I was born in New York City. I lived there until I was ten years old. I am a native New Yorker.
Its funny though when you live in a big city like New York, you assume you are never leaving so the sights and touristy things are not a big deal because you figure, hey, I am here for the long haul. I have all the time in the world.
Need your daily fix of holiday lights? Please check out this post on holiday lights in Virginia.
Well, it did not turn out that way. So on almost every trip I have taken to New York City since I left, I have been trying to catch up on the things I should have done while I lived there, including taking a Circle Line Cruise around Manhattan. (please see more photos and text below)
I have now taken boat or Duck boat tours in several cities, including New York, Boston, Pittsburgh and Seattle. The coolest thing about touring a big city by water is you are bound to see things and new angles on places in these cities and communities that you probably would have never seen without taking such a ride. What are the chances of seeing this riverside mural if you are just driving around New York? I wouldn’t bet on it.
Or what about the odds of seeing Jeffrey’s Hook Lighthouse unless you are sailing on the Hudson River?
I never knew until taking a Circle Line Cruise that the Medieval Art at the Cloisters in New York City existed.
Perhaps the most poignant moment of the cruise for me (and something I really did not expect until it happened) was passing in front of the Staten Island Ferry leaving Battery Park as seen in my photo below. My dad, who had just passed away a few weeks before our visit to New York, rode the ferry every night home after work back to Staten Island where we lived. The building seen above the left side of the boat with the patch of orange bricks in the center, that is was where my father worked until we left New York. It was a very special moment.
After our cruise we loaded up a on a tour bus and headed south. You can see some pretty funny things from a tour bus too, which was where I shot the photo below. A $350 fine for honking? If anyone from New York City reads this blog post, is this sign for real?
Post Script: Shortly after moving to the D.C area after my tenth birthday, my parents and I made it our mission to visit every major tourist attraction in the Nation’s Capital. I think in the first year we lived in Virginia we toured the White House, the U.S. Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, The Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials and most of the Smithsonian museums.
You know, several decades later, I still am finding things in the D.C. area I have not been to yet, which is actually pretty cool.
Thanks for dropping by. Have a great weekend, Rob.
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I See Beauty All Around, by Rob Paine 
Please feel free to leave a reply. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughtful feedback, Rob