Escape From New York

Jenny and I have visited New York City many times, particularly when we were working in London and I had staff in Manhattan. Each time we were due to depart it was never really with a sense of sadness because 1) we knew we’d be back and 2) the city had simply exhausted us. We feel the same this time. Right now we’re 38,000 feet above Ohio on a Delta Airlines flight, on our way to LA, where we fly out to Sydney.

The final few days involved, as always, a lot of walking, multiple visits to Starbucks and many wonderful surprises. Apart from a few rides on the Staten Island Ferry, we’d never left the island of Manhattan before, so it was also brilliant to see it from across the Hudson once or twice.

Another mocha bites the dust - this time in City Hall Park

The first outing, as Jenny mentioned in a previous blog, had been to Brooklyn Bridge Promenade. The next involved a dramatic ride on an utterly fantastic cable car to Roosevelt Island. The cable car (which starred in the dramatic ending to the first Spiderman film) takes you high above the streets of Manhattan before carrying you across the river to the island. It’s a brief, five-minute ride, but it only costs $2.50 and it certainly beats walking. And it provided one of the most spectacular views we have ever had over this stunning city.

In the cable car to Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island was quiet and relaxing and provided the perfect opportunity for a few family photo shoots, and of course involved another Starbucks pit stop.

The day before we had made another new discovery in the form of the world’s coolest museum. It’s a decommissioned aircraft carrier, the Intrepid, which contains on its flight deck an SR-71 Blackbird (the fastest plane ever built), a space shuttle, and many, many more jet planes and attack helicopters. On the jetty next to the Intrepid is a Concord, and moored in the water next to that is a decommissioned nuclear-capable submarine, the Growler. We wandered through the Intrepid and the Growler for several hours. It was a very strange feeling to stand on the deck of an aircraft carrier, with a space shuttle and an SR-71, with the Manhattan skyline as the backdrop.

With the SR-71

In the Growler

In between we had many walks through Central Park, a few more sailing adventures with the remote control boats in the park, a lunch with our old mate Emile and a little bit more shopping. It’s the walking around town, with all of those millions of New Yorkers, that really wears you down. It’s exciting and energising and tiring at the same time.

So here we are, hurtling towards home. It has been quite an amazing trip, but we’ll be happy when we arrive at our destination. And probably just a little bit tired…

Jenny waves farewell from NYC. That's her, next to the bin...