Day 39: New York City

A rainy morning and very cool. Cloud low, so no point going up the Empire State Building. What to do today??

We catch the 0930 ferry and stop at a restaurant near the Manhattan-side terminal. I have cunningly neglected to have Cornies for breakfast, so am able to have a plate of pastrami hash with eggs (sunny side) on top. The others decide it's time for brunch.

Despite our misgivings about the cloud, we catch a Yellow Taxi to the Empire State Building only to find we've lost our bet... the staff advise there's no view from the top.

Heigh-ho... we head off up 5th Ave on our toes while some of us window shop for some required garments. Jan gets a nice beanie. We get to Grand Central Terminal, but any enthusiasm to be there has dissipated, so after a cursory look by the others (and not before Lorraine has been sufficiently impressed--as were Colette and I six years ago--and shares a few images for the blog), we soon head off to Times Square to check on late tickets to a Broadway matinee. We score these in separate 2-seat locations to the musical The Great Gatsby in the Broadway Theatre.

The theatre disgorges us in time to catch another Yellow Cab (we're not sufficiently au fait with the subway system to find our way back under the river on a PATH train and then Uber back to the marina) and we get to the ferry terminal area in time for a meal at our 'brunch restaurant' before catching the last ferry to the marina. En-route, the taxi dashboard screen is telling us the outside temp is 51 deg F (10-11 C). We've had one extra day here due to the delay ahead on the Erie Canal. I got the third night free, thanks to Preston and my membership of the AGLCA (yes... I'm trying to live down the fact that I'm officially a 'bLooper'). I'll take it.

On arrival back at 45 North, we're much saddened to read the message that Murray Roy has succumbed to his illness and has passed on his birthday. Vale Murray, a cuzzy with whom we had many great childhood times!

Tomorrow we will slip out of Liberty Landing and head up-river to Croton-On-Hudson for an indeterminate time ('Croton' rhymes with 'cotton'). There's no further update on when the Erie Canal will open at its eastern end. Heigh-ho again.Читать далее