Walking the new East Midtown Greenway

 

We were already in the city, on 5th avenue and 20th. 

So we took the 6 train to 59th street and walked east and south to get to 54th street to the East River Esplanade. 

This put us on the new pedestrian bridge over the FDR drive.

Then we headed north. 

We got all the way to East 84th street, but did have to venture a block inland a few times.

Then we headed to the Q train which we took to Herald Square, and took the PATH train home.

We found that rooftop bar!

Heading! 

For  a few years now we've been trying to re-find a rooftop bar that we'd stumbled across in maybe 2017 or 2018. 
Today, while looking for the collapsed parking garage on Ann Street, we found it.
Terrance Bar
Golen Hill Plaze
It's on Gold and Platt

23-08-20 Southstreet Seaport Sailing on the East River

Launch and Learn August 20 was:
History on  the Hudson

Zach was in charge. The historian was Stefan.

We arrived to find a group of Asian teens dancing and being filmed in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Then we enjoyed a light lunch at Mister Dips.

Then we boarded at 3:45 for a 4 to 6 sail. Stunning day. Stefan was great.

 

Stefan Dreisbach-Williams is a native of Staten Island and public historian of New York Harbor, its estuary, and its maritime network. He is Archivist for the Seamen’s Church Institute; Collections Specialist for the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook, Brooklyn; Caretaker for the 1661 Bowne House in Flushing; and a member of the volunteer crew restoring Robbins Reef lighthouse. He has also worked on the water at the National Canal Museum in Easton, PA, and the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle.

23-07-28 New directions to Bronx Zoo

 

1. Type this into google maps: Bronx Zoo Entrance
2. It will show you some entrances
3. We usually map out our trip to West Farms Square E. Tremont Avenue which is the Asia Gate
4. Today we are going to budgie landing which is near butterfly garden and bug carousel
5. So choose entrance A for Asia Gate

It's about a ten minute walk from the E. Tremont Avenue stop to the Asia Gate, which is Entrance A.

For Budgie Landing, we got there by 1, which is good because the budgies were already getting full and tired. 

It's hot in the budgie tent. 

After the Budgies, we went to the Butterfly Garden. They said they recently got a few dozen monarchs but most didn't survive. They think they were damaged in teh shipping.

We saw about a fourth of the zoo, mostly the southwest corner.

City hiking

You don’t technically have to leave the city to find a scenic hiking spot—simply take the 1 train to the end of the line, hop out near Van Cortlandt Park, and find the trail you want to take. There are a few within the park: The Putnam Trail is a 1.5-mile loop that’s billed as “the perfect place to begin hiking” at Van Cortlandt, according to the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, thanks to its relatively easy terrain. Those in search of a bigger challenge can try the 1.5-mile John Muir Trail, which traverses the park from east to west and covers some relatively steep terrain.

How to get there: Take the 1 to Van Cortlandt Park-242 Street and follow the signs for the trails. The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park also has specific directions for each trail; depending on the trailhead, you might have to take a bus to get to the starting point.

Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Inflation in 2021

 

On Wednesday November 24, the day before Thanksgiving, Dwight, Maddie, Mike and I all took the PATH train to 33rd and then the B train to 72nd Street.

Some key points

1. Upon exit from 72nd Street, walked one block to Columbus, and then we were right where we needed to be, on line for seeing the balloons, at Columbus and 72nd. Even coming out of that subway station we already could see there were crowds but it was fine
2. The line was set up so there were several stations where we could show our vaccination proof
3. After we were let in to the line, it wound around several times up and down Central Park West, and was never packed with people.
4. We walked for a good half hour on the winding line before we were allowed to get onto 77th, where the balloons were. So from the subway to where the balloons were was 45 minutes
5. We walked 77th west to Columbus Avenue. Along there was where we saw more than half the balloons we were going to see
6. There were never big crowds. We could see everything and could get good photo ops.
7. Then a short hop up Columbus Avenue, and then we headed east on 81st, where there were more balloons
8. We had emerged from the subway around 2pm which was perfect because many balloons were already inflated, some were being inflated which was fun to watch, and a few were not yet inflated.
9. We might have spent less time if more balloons had been inflated already. Even forty-five minutes can be enough to have a great time
10. We spent about an hour and a half looking at balloons. It was an excellent day with perfect 50 degree weather and no wind, and the people in charge of the inflation did a great job organizing everybody. Maybe because pandemic but hopefully it will be this good every year.
11. Then we took the B train from 81st to Little Korea to eat out at Love Korean Barbecue. We were early for meeting up with Marcy for our 5 pm reservation so we wandered around Macy's first.
12. At Love Korean BBQ, we were seated on their ground level floor instead of downstairs. The music was too loud, but we had a great time.

How we put up our lights in 2021

 

We bought some cheap lights from Shoprite and scotch taped them to the window.