Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): June 10

New York City & Subways

Liberty Landing Marina

“People never forget two things, their first love and their first day in New York City.” – Anonymous

Last night's anchorage was much better and we had a chance to catch up on sleep. Our friends decided to move up to Croton on Hudson since they've seen most of the sites in New York City already and we moved our boat to Liberty Landing Marina. It is one of the only marinas in the area that doesn't have a problem with wakes from all the traffic on the river. We called this morning and were able to check in early. We were tied up and ready for sightseeing by 10:30. We rode our bikes to the PATH station and got the train (subway) that runs under the Hudson River to the World Trade Center. From there we walked a few blocks to a subway entrance (they call them trains here) to catch a train to Brooklyn. Brooklyn has a large Flea/Food Market every Sunday in East River State Park. It was fun being in Brooklyn, lots of little shops and people wandering around everywhere. The smells from the restaurants and bakeries were wonderful, and the sounds of different languages, the traffic and horns from the ferries made it a great experience.

After Brooklyn we decided to go to Central Park. We had to transfer to several different trains to connect with one that took us uptown to the park. We haven't seen a lot of NYC yet, but we're getting very familiar with the underground. The park was very busy since it was a beautiful day in the mid 80s. We walked around and then spent a little time relaxing and watching people. The park is a beautiful oasis in this bustling city. After the park we had to transfer several times to get a train downtown to the World Trade Center and catch the PATH back to Jersey City. What a day...it felt great to be back on the boat enjoying the view from the flybridge.

The best part of the day was dinner at the Liberty House, at the end of the marina. They have a view of Lower Manhattan that can't be beat. We sat outside and watched the reflection of the sunset glisten off the buildings across the river. Our meals were just as wonderful as the view. Stan enjoyed coffee as we sat at one of their fire pits and soaked in a little more of that amazing view. We walked along the river in Liberty Park before returning to the boat. We had a fun day exploring some of New York, but the climax to the day was a fantastic fireworks show that was set up on the lawn of Liberty House. We had a great view from the boat. It looked like it was a private show set up for someone having a party at the restaurant. It felt like it was our private show!

One more shot of the Lady on our way by this morning