Day Two in the Big Apple

It’s time to continue my New York City holiday recap!

As we step into day two, HERE is a little refresher of day one. 🍎

Day two of our trip was essentially a massive walk.

^{The rough path of our day.}

The Hudson River

We woke up early and headed west from our hotel towards the Hudson River. The day was gorgeous and our morning walk along the river was a great escape from the bustle of the city. Even though we were still very much in the city!

Our early start meant we passed some attractions before they opened. This was the case with the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises. However, a couple of photos of each seemed sufficient as we strolled along the Hudson River.

^{“Launched in 1943, the former aircraft carrier USS Intrepid fought in World War II, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and also served as a NASA recovery vessel in the 1960s.” Source}

^{In operation since 1945, Circle Line offers boat tours that circumnavigate the 35 mile coastline of Manhattan island in under 3 hours. Notably, the company temporarily suspended tours to evacuate 30,000 people to New Jersey after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Their boats were also some of the first on the scene when U.S. Airways Flight 1549 crashed in the middle of the Hudson River in 2009, and were able to rescue passenger and crew from the sinking aircraft. Source}

^{Our path along the riverfront.}

Hudson Yards

After walking 15 blocks south along the river, we arrived at Hudson Yards. Hudson Yards is a retail, residential and restaurant district surrounded by art and open space. It spans four blocks (28 acres) between west 34th and 30th streets and is the largest private real estate development in North America. Here we grabbed a quick and delicious breakfast from a local deli/grocer before exploring “The Vessel”.

^{Tasty breakfast spot, with all kinds of food made to order at the deli counter.}

^{The Vessel.}

The Vessel is a 150 foot tall interactive public artwork that was designed to be the centerpiece of Hudson Yards. The structure contains 154 interlocking staircases (2500 steps total) connected by 80 viewing platforms. It opened to the public in 2019 (with mixed reviews about its appearance). At that time, people could ascend the structure to take in views across the city. However, the Vessel closed (likely permanently) in 2021 after four people (including a 14 year old child) leapt to their deaths from the building. Today the public can only view the Vessel from the courtyard that surrounds the structure.

The Highline

For the next part of our walk, we made our way to the Highline. The Highline is a 1.5 mile long walkway/public park that was built on top of a defunct elevated train line. The park stretches from Hudson Yard to the Meat Packing District and was constructed in four phases between 2009 and 2019. The Highline has received countless accolades for being an example of urban renewal, landscape architecture and sustainability.

^{Tree covered paths of varying widths and textures wind through the buildings along Manhattan’s west side.}

^{Throughout the park permanent and rotating art displays provide points of interest along the path. This piece “The Old Tree” will be on display until fall 2024. It is meant to represent the tree of life and the connection between Heaven and Earth. Its red color was purposefully chosen to mimic the blood vessels running through our bodies. More info HERE}

^{Lots of apartments flank the Highline. My friend in New York kept telling me Ariana Grande lives in one. She was not spotted.}

^{Two happy nuggets (me and husband) enjoying the Highline vibes.}

^{Views of another famous NYC landmark (The Empire State Building) from the park.}

^{Old railroad tracks with plants growing in between.}

^{A mural of Mother Theresa and Ghandi spotted from the Highline.}

Little Island

After walking the entire length of the Highline, we crossed back to the water to visit “Little Island”. As the name suggests, “Little Island” is in-fact a small man made island. It sits within the Hudson River at the former site of Pier 54.

Pier 54 was most notable for being the New York home of the Cunard-White Star lines trans-Atlantic ocean liners. The Titanic would have docked here, and her surviving passengers were brought here upon their rescue. The pier was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. In its place Little Island opened in 2021. The island is a beautifully landscaped park with trails, amazing views, educational programs, and a small amphitheater.

^{The “island” is connected to the land by a walking bridge. The entire park is built on top of the unique concrete pilings. Their varying height creates a series of hills and valleys to explore on Little Island.}

^{An Instagramable food truck that was not open the day we visited.}

^{Looking back across Little Island towards the shore.}

^{On the island. Husband’s head is blocking a far far far off view of the Statue of Liberty.}

Chelsea Market

At mid day we reached Chelsea Market. This mixed used complex opened in 1997 in a building originally occupied by the New York Biscuit Factory. Chelsea Market features a food hall, unique boutique shopping, art galleries and restaurants. The upper floors contain office space occupied by companies including Google, YouTube and Major League Baseball.

FUN FACT: The Oreo Cookie was invented here!

^{We used our time at the market to take a little beak from the sun. Also checked out the shops and refreshed with an iced tea.}

Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village and SoHo

The first part of our day was planned, but from this point we began aimlessly wandering down Manhattan. From Chelsea Market we followed Bleecker Street into Greenwich Village and SoHo. Along the way we stopped in MANY shops. My husband found a new pair of prescription eyeglasses in one place, and purchased a crazy hat in another. We also stopped at one of the Magnolia Bakery locations for their famous banana pudding. (Hubs proceeded to get banana pudding at other locations every day of the trip!) Our last stop on our long walk was the Fred Perry store on Broome Street, FIFTY BLOCKS south of our hotel!

^{The sights of our walk to SoHo.}

We were so tired we FINALLY hopped on the subway to head back to our hotel.

^{Exhausted, happy, mildly delirious.}

Despite the full day behind us, we still has a BIG night ahead!

Mini Golf Meetup

Back at our hotel we had a quick nap and freshened up before our night on the town with @silverd510 and his girl. They drove in from New Jersey to meet us at a Swinger’s Club! Ha ha… not that kind of Swinger’s club! We went mini golfing!

^Swingers

The place was very cool inside. It had three different 9 hole courses, several bars and lots of booths and special areas for private groups. There was also a DJ and a selection of curated “street food”.

^{Photos from the night.}

Silverd’s girlfriend got the only hole in one on our course. However, by the time all was said and done @silverd510 and I tied for first place. This was only because my husband decided to take nine shots to land the most ridiculous trick shot. Had he given up at 5… hubs would have won the night.

^{All champs!}

After parting ways, hubs and walked the 20 blocks back to our hotel. All in all we hiked 11 miles up and down Manhattan on just day two of our trip! Our final stop before bedtime was Times Square.