Date: June 23, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 69
From: Liberty Landing Marina, Jersey City, NJ
To: Liberty Landing Marina, Jersey City, NJ
Statute Miles: 0.0
Time: 0.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 1,778.5 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
It was across the River and into the City today to pound the pavement and see what Lower Manhattan was all about. We rode the ferry over to the Financial Center from our Marina. Very convenient. The Financial Center is home to American Express and the Mercantile Mart. It has a huge Greenhouse type structure called the "Winter Garden" that we built and then restored after it was heavily damaged by the collapsing World Trade Center buildings. The Financial Center is across the street from the WTC site.
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| Ferry from Liberty Landing at the Financial Center |
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| Lady Liberty from the Financial Center |
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| Our marina is up this canal in Jersey City |
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| Street Festival next to the Financial Center |
We crossed the busy street on a pedestrian bridge with a gazillion steps. This brought us into the sidewalk next to the Freedom Tower construction and the new transportation center for the subways and PATH trains that we are managing construction on for the Port Authority. The Freedom Center is a big ole building. The spire is in place and the curtain wall looks to be mostly complete. Work is still progressing on the project, obviously.
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| Company from which I retired is building the Transportation Center at the WTC Site |
Next we tried to find the World Trade Center Memorial with the fountains on the site of the original buildings. It is the best kept secret in New York! It is hard to find and the entrance is several blocks from the actual site. Maybe next time!
We then walked down Wall Street and the Financial District. I tried to find some of the investment money that I have lost in the last month and a half, but the guard wouldn't let me in the Stock Exchange!
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| Trying to find my lost investments! |
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| Susan at Broadway and Cedar in New York City |
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| Wall Street |
We kept walking to the East River and the South Street Seaport next to Fulton Street (Fulton Fish Market) and the Brooklyn Bridge. Lower Manhattan was packed with tourists and residents enjoying the beautiful day. We stopped at The Seaport for a drink and snack in the air conditioned mall. That felt good!
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| Thank goodness it was Sunday and Tiffany's was closed! |
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| The Brooklyn Bridge in the background |
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| Old Clipper ship at the South Street Seaport |
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| Old Lightship. We came across Ambrose Light yesterday and it was VERY rough! |
We walked back up Fulton Street to Broadway and saw St. Paul's Church where the 9/11 relief was staged. It is under renovation.
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| Freedom Tower Spire and St. Paul's Spire: The new and the old! |
We then decided to find Little Italy. It is a 10 or 12 block hike up Broadway, so we started out. We passed a beautiful park in front of City Hall and saw City Hall itself. I wonder if this park was part of the Occupation last year?
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| Park in front of City Hall |
Soon we got to Canal Street and turned East. I think this street borders Chinatown as we saw a lot of Oriental stores with writing that we couldn't read. There were a ton of street vendors and shops along Canal Street.
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| Interesting sidewalk display |
When we got to Mulberry Street, we turned North and entered Little Italy. Italian Restaurants by the dozens, most with sidewalk seating and employees on the street hawking the virtues of the establishment. They all looked good. We walked several blocks up Mulberry and just picked a place that had pizza. The name of the place was The Mulberry Bar.
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| Mulberry Street in Little Italy |
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| The Mulberry Bar, 176-1/2 Mulberry Street |
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| R.I.P James Gandolfino |
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| Scene inside the Bar |
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| A "Regular" ponders life on a Sunday afternoon! |
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| Huge Mural on the wall |
We noticed a big picture of the recently deceased actor James Gandolfino on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant as we went in. We ordered drinks and asked the waitress about the picture. She produced a long list of TV shows and movies that had been filmed in this restaurant, and several parts of the Sopranos series had been filmed here, as had The Godfather!
After Pizza, wine, and beer, we went next door to a pastry bakery called Cafe' Roma for some great cheesecake. It was very good.
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| Cafe' Roma |
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| The Bakery |
We then walked what seemed like miles from Little Italy to the Financial Center and caught the ferry back to the Marina and our boat.
We have decided to spend another day here at Liberty Landing. Tomorrow we will go back into the City and try to see midtown Manhattan. Susan has never been to New York City, and she is enjoying the sight seeing. While this marina is very expensive as marinas go, it is still cheaper than a good hotel room up here, and staying on the boat is a reasonable alternative. So, we will make the most of it!
Thanks for Reading!
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