GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: THE BIG APPLE

NEW YORK, NY

DAY 337 AT LIBERTY LANDING MARINA

We arrived at Liberty Landing Marina at 1:00 on Mon, and spent the afternoon and the next day in a whirlwind of touring and sightseeing. The marina was a good choice because it had easy access to the water taxi that went to lower NY. From there it was an easy walk to the tour bus stop, Ground Zero and South Street Seaport. We were very much impressed with the beautiful tree lined walkway ran along the shore of Hudson River. Since we did the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Ground Zero on Sat, we were able to take in some of the other sights NY has to offer. After we tied up the boat, the first order of business was a double decker tour bus. With only 1 1/2 days and so much to see, this seemed like the best way to get around. Like everything else in NY it was expensive. It is reassuring to know the laws of supply and demand are in force as no matter how much they charge, the people were lined up to pay. We all did the mid town/downtown route (for $68 you don’t get uptown) and scoped out the places we wanted to visit. After the bus tour we met cousin Karen Apicella for sushi at a great Japanese restaurant on the waterfront. On Tues we decided to see the Empire State Building and boarded the water taxi for the short ride across the Hudson. While we were discussing how we were going to get there, a woman of about our age offered to guide us to the correct subway station and rode the train with us to the correct stop. She was an actress with a summer home in Maine, and was enthralled with our tales of The Great Loop. She certainly did not fit what our expectations of a New Yorker were. We have met some of the best people everywhere we have been on this adventure.

We met Evelyn & Sid at the Empire State Building, spent an hour at the top and then had lunch with them at Jack Dempsey’s. After lunch we parted company as they wanted to see the Holocaust Museum and we wanted to see South Street Seaport and museum. After the Seaport we stopped at St. Paul’s Chapel, which is NY’s oldest public building in continuous use. George Washington worshipped there, and the 9/11 recovery workers received round- the-clock care there. When we got back to the boat our travelling friends helped us celebrate our wake crossing, which wouldn’t actually take place until tomorrow, when they would be continuing up the Hudson River and we would be going up the East River towards Hell Gate & LI Sound.