Day 275: Thursday, June 6, 2013
Port to Port: New York City
Underway: 0:00 am Motor Off: 0:00 pm Miles Traveled: 0 Stayed At: Mooring
Mile 146 to Mile 146: Our plans were wide open today. We could go east, west, north or south. Well, to go west we would have to take a boat but you get the idea. We decided to go south along the river side parkway – it goes for miles north and south from the marina. You can basically ride your bike along a bike path all the way downtown. We found a city run boathouse along the way that lets people use kayaks for free to get exposed to the Hudson River. It wasn’t open yet or we would have taken a ride for sure.
Surprise #1: As we were walking, we called our friends on Spiritus to see where they were and they happened to be passing by Ellis Island on their way north up the Hudson. They aren’t going to stop in NYC (bummers) because they need to get somewhere to meet family. As we were passing by the Intrepid Museum (a decommissioned aircraft carrier) we called Spiritus again as we say them passing by on the river. Eddy turned the boat around and we ran out onto the end of a long boardwalk and chatted with them for a while and had a fun but not very satisfying reunion – it was perfect timing to have a chance to talk. We wished them safe travels and told them to take it slow so we can catch up in the next couple of weeks. (We also told them they could stop by our boat on the way by and leave a couple bottles of wine – we wouldn’t mind – but they must have forgotten because the boat was empty when we got back).
Surprise #2: After saying goodbye to Eddy and Linda, we angled over to the Chelsea neighborhood and found a great lunch deal – 2 pieces of pizza and a can of pop for $2.75. What a deal. We found the highline park and explored that for a while. They converted an old rusty unused elevated railroad bed into a wonderful linear park and pedestrian walkway. Instead of being an eyesore, the bridge is a neighborhood treasure.
On the way back to the marina, we did a couple of errands and were almost ready to hop in the dinghy when our nephew Garrett called to find our what we were doing. He was back in town early and we decided to turn around and meet him for dinner a little corner hamburger joint by his apartment. He treated to dinner (thanks Garrett) we walked a few blocks back to his apartment to visit and have a couple of beers. We had a blast catching up on his and our adventures. He has a nice apartment in an old mansion just 7 short blocks from us. What are the odds? We can’t wait to spend more time together this weekend with him and the kids. It really fun to see the kids grow up and become independent adults. Less than 24 hours and we start getting long awaited visitors.
