Hidden City (Sixth Leg)

Am I the only rabid Manhattan history buff who never heard of the Little Red Lighthouse, as in "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Big Gray Bridge." It was a children's book written in the late 1950s...totally missed me. That's why NC and I were both quite taken aback when we strolled down the path that winds right under the east stanchion of the GWB, opening up to a somewhat grassy expanse leading right down to the riverbank, with a few picnic tables, and "the little red lighthouse."

Like a lot of New Yorkers, the little red lighthouse is a New Jersey transplant. Something about it being originally in Point Pleasant (or one of those Jersey Shore points) and being transferred here in 1921 -- a mere 10 years before the GWB was constructed on the exact same site. Decommissioned in 1961 (or somewhere thereabouts), the lighthouse was almost removed. But, the bridge cried and cried at the thought of losing it's little red buddy...so it was allowed to remain in the shade of it's big friend. Well--that might not be exactly how the lighthouse was spared, but it's all on the sign I rested my wearying head on.

This is also a major stop for bikers along the path to catch their breath...and below are two doing just that! Though, once again, we never got their names, they were kind enough to take the photo of NC and me that accompanies our bio on this blog.

There were tons of bikers scooting along the trail...in all shapes, sizes, genders and abilities. Considering the heat, they were all doing yeoman's duty, chugging along. Once you hit the bridge and the lighthouse (figuratively, I hope), coming down from the north country, the path stays close to the shoreline -- a bit curvy but with very few natural hills or dips. And, remarkably, few potholes. From approximately 170th Street down to 145th, the trail turns into a picture postcard worthy expanse of parkland, flanked by the river and NJ to the west and, to the east, an alternating vista of foliage, man-made stone walls sitting atop Manhattan Island "terrior" (that's a wine term for the land...my first wine reference), pseudo-wild foliage and various views (high, low and in between) of my favorite Manhattan highway -- the West Side Highway. How many people know that it's also named after "joltin' Joe" DiMaggio?

I was amazed that we found so many city denizens enjoying this lovely riverside park in so many different ways...from fishing to flirting (I just had to get that guy's tattoos -- I think it's the every-popular Spider man pattern).

There was little tree cover along our path, so I thought the sun was finally getting to me when I spied what seemed like a beach...and honest-to-sandness beach...at river's edge. Could this scene of a dog paddling out to fetch a stick, with sand and rocks all around, not have come from Sag Harbor or some other Long Island Sound beach? And, the beauty of it is that the West Side Highway is obscured at this point, so no one can see this beach from the road. In fact, from the Little Red Lighthouse, all the way down this stretch, you can't see the tennis courts, picnic tables, basketball courts...and this beach! A hidden part of the city...