Port Washington - Monday

Monday July 8, 2013

Today we went into Manhattan for the day.

Ahh... A real newspaper

I got up at 7 AM and started the generator to run up the batteries because we expected to be away all day. The water taxi picked us up at 8:30 PM and the batteries were at 83%. We walked up to the Port Washington Long Island Railroad station and caught the 9:11 AM express to Penn Station.

Our only agenda was to eat our way around the city. We walked over to Times Square from Penn Station and checked into the "Brooklyn Diner" for a light "second breakfast". Table cloths and waiters in formal gear and real coffee. Not what we had expected, but nice.

We then walked over to Grand Central Terminal. We were thinking about buying a NY Times, finding a table and enjoying a cup off coffee. It was not to be, just too busy, so after taking in the crowds we found the subway and headed down town to the old World Trade Center area. We had seen the new "Freedom Tower" from the water but wanted to see how the ground level was being developed and if the surrounding buildings had been repaired or town down.

Grand Central Terminal

There was not much to see - its still a construction site and the area was super busy. We grabbed a drink and a danish and headed back to the subway.

Not more stairs!!!

We were looking for a fun place for late lunch so we headed up the "C" train to the upper west side, alighting at the natural History Museum (W81st) and walked over to Columbus and found an open air restaurant. Lunch was good, but hot and noisy. We were both a bit worn and Deidre's ankle was doing its thing. So back in the subway to Penn Station and the 4:11 express to Port Washington. We were back on the boat by 6PM.

We were both impressed with Manhattan. So much cleaner and better organized than when we lived there in 1976. My goodness there are a lot of people on that island.