Biking the Island

View from Bayonne Bridge Between New Jersey and Staten Island

Mark and I rode our bikes from our apartment in Newport south through Liberty State Park, through the southern section of Jersey City, into Bayonne (Nancy works there 3 days per week) and across a huge bridge to Staten Island.  Once on Staten Island, we wound our way from the bridge up to where the Staten Island ferry crosses to Manhattan (it's free!).  We rode it over to Manhattan, and then biked up to the World Trade Center PATH station.  It was extremely crowded -- tourists everywhere!  The day was hot, the 20-mile ride a bit grueling, and I had a bit of bridge-a-phobia while crossing the Bayonne Bridge, but all-in-all, it felt good to get out for a challenging bike ride, and to get over to Staten Island.  Click >HERE< to see our route.

Julia Days

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                      Click to play

We take care of Julia (John and Nancy's little girl) Monday through Thursday.  She is turning 6 months old.  She's a very happy baby and fun to care for.  We laugh, play, sing, and go for long walks.  This slide show gives you a sampling of how we spend our days.

Meet the Parents

Natalie, Phil and Sue Cole

Well, after 7-1/2 years of Dan and Natalie dating, we finally met Natalie's mom and dad.  We went out for lunch (Heartland Brewery on 42nd), saw "Wicked" at the Gershwin Theater on 50th, and went out for dinner at Nizza.  We had fabulous seats for the show:  6th row center.  We thoroughly enjoyed the show.  Natalie's mom and dad are great; interesting and good conversationalists.  It was a really great day.

Friday in Manattan

Mark and I went into Manhattan today.  We shopped at Fishs Eddy, a really cool housewares store at 19th and Broadway.  While we were in the area, we saw this stunning sculpture in Madison Square Park.  Every summer they feature a different installation.  This sculpture was translucent.  There's so much great public art in NYC.

Then we went down to lower Manhattan to look at bikes at Adeline Adeline.  They specialize in bikes for women, and they had some cool bikes and accessories (but very expensive!).  Then we headed over to the Lower East Side to meet Dan and Natalie for dinner at Kuma Inn, a Filipino Tapas Bar.  Dan selected eight different plates for us to share, including four gluten-free options, and they were delicious.

Finally, we headed over to TeddyBoy, a custom suit shop, to get a suit made for Dan for the wedding.  It was a super-cool place; unfortunately, the guy who specializes in suit design wasn't there, so we made an appointment for Sunday, July 3rd.

All in all, a great day in the City.

Family Time

Banana Split in Rockefeller Center

My brother, Ed, and his wife, Sheila, came to New York on Saturday, June 18th and will be spending a week with us.  Mark and I drove to LaGuardia Airport to pick them up.  Even though the airport is only 15 miles away, it took us 80 minutes to get there.  The problem is crossing Manhattan. Even at the lower part of the island (where we crossed), the traffic is crazy!  But we got a tortoise-eye view of Chinatown (both ways).

We took it easy for most of the day.  Travel is tiring!  John, Nancy and Julia came over (walked along the waterfront from their apartment to ours, which is about 1-1/2 miles).  Had a nice visit.  We went our for dinner to celebrate Sheila's birthday at Bertucci's, an Italian restaurant that's just 2 blocks from our apartment.  And we were able to use the gift certificate I received as a retirement gift.

On Sunday, we went to Rockefeller Center.  There are some amazing sculptures in this complex!  It was a hot day, so we stopped in the outdoor cafe.  Sheila and I had pina coladas and Ed ordered a banana split.  A great way to spend a summer day.

Moon Over Mahattan

By the light of the moon

The full moon rose over the Hudson.  Started out as an orange orb, then whitened as it rose above the buildings. A tall 3-masted ship sailed by.  Wonderful.

River View

The Hudson River has been providing us with wonderful entertainment.  We look out our front window and see huge cruise ships, tour boats, sailboats (large and small), yachts, kayaks, and even paddleboarders.  And of course, the ferries.  I love how the ferries always seem to be hustling along:  to Hoboken, to 39th Street, and to the World Financial Center, among other places. There's a ferry landing right in front of our building, and  Mark and I have a made a game of counting how many people get on and off.

The river is a mile wide at this point, and we love using our binoculars to watch the boats and to look at the buildings in Manhattan.  Google has been helpful to us in identifying some of the buildings.  We are directly across from Canal Street, but can see down to Battery Park to the south and up to the Empire State Building to the north.  Using one of the mirrors our landlord placed by the window, we are able to see all the way up to the George Washington Bridge.