The trip south -- RI to NY

Well we are done with the first leg of the trip. Our first stop after leaving RI was Mystic Connecticut. They have a great seafaring/shipbuilding museum there, and of course we did have a highly overrated "slice of heaven" at Mystic Pizza. I imagine that place sells more t-shirts and hats than they do pizza. As I recall the movie that was filmed there (also called "Mystic Pizza") wasn't anything to write home about either, although it did star Julia Roberts before she hit the big time. After the pizza and Seaport museum we headed back to the boat and on to another small highlight of the day -- shore showers. Those of you who live at home connected to a virtually limitless supply of freshwater cannot know how truly lucky you are. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind showering on the boat. In fact we have a very pleasant setup with a separate shower and plenty of hot water. But because we don't want to waste water, taking a shower on board consists of a cycle of turning the water on to get wet, turning the water off to lather up, and then rinsing and repeating. In normal temperatures it's no big deal, but now that we are well into fall, those precious few minutes when the water is off seems like an eternity in a very cold hell. So needless to say, I like shore showers because I can let the water run and be the truly wasteful American that I was born to be. I told Kevin that it felt like I not only washed the dirt off but I also washed my sins away.

Our next stop was Port Jefferson which is only memorable because we came into the port and anchored after dark (our first time trying to navigate based on little red and green flashing lights alone). There were moments of stress but obviously it went okay because we are still here to tell the tale, right? After that it was a couple days in Oyster Bay where we toured the home of Teddy Roosevelt. Let's just say that Teddy liked to kill stuff. A lot. There were dozens of heads, trophies, tusks, skins, in every room of the house, even the kids rooms -- no joke. It made for an interesting tour, but I don't think I could live in a house with all those glass eyes staring me down all the time.

We then spent a night at City Island and waited for the tide the next morning to take us into New York City. We rode the tide down the East River, right past La Guardia, Rikers Island Prison, through Hell Gate, past the UN building, under the Brooklyn Bridge and up into the Hudson River. And of course not only do you have to navigate but you also have to dodge all the ferries and water taxis and tugs with garbage barges etc. It wasn't as nerve wracking as the first time we went through (in May) but we did have to pay close attention. We picked up a mooring at the 79th St. Boat Basin which is on the Hudson at, you guessed it, 79th Street. It was a mile walk to the middle of Central Park, and the subway was just a few blocks from where we were anchored. Plus it was only $30/night. Can't beat that right? We walked till our feet ached, and then walked some more. Surprisingly we ran into my boss from Starwood in line for the Empire State building (what are the odds? small world.). The weather put a huge damper on our trip though. Record rains and windy conditions forced us to stay on the boat several days (it was too risky to attempt to go to shore with the winds and the Hudson current. We quickly found out why the mooring only cost $30 a night!). But in the end we got to see all the major sights and didn't miss out on too much. The highlight of our whole trip by far was getting to see Brooke and Tom on Thursday. I haven't seen anyone from my family since July and with the weather so bad my spirits were pretty low. So even though it was only for a couple of hours, spending time with them was like a little slice of home. Thanks Brooke and Tom for cheering me up!

All in all, New York was a great place despite the rain. I don't mind a little rain, but I sure hope it doesn't decide to rain that hard every time we hit a tourist town. Ironically we are now in New Jersey where we don't particularly have any desire to see anything ashore and it has been as sunny as can be. Hardly a cloud in the sky! But set one foot in the tourist mecca of New York and the sky opens up, dumping record rains by the bucketful. Guess Mother Nature really is fickle.

Our plans are to get to the Chesapeake (Annapolis) by early next week. Can't wait to see Carrie and Dan, Judy and Jim, and George W. and Laura (j.k.). I hope everything is going well for everyone, keep in touch!