Road Blog: Late Starts, and Walking New York

Advantage to flying east from the western edge of the continent late in the morning: One can enjoy a leisurely morning. Coffee. Walking the dog. Getting the house a little ready for the neighbors (hi, Marie and Steve) who will be looking after things (and the dog) while we’re gone. Finishing packing.

Disadvantage to the late start: You reach your destination pretty late. And even later if your plane is delayed, the way ours was yesterday. We climbed off the jet around 11:45 or so and reached my brother’s place a little after 1 in the morning. The fatigue of the late hour was offset by the exhilaration of finding a parking space within a block of his apartment building near the Brooklyn Bridge.

The late arrival meant we were up until all hours talking with John, my sister-in-law Dawn, nephew Sean, and niece Leah. Then we had a late start this morning (or some of us did–John and Dawn were up pretty early). Eventually, Kate and I went out with Eamon and Sakura (our son and daughter-in-law) and Sean and Leah for lunch, a hike across the Brooklyn Bridge, a visit to the World Trade Center memorial, another hike up to Chinatown for dinner (with John and Dawn), then the eight of us finished with a stroll back to Brooklyn by way of the Manhattan Bridge.

Weather: beautiful. Warm and just enough humidity to remind us what that is without beating us over the head with it. Experiences: wow, were the streets crowded. I need more time to absorb the World Trade Center site. All I can say now is that the site is somber and restrained; that was a pleasant surprise.

Here’s a clutch of pictures from the day:

Bridge Walk

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I’ve been in New York for the past couple of days on a work assignment–attending a conference on transportation reporting sponsored by WNYC. One of the best parts of being in the city is walking; in particular, walking from my brother John’s place at the Brooklyn landing of the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. I went over and back yesterday. And today, I walked over to WNYC, in what I think is West Greenwich Village, and then back to John’s by way of the Manhattan Bridge.

The Manhattan Bridge crosses the East River just to the north of the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s striking in its own way, but rougher, less venerable feeling, more industrial, without the cathedral air of the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s also far less frequented by pedestrians. After dark this evening, it was almost lonely up there after the crowds I’ve seen on the other span. A good place from which to watch the crescent moon set.