New York and Hudson River

We have a glimpse of the NYC and the Statue of Liberty.

Now we are off to New York City. We are a bit leery of our last adventure on the Atlantic Ocean. We deciced on the day of if we were crossing the twenty two miles of open seas. It looked daunting but the waves were not crashing. We measure our rough days by how many bells we hear. There is a bell under the captain's seat. It didn't ring once. It was all swells. Quite a nice crossing. We watched miles and miles of New Jersey shore. So much beach!

Miles before we arrive, we were greeted by the New York skyline. What a sight! Not long after we turned at Sandy Hook, we could see the Statue of Liberty. She is hard to miss. To think that so many people were greeted by her on their arrival to America. First you see the Verrazano Bridge. It looks like the San Francisco bridge. It is a double decker bridge. When it was built in 1959, it was the largest suspension bridge. It has 13 lanes, seven on top and six on the bottom. Now it is the eight largest in the world. Once you pass under the bridge, the flood gates open. What a sight! Boat traffic and air traffic of all kinds, at all speeds. Buildings of all sizes and shapes and colors. Being in our boat makes all those buildings appear so much bigger.

We drove our boat by the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island. It is quite a sight up close and it was the highlight of our Loop. We were lucky that it wasn't too busy and we had two other boats with us so we could get this amazing shot.

We proceeded to our marina across from Manhattan. Now we were just a quick water taxi ride there from the Big Apple. We met several Loopers at the marina. Not too much time to socialize as we were there for some serious touristy stuff. First we have to celebrate our ninth month on the Loop.

We started early in the morning with a quick walk thru a mall on our way to the 9/11 Memorial site. The Memorial is beautiful but it was a very somber experience.

We walked around and decided to take the HopOn-HopOff Bus. It's a quick way to see the city highlights. That is all the time we had.

We saw Battery Park, the United Nations Headquarters and Brooklyn Bridge. It has been converted into a walking bridge. We didn't have energy for that.

We wanted to see the Waldorf Astoria Hotel but it is closed down for two years. We got a glimpse of it's size and a window.

We walked thru Central Park and rested our feet by watching a softball game instead of sleeping on a park bench. I found the park nice but smaller then I imagined it to be. It is quite impressive to see all that green space inside the city.

We continued our walk to Time Square and saw so many giant tv screens. We walked on Broadway and looked at the many plays playing but reminded ourselves that we only had two days.

We also went to Macy and got a bit of shopping in. It is really a huge store. We continued onto the Empire State Building. We planned on going to the top but it was pouring rain by then. We would not have had a view.

We returned downtown to see the 9/11 Museum. When we arrived we were soaked and the outside lineup was long. We decided to walk thru the Mall and return to the water taxi. We missed out on some sights but we got a taste of it. Yvon had a New York hotdog and I had lunch at Pret. And we snacked on a Belgium waffle. We felt we had a taste of New York. Hope to return one day. But we talked to another tourist who said she drove two miles in two hours. That does not appeal to us. Now we are off up the Hudson River. It was a bit nerve wracking and quite the experience as when we left the city. So many ferries and water taxies. Can't believe how many people go to work by ferry.

We travelled up the Hudson. It is rated on of top 20 places to see by National Geographic. It did not disappoint. We following the commuter trains on the right and freight trains on the left. The marina on our first stop is next to the train tracks. We also ride by Rockefeller estate, by Sing Sing prison and th West Point Academy.

Our first stop was Newburgh. Lots of restaurants on the waterfront. Unfortunately, the downtown is up this step hill. After a long day on the water, climbing the hill seemed too daunting. It is a 19th century seaport for whaling ships.

Our second stop was in Catskill. Catskill was home to the icehouse industry in the 19th century. They shipped natural ice cakes measuring 22x32 inches all the way to India and the Caribbean. This contunued until the invention of artificial ice.

Catskill was also home to Uncle Sam from 1817 to 1823. Interesting fact if you are an army person.

It was a great stop. We could walk to Walmart or downtown. We chose Walmart. It was an easy walk, then we returned by taxi. Now we are off to the Erie Canal. It will be interesting and I will save the details for our next blog. Here is our journey so far. The loop is nearing its completion.

While we were in New York, Philip Roth a famous American writer died. Here is his quote: "Writing is frustration—it's daily frustration, not to mention humiliation. It's just like baseball: you fail two-thirds of the time."