21 Sep 16

Somehow, we managed to sleep in until well after 08:00, but then got up to a clear-ish, calm, warm day. After breakfast, we spent 2 hours cleaning the entire exterior of the boat; the first good cleaning it has had since Maine. Engine on at 13:00, and we were away immediately to catch the start of the ebb on the East River. We motored stately down the East River, through Throgs Neck Bridge, Bronx-Whiteside Bridge, Hell Gate Bridge, Tri-Borough Bridge, Hell Gate, Roosevelt Island Lift Bridge (we could only go through the East Channel because the West Channel - between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan Island - was closed due to the UN General Assembly), then the Queensboro Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge and finally the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, arriving just after the closure of the river at the Wall Street Heliport ended at 15:30 (I guess some foreign dignitary was flying in or out). Then, it was just a matter of dodging the numerous East River, Staten Island and Hudson River ferries to get across the Hudson River to Jersey City and Liberty Landing Marina, directly opposite the new World Trade Center One Building - in your face Al Quaeda; you may have knocked down WTC 1 and 2, but the buildings and the memorial that replaced them are way better.  Liberty Landing is an awesome marina; on the other hand, it should be at $4.00/ft. But, $180 per night is a pretty economic price for a view of Manhattan Island; and we can just see the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

40-42.591’N, 074-02.480’W

22 Sep 16

We were up at our normal time - 08:00-ish - and managed to catch the 10:00 ferry from Liberty Landing over to Manhattan. From there, we got the #4 Metro up to 86th Street and went straight to the Neue Galerie to see the Klimt exhibition, featuring the “Woman in Gold”, which was fantastic. The whole exhibition was really good. After a quick lunch at a classic New York eatery - The New Amity Restaurant - we walked south via Central Park all the way to 43rd Street and visited the Morgan (as in J.P.) Library. Apparently, he had quite a lot of money back in the day, and used a lot of it to acquire a huge collection of books and antiquities; it was a fascinating collection and well worth a visit when you are in the Big Apple. Then, we met our nephew Jake, who happens to be in town on a fact-gathering mission regarding his company’s plans for developing a mixed-use plot on the east side of Houston. We met at the Standard Beer Garden, which is located under an old elevated train line that has been turned into a brilliant park facility. After a couple of beers and a walk along the above-mentioned park, we parted company and grabbed a taxi back to the ferry terminal. We had an omelette for dinner and just as we were sitting down to eat, an excellent fireworks display erupted at the end of Liberty Park, right next to the boat. This was, at least in our opinion, apparently to celebrate the life of Anne Logan, mother of our dear friend Laurie, who sadly passed away late this afternoon. Life well-lived; long rest, Anne.