Statue of Liberty, Yonkers, Sing Sing, and Haverstraw



Manhattan from the Hudson

Making our way through New York City waterfront to the Hudson River was busy and rocky but after a couple of hours we ran into water like the Tennessee River We had a great time in NYC/Staten Island/Great Kills but it is time to move north along the Hudson River. Henry Hudson was looking for passage to China when he went up the water past NYC—oops! But we find the river charming, calm, wide much like the water we boat on back home. Half Moon Bay at Haverstraw, NY appears to be a great anchorage just off the river about 33 miles upstream from NYC-there we will R&R.

One thing Loopers have to do it take the picture of Lady Liberty with the AGLCA burgee

Statue of Liberty was spectacular from the water

Golf practice range in Manhattan

Yonkers, NY

Sing Sing Prison

Anchorage at Half Moon Bay

Ending up our NYC trip with Motown the Musical on Broadway

Last Day in NYC and we really wanted to take in a Broadway Show. So off to 46th Street to stand in line for half price matinee tickets--there are a lot of good shows on—Beautiful (the story of Carol King and her music), Jersey Boys and Wicked (which we have seen in Nashville), Once, If/Then, The Lion King, etc.. But as many of you know—in my next life I will return as Diana Ross so when they had 2 good tickets for half price for Motown the Musical it won out. It was at one of the old historic theaters—the Lunt-Fontaine—and a beautiful setting for a great show. It was over around 5pm and we walked out into a crowded Broadway. There was Naked Cowboy, an Israeli Rally, and many characters (we especially loved the man with a big cat on his hat). We are sorry to see our New York Stay come to an end—the people are unbelievably friendly and helpful. Great Kills Harbor/Yacht Club is a MUST stop for anyone on the loop. It is very protected water, has great restaurants and most importantly the friendliest people you will ever meet.

In line for Motown

Lunch at the Evergreen before the show

The Lunt-Fontaine Theater



Naked Cowboy was a hoot

Swans on shore at Great Kills

Great Kills Yacht Club

East Village and the rest of the Downtown

East Village, the UN and the Statue of Liberty-- big day planned but we started out with energy. On the bus tour of the city  we went by the UN, China Town and Broadway (again). We missed getting off for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty but we decided that was OK we would get back there. We saw Har Krishna, protesters at the UN, a lot of foreign tourist, and locals that were beautiful and wacky. We didn’t see anyone famous but we saw where Diana Ross, Goldie Hawn, Leona Helmsley, and Mike Tyson live(d). New York seems to be a place in transition with a lot of buildings changing from businesses to condos and ALL of the roads and a lot of the buildings are under some sort of construction. We walked along St. Marks into East Village and the age of the people moved to the younger set (18-30). I thought they all looked like beautiful people that could be potential students/dancers/actors. Terry thought they all looked weird--great people watching. We ate a late brunch at Café Magadar which was down from Clif’s Hot Dogs that Christopher had suggested-it has a phone booth that you go in and dial a number and ask for admittance to the speakeasy in the back—it didn’t open until 6pm  for eats-- we wanted more. Puddin had  yummy desserts—frozen pops and pudding with toppings—another Christopher suggestion. We walked back toward the Statue of Liberty, ran out of energy and just went home. We have one more day.

This beautiful church is across from the WTC and had no damage--it served for 9 months as the base for rescue workers after 9/11

Wall Street--pat the bull's tale for luck

They have museums for everything

Shoegasm?!

One of my favorite store names

The UN

No flags on the poles at the UN because they are not in town

Great little Cafe Magadar for brunch and people watching

Day Two in NYC

We have found everyone here very helpful but it is pretty obvious that all we have to do is open our mouth and we come across as Andy Griffith and Barney Fife. Yesterday when the President was landing near the Ferry, Terry asked the people around us what the ruckus was. They looked at him like he was from Mars—I don’t think they had ever heard of “ruckus”. With a lot of help from people at the dock, the bus stop and the bus driver, we have figured out the bus system and started the morning at Central Park. There we realized this was a big elephant and we had to set some priorities and pace ourselves. Central Park could have taken a day all by itself and after a couple of hours there, we decided to get on one of the local tour buses. High points besides the entire Park area were Times Square, 30 Rock, and Broadway. We returned to the boat exhausted and this is the first time I regret that we don’t have a bath tub in which to soak.


Fitz and Christopher Columbus in Central Park 

Tribute to John Lennon in the Park

The fountain on Friends opening in Central Park

A character in the Park

The Garmant District

The Guggenheim

The Ball in Times Square

Topiary at Rockefeller Center 

Geo. Washington Sq. in Greenwich Village

First Day in NYC

We took the express bus into NYC directly to the World Trade Center this morning. This was the start of a most excellent day/birthday for Terry and me. The 9/11 Memorial was a really good retelling and tribute of the tragedy and #1 on our priority list for sites to visit. Then we went to Wall Street, saw the New York Stock Exchange, Battery Park and Brookfield Park and came home on the Staten Island Ferry. I cannot tell you how friendly everyone has been here--as Katie says, it is ironic because New York is not exactly known for their hospitality. We went back to Marina Café tonight for a little dessert and coffee for a birthday celebration. They remembered us from yesterday's lunch and Christopher (our waiter) wrote down a lot of places we need to visit in East Village which had not been on our radar—we love this place. This is our first birthday with smart phones and on Facebook and I got to say it was so nice to hear from family and so many old friends. We feel the love and know we are the luckiest people in the world.

WTC- now

Loved this sign and the blues represent survivors remembrances of the color of the sky that day

Memorial outside the WTC

These are the steps where George Washington took the oath as 1st President of the US

As in DC--President Obama flew in to welcome us to the city

New York City

We woke up this morning in Bay Head, NJ to storms that the weather people promised would clear out by 10am. The sources for ocean conditions differed greatly and were iffy at best. A big consideration here was that this morning looked to be the best time to make the run from Manasquan, NJ, past Sandy Hook, NY and into NYC (in our case Staten Island and Great Kills Yacht Club-41 miles). Conditions would not improve until Sunday—we made the decision to make a try and if the seas were too rocky we could turn around and anchor in the Manasquan Inlet until the seas calm. We went out the Inlet around 10am, and saw the first dolphin we had seen since North Carolina—a sign. We had a little rock, a little rain, very little traffic—by 2pm we were tied up at Great Kills and were helped by the friendliest locals we have met on the trip. Easy part—they are all named John! The plan is to ride the Express Bus from this yacht club to Manhattan and other sites---there is a marina in downtown NYC but the cost is more than double and has a reputation for being rocky. We might go there for one night but we are going to try it this way for now.


Bay Head Yacht Club

Morning on the Pt. Pleasant Canal heading to the Manasquan Inlet

Sandy Hook, New Jersey

Great Kills Harbor--our home for a few days to see NYC

Friendliest locals we have met--John, John and John

Northern New Jersey

After a windy, stormy night at anchor outside Atlantic City we hit the ICW early to make our way to northern New Jersey in preparation to go into New York. The outside was just too rocky and the ICW- if you timed the tides and current right—was looking like a smooth, fast ride. Before we had gone 2 hours, we had the return of an old enemy—the biting horse fly. Of course, they LOVE the Captain and we spent a few hours killing flies—we had not seen them since the low country of South Carolina. After a six hour cruise, we headed to an anchorage at the end of the ICW (about 35 miles from New York) and a storm started building with big wind. Well, all our sources said there was an anchorage at Bay Head, NJ but we didn’t see it and we could not reach any people around at the yacht clubs on the phone or radio. Soooo….we pulled into Bay Head Yacht Club, tied up and went to find someone to ask—apparently the anchorage is gone but the yacht club let us stay there and plug in—the storm blew in and we held tight. We passed a lot of places that were damaged severely by Hurricane Sandy (Oct. 2012) and this place was one of the hardest hit.

A lot of kids sailing camps along this stretch of the ICW

A lot of Hurricane Sandy damage

Fly graveyard

Leaving Atlantic City --we had fun here