are coming…here’s where to take them in Brooklyn

Instead of taking them to the Statue of Liberty, lead your folks to the perfect view of it. Photo: Marc Cappelletti

For Your History Channel–Watching, Landmark-Loving Parents

33. Have a Fairway picnic in Red Hook, with an absolutely killer view of the Statue of Liberty.

34. Do this self-guided walking tour of Downtown Brooklyn, which includes historic department stores and the Brooklyn War Memorial.

35. Have a slice at Di Fara Pizza, where the same fella (now in his 80s) has made every single pie for 50+ years. (Or maybe don’t.)

36. Spend a day at the Brooklyn Historical Society, and maybe the night, too—check out their fascinating evening programming.

37. Take a trolley tour through Green-Wood Cemetery and learn about some of the famous folks buried there.

38. Get to know the Brooklyn Navy Yard—there’s a variety of tours, from “Inside Industry” to “Urban Ecology” to “Sustainable Architecture.”

39. Have a drink at Kings County Distillery, the oldest operating whiskey distillery in NYC. Or take a tour of the facilities, which includes a tasting and admission to the Boozeum for $8.

40. Eat at Ferdinando’s Foccaceria, one of the oldest restaurants in NYC.

The Books Beneath the Bridge series happens every Monday night through Aug. 10. Photo: Etienne Frossard

For Folks Who Don’t Want to Do All That Walking

41. Take them to a Cyclones game, which costs less than $20 for most of a day’s entertainment. Check the schedule because games often have fun themes, like 80s night or Superhero Day.

42. Park it at a lovely beer garden, like Black Forest Brooklyn, Schnitzel Haus, Die StammKneipe, or Spritzenhaus (though that last one gets loud on the weekends).

43. Take a slow ramble down the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

44. Browse the seemingly endless offerings at the Brooklyn Flea, Saturdays in Fort Grene or Sundays in Williamsburg.

45. See one of the approximately 4 million outdoor movies offered each summer. (Here’s the roundup for 2015.)

46. Take in a classical music concert on a floating barge or in an old firehouse.

47. Introduce them to the old-timey, folk scene at Jalopy Theater.

48. Or see one of Celebrate Brooklyn’s shows at the Prospect Park Bandshell before the season ends August 12.

49. Have a sunset picnic in Sunset Park’s actual Sunset Park.

50. Bring them to a reading–the al fresco Books Under the Bridge, organized by the borough’s local bookstores and in full view of the Manhattan skyline, is the most picturesque series.

Stuff yourselves silly at Smorgasburg. Photo: Brooklyn Flea

For Parents Who Want the “New Brooklyn” Experience—Quirk Included

51. Spend a day (and all your parents’ money) stuffing your faces at Smorgasburg.

52. Take a class at Brooklyn Brainery—with stunningly diverse offerings, from the History of Gin to Sichuan Cooking to the Birth of Glass-Blowing, there should be something to appeal to every kind of parent.

53. Do a self-guided art gallery tour. FreeWilliamsburg has a great index of galleries in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick.

54. Or wander through the Bushwick Collective’s outdoor mural gallery.

55. Sling back a fancy artisanal cocktail (or three) at Dram.

56. If your parents are visiting in the fall or next spring, see some avant-garde theater at the venerable, consistently innovative St. Ann’s Warehouse (Gillian Anderson is starring in its April production of A Streetcar Named Desire) or at BAM (where Juliette Binoche performs in an update of Antigone during its Next Wave Festival. (Make sure to buy tix in advance!)

57. Or go for up-and-coming theatre at playhouses like Bushwick Starr, Annoyance Theater, Jack, or Standard Toykraft.

58. Laugh nervously through a reliably kooky alt-comedy show like the long-running Night Train with Wyatt Cenac or Punderdome 3000.

59. See a show in a brewery at Threes, which has evening programming from cabarets to comedy.