Foiled Plans and Pleasant Surprises

As I headed out today on the cross-town bus, I saw this sign.  Really?  Is it really necessary to tell people not to spit on a bus?  Oh boy.  I just don't understand some things.

The plan was to head across town to the West side so I could walk the Hudson River and Riverside Parks bordering the Hudson.  My first planned stop was the aircraft carrier Intrepid near 42nd Street.  I have never been on an aircraft carrier and thought it would be interesting to see such a huge vessel.

The line to get in was somewhat long and I didn't want to pay $22.  Just viewing it from the sidewalk made me wonder about the lives of military people and how they live and work on ships.  I can't imagine being on this in the middle of the ocean - or trying to land a jet on it - especially during a war.  I'm grateful some people can do it.

When I aborted my plan to board the carrier I decided to keep walking.  I had done some prior research, and I was hoping to walk all the way up to 116th Street to Columbia University's campus.  Given it was a weekday morning, there weren't a lot of people on the path.  For the most part that was OK, but there were a few sections where I was wondering if I wasn't being smart.  It all worked out fine because, shortly after I had that thought, I would see other people and feel more comfortable.

The Hudson River Park ends at 59th Street and the Riverside Park picks up after that.  It was a nice walk - the weeping willows have bloomed with yellow-green, young leaves and the grass is super green.  There were many interesting sites along the way, including some remnants of when trains would come to the river and the longshoremen would load the contents on ships.  These various sites were marked with placards.  Apparently Donald Trump helped finance sections of the park - surely to make his Trump buildings bordering the river more appealing.

I saw this big bottle.  You can look through the mouth of it into the inside, which looks like a camper with stainless steel chairs, kitchen, etc.  I googled it and could not find more information about it.  I couldn't find a sign describing it.

My most exciting site (or sight, in this case) was the seal on a piling in the Hudson. Yup!  A seal!  Two people watching him knew all about him (or her).  The seal was sighted last Spring and was just seen again early this week.  The animal has always been spotted alone. 

The March 29, 2010 edition of The New York Post had an article about the seal, which said

Harbor seals, like this one, live up and down the Atlantic Seaboard, but are rare in New York City waters. "This is a good thing, it means there's a good supply" of small fish and crustaceans to feed off, said New York Aquarium director Jon Dohlin.
Harbor seals don't do much jumping, so this little guy probably rode the high tide before planting himself on a piling.

A lady watching the seal with me had inside scoop.  She said a kayak vendor told her the seal responds to "Murray."  You heard it here first!  The above picture from the Post is a lot better than the picture below that I took with my point-and-shoot camera.

I hope the little guy (or girl) does OK here in the big city.

It was an unexpected thing to see and quite a joy - a simple pleasure.

I continued to walk north and noticed there were very few pedestrian entries/exits to and from the park.  The park is blocked off from the street by the Hudson Parkway and what I assume was old train track property.  When I got to a sign at 74th Street my suspicions were confirmed.  It looked like I couldn't get back to the street unless I either went up past 116th (I still don't think that seems right) or backtrack to 72nd Street.  Needless to say, I backtracked to 72nd Street.  Eleanor Roosevelt was there waiting for me patiently.

I walked from Riverside Drive to Broadway and caught the 1 train to 116th Street and Columbia University.  The campus was very pretty.  It had the traditional, old buildings as well at least one modern building.  The modern building, Lerner Hall, had ramps visible outside through the glass facade. I saw pictures on the web where it is lit up with different colors at night. 

I finished off my Morningside Heights/Columbia University tour with lunch at Campo at Broadway and approximately 114th.  For the $10 special, I had a butternut squash soup, a cobb salad, and dessert - with sit-down service.  Nice.  I love a "proper" lunch.

I jumped on the 1 train down to 50th and got tickets for two shows.  One is for tonight, so I better think about dinner and get going soon.  Off to another adventure!