New York Reprise

Matt & I got engaged in New York 4.5 years ago. We came in December for four and a half days, stayed with my wonderful cousin Leslie and her kids and walked and walked and walked. We saw just about every site there was to see. It was just before Christmas and the tree was up, ice skating was in full force, there were lights and decorations everywhere. We loved it.

2007

We had just Saturday evening and Sunday in New York this time, but knew that we wanted to make the most of it. Instead of hitting the ‘sites’ like last time, we wanted to take this trip to experience the neighborhoods. We walked Hells Kitchen, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, the Tenderloin, Meatpacking District, SoHo, probably more.

Room with a view

My #1 and only thing that I wanted and had to do on NY this trip was to see Highline Park. I can’t remember where I first heard about it, but had seen numerous articles and pictures about this 2 mile long park that was recently built, a transformed raised railroad from the 1920’s. We actually stumbled upon it while on our way to dinner the first night (Gramercy Tavern, great) and ended up walking the entire length. It was just as cool as I had imagined. I’ll let the pictures do the talking, but we discovered it was actually a much faster way to get across town than walking on the streets that had stoplights, so we did it again the next morning.

found an unsuspecting walker to take our picture

Our favorite memory from our first trip (besides the getting engaged piece) was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge on a crisp blue-bird day. So after stopping at Magnolia Bakery in Greenwich (yum) we caught the subway over to Brooklyn and walked our way back to Manhattan. The NY subways is spectacular (not because of anything attractive about it) but for its speed, convenience and ubiquity. The bridge was still a favorite the second time around.

Washington Square Park

Freedom Tower, in progress

We met my cousin Leslie and her unbelievably cute children at Central Park for lunch. We were trying to eat at the Boathouse, which is right on the pond but the wait was insanely long, and Matt & I had to check out of our hotel. We ended up grabbing some take out from the café and eating on a rock. The view was just as splendid. Matt & I indulged while waiting for them to arrive, and grabbed one of the sooooo cute rowboats. Classic tourist, but we had a great time.

Sophie, Leslie, Harrison, me

Wrapped up with a stroll through the Hells Kitchen Flea Market

I loved New York at Christmas time but it truly felt like a different place in June with the weather warm and everything green. Glad we went back. It was a fantastic week on the East Coast – revisiting New York, and putting quite a few new states and towns under our belt.

Week on the Chesapeake: Part 2

Wednesday and Thursday we were ‘on the hook’ or ‘anchored out’. We didn’t stay in marinas and weren’t near any towns. We stopped in Fairgale cove (or something along those lines) and then on the Sassafras River the next night.  Matt and I had a great time taking the dinghy out for a spin after work both evenings with a beer in hand to explore some of the smaller waterways, chase wildlife, and relax. One night was extremely calm and windless and we ate dinner on the bow and stayed out there sipping wine until almost 11. Every night we ate outside, though usually on the protected sundeck. One afternoon my mom took Matt in to shore on the dinghy, where he went for a run and them came back for a swim.

Home for the week

Matt 'helped' my Dad in the engine room

 

Friday we left Chesapeake Bay and made our way 13 miles through the C&D canal (Chesapeake and Delware) to the far end right where it meets Delaware Bay. We stayed at a great little marina in Delaware City that night. Delaware City is truly nothing to write home about, but had its share of great old houses just like each of the towns we stopped in throughout the week and also very friendly locals. The marina we stayed at had some kayaks laying around which they kindly allowed us to borrow (never hurts to ask!) so the four of us made our way up a side channel, to a smaller side channel, not going very far or fast but enjoying being out in the sun and a bit closer to the water.

Matt driving the boat

shallow

Throughout the week we feasted on delicious seafood, mostly crab – of both the crabcake and the softshell variety. The Chesapeake is well known for its crabs, and it was the right season for softshell crabs, which are caught only in the 24 period in which they molt, and you eat the entire thing (no shelling). Yum yum. The towns were charming, the scenery wonderful, and the trip all around relaxing. We had a great time getting caught up with my parents, seeing what their life was like this year, and they did everything possible to make it seem like vacation for us despite the fact that we had to work – we hardly touched a dish all week!

Saturday afternoon after kayaking we took a short taxi ride to Wilmington, Delaware, where we caught an Amtrak train up to NYC to wrap up the weekend. The train went 100mph and had us in NYC in under two hours – fantastic! To be continued…