Mike's 50th - Gulf Coast, WDW and New York, June 2014 - Part 13 - New York Day 2

[Mike Jones]

DAY 13

Thursday 19th June

I awake at 6:00 after a reasonable night. Leaving Amanda to doze, I leave the hotel and walk round to the rear of the block where I remember there is a small grocery store, to buy some bottled water. On the corner of the street there's a homeless guy asleep (or dead!) under a pile of cardboard and rubbish next to the waste bins, with his legs sticking out onto the sidewalk. Not a comfortable thing to see next to a luxury hotel. Poor bloke. I won't photograph something like that.

A few yards away is something I am happy to share- anyone fancy parking their bike on this street, take note!

Back up to the room, I iron a couple of things that have been badly creased by the numerous packing/unpackings and we both get showered and dressed. It's 7:30 as we leave the hotel and head south down 9th avenue to the northern end of the Highline at W30th St. It's warm but overcast this morning.

It's lovely to walk the Highline again. It has matured a lot in the 2 years since we were here last, and there's an incredible amount of construction work in the area. It does look like the northern extension to the park is making some progress too.

 

[Mike Jones]

I like being here in the early morning, before it gets busy, although the atmosphere when the stalls and food carts are open later in the day is great.

Leaving the Highline at its southern end we head on into the West Village looking for the Hudson Diner. We stumbled across this on a similar walk last time, and thought we knew where it was..... apparently not! I use some valuable data allowance and we find it approximately 1/3 mile further down the road than we remembered.

It's 9:00am now: we have walked about 3 miles and we're HUNGRY! The cafe is fairly busy but there is room both inside and on the sidewalk area. We elect to sit outside.

Amanda goes healthy, with a fresh fruit salad and bagel. I'm not so angelic, and have the Lumberjack breakfast - French toast, 2 eggs and bacon. We both have orange juice and coffee.

We take our time and relax, watching New Yorkers heading to work. (Although I waited for an empty street to take this pic!)

At 9:40 we pay up ($25) and continue down Hudson Street towards the business district and our next objective, Brooklyn Bridge, a couple of miles away. The Freedom Tower dominates the skyline.

We cross the bridge and take the usual photos! Pity it's grey today, but the views are still amazing.

 

[Mike Jones]

At the Brooklyn end we walk down into DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), the former industrial, warehouse district that has now become a trendy, residential and artistic quarter. We wander the quiet (well, apart from the noise of construction work) streets and riverside park areas before making our way back up onto the bridge and returning to Manhattan.

The River Café, where we ate on Amanda’s 40th in 2012, now looking good after it was wrecked in the hurricane and just recently repaired and reopened.

Spotted this ultra-patriotic cement mixer!

Sad views over the devastated South Street Seaport area…

A Bon Jovi reference for fan(atic)s!

Our destination is Wooster Street, off Canal, to meet our friends at their apartment. We arrive at 11:45. (Miles walked so far today, approximately 9.)

Hayley and Dave have been shopping for our planned picnic on Governors Island. I have brought my Cabin Zero backpack (with a change of clothes for later) and we load it up with a veritable feast, plus a couple of beers and a bottle of fizz. It's just 12:00 when we leave the apartment to walk the 1.5 miles down to the ferry terminal. There's some interesting flotsam washed up along the river bank! Residue from last year's storms we think.

South Street Seaport, one of our favourite places in NY has been completely devastated by the storm and is undergoing complete renovation. The construction work is on an epic scale. Very sad to see the place like this, but hopefully the future version will be stunning. Another reason to come back!

It is drizzling slightly - perfect UK picnic conditions, so we're fine - but warm. We reach the imposing ferry terminal for Governors Island about 12:45. There's a security check - a very pleasant lady who "just wants to make sure you haven't got any alcohol in your picnic bag" and who clearly (fortunately) needs to visit an optician, as she fails to spot the two large bottles of beer and the bottle of champagne in my backpack!

We climb aboard the ferry after paying our $2 fare, and enjoy the pleasant but very short trip across to the Island.

 

[Mike Jones]

Governors island has been many things, initially a military fort, and barracks, and later a prison. We stroll through the attractive 'park' past lovely but neglected and mostly empty period houses....

.... to a large meadow, where there are some bright red chairs under a large maple tree. Perfect for our purpose, especially as the rain has got heavier, but we are completely sheltered under the canopy.

We spend a couple of hours nibbling, drinking and chatting, keeping an eye out for the park police!

At 2:15 we pack the remnants away and continue our exploration of the island, walking across to Fort William,

There are some amazing views of Manhattan.

By 3:15 the rain has stopped and it remains warm and pleasant. We head back to the dock and take the 3:30 ferry back to the Terminal. Time for a drink!

We head into the old district around South Street.

With all the reconstruction a lot of the bars and restaurants are closed but there's a lovely pop-up bar with outside seating and a lawned green called the Ambrose Beer Garden. We sit at a high bar table and order drinks - Sam Adams for me and vodka Red Bull for Dave. They don't serve fizz here, so I head across into the main building to buy the girls some champagne. England are busy losing to Uruguay on the bar tv!

 

[Mike Jones]

We enjoy another couple of drinks and then hail a cab on a nearby corner to take us back to Wooster Street at about 5:30, where everyone showers and changes for our posh nosh later.

Don’t we scrub up nice?

It's more than a walk to Delmonicos, and our efforts to hail a cab fail miserably, so we head down into the subway. Some fun and games ensue, when we lose tickets and haven't small enough notes to but more, but we need up on the platform eventually, after a slightly illegal use of the emergency exit!

We arrive at Delmonicos right in time at 7:30. This is a respected and mildly historic establishment, dating back to the early 1800s. Tonight's meal is a birthday treat from our friends who have raved about the place for years.

It's very busy but we have reservations and are seated immediately. There follows a superb steak dinner with various cocktails and scrumptious desserts! (Apologies for the quality of the images, the light was fairly low! And alcohol was consumed, which tends to affect my skill levels!)

I am surprised to get an extra dessert as a birthday cake!

At 9:45 we walk through into their cocktail bar…

.. and spend the next 90 minutes testing the quality of the beverages on offer. The laydees are back on Cosmos…. this was taken after a couple!

One hell of a civilised evening!

At 11:15 we call it a night. Dave and the girls head for the street while I settle the bar bill. I turn at the sound of some commotion, to witness Hayley doing a pretty good job of forcing the revolving door open the wrong way, to the consternation of a waitress who is trying to stop her! Dave and Amanda are already outside, and as Amanda turns to see what all the fuss is, she steps back and stumbles off the kerb, cutting her ankle and opposing shin! (As I type this, 4.5 weeks later, one of the cuts still hasn't completely healed and there is still some slight swelling!)

The alcohol consumed earlier acts as a pretty good pain reliever, and without further drama we get a cab back to the flat, where we collect our gear and bid our friends goodnight. We take another cab back to the hotel ($15.50) and are tucked up I. Bed just after midnight.

A pretty damn good day, cut shins apart! Miles walked today, approx 12. Drinks consumed.. about the same!

Goodnight!

Mike and Amanda x

TOMORROW - Central Park, Guggenheim, lunch meet with mates, Maragaritas, West Village dinner and Irish Bar nightcap.

 

[pampat]

Thanks again, Mike, for the excellent trippie and for ideas for our next trip to NY.

Pam