A Stroll On The Upper, Upper West Side (First Leg - pun intended)

"I'm walkin'...yes indeed."

Songs are always running through my head (better than nothing -- and way better than the usual worries and fretting that occupies a good deal of my brain's time). And, walking songs were particularly on my mind as "nature girl" and I decided the day was right (super-hot and sunny) to put action to a thought I voiced a few weeks' back.

"I wonder if you can walk from the top to the bottom of Manhattan, without interruption, along the Hudson River." This lofty thought has flickered through my mind many times as I'm sitting in traffic on the West Side Highway, gazing out on that mighty waterway...especially on a particularly crisp, fresh early morning, with the sun dancing over to the Jersey shore in long wavy lines, or in the early evening, as it recedes into slivers of heedless, harmless clouds over Hoboken, filling the sky and water with orange, red, lavender.

A combination of boredom in a summer of continual, drenching rain (exactly when did we move to Seattle?) followed by a few cool, spring-like days -- and the desire to discover cool new places in the city I was born for (and in), finally pushed me to action. Sure, I'd rather be discovering new restaurants or touring those European countries, cities, towns that I've not yet seen, but health and the economy have slowed the action on those fronts. So, I turned to a healthy pursuit...but one that gives me some hope of finding an undiscovered gem of a restaurant or food experience that has heretofore eluded me. Okay...this venture also was bolstered by a piece I read in the Times or Daily News about cafes, food carts and other food outlets near Inwood Park (the northernmost part of Manhattan) down through West Harlem. I could just drive to them, but taking a long walk seemed to provide the justification for such a nifty "food crawl."

For companionship on such an epic journey, I turned to a "fellow foodie" and adventurer by nature (Susan Z., alias "nature girl" or "Sacajawea") who has led me on many a merry misadventure through Irish bogs, the red rocks of Sedona, the outlets of Atlantic City, the swamps of New Jersey -- anywhere she can take me out of my "comfort zone" of the bright lights and big cities. "Hiking" is big in her linguistic repertoire, so I was sure she would be taken aback when I suggested this little stroll -- roughly from 218th Street down to the Battery (approximately 16 miles, driving from Columbia University's Baker Field to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal along the West Side Highway).

She was surprised, to say the least...and elated as she knew that adventures awaited. Our first date, a Sunday in late July, was rained out. I'll walk...and even enjoy it...but not with "raindrops falling on my head" or monsoon gales lashing us about. I'm definitely a "fair weather" walker.

We had much better weather luck on our "rain date" of Sunday, August 16. Naturally, that is the weekend that the sidewalk-melting hot and steamy weather we New Yorkers have come to expect and revel in complaining about finally arrived.

So, it's sunny all right...and around 90 degrees! And, there we are, meeting at my newest, all-time favorite grocery store, Fairway (under the West Side Highway around 127th Street and Twelfth Avenue). It's almost as good as the original Balducci's on Sixth Avenue and W. 9th Street (ahh, the memories...)

Let me digress here to wax rapsodically (which I always do in my head...and will do in this account, from time to time) about driving in Manhattan on an early Sunday morning. Generally before 9:00 a.m., when no one is up and about yet, that is the absolute best time to drive around Manhattan...whether in the theater district, Greenwich Village, the Upper East Side or -- on the border of Inwood and Washington Heights, where I found myself on my way down to meet NG. This is my "short cut to the short cut" to get from the ugly, but necessary, Major Deegan Expressway to the West Side Highway -- cutting off tolls and traffic jams as one winds through streets that haven't changed much since the 1940s. All those 12-story pre-war apartment buildings that once sheltered Irish and Italian immigrants, now teeming with the life of a largely Hispanic population of double-parked cars; loud, pulsating salsa; and the same open fire hydrants spraying into my car that were probably cooling the residents in my parents' day. Nagle, Sherman, event upper Broadway, now largely empty of people and cars -- it's like I own the city. As I hit Dyckman Street, at the back end base of Fort Tryon Park, and drive up the entrance to the West Side Highway, the mighty Hudson spreads out in front of me and I'm hurtling down one of the prettiest urban highways in the country towards my "walk of discovery."

Back to Fairway, taking a precautionary "bathroom break" and stocking up on the water that will necessitate another "break" or two, or three -- give us middle-aged ladies a break -- along the route.

At the annual Clambake the day before (shout-out to Ossining Colleen for a great spread and easily the sweetest lobsters yet) most of our friends were skeptical about this journey...especially given the heat. But, I believe they thought the plan was to walk the entire length in one day! Though I've been known to get bit carried away and am prone to the occasional "forced march" when touring cities in Europe (that is another long, long story entirely), even I was not going to tackle it all in one day. And, certainly not under a shimmering NY summer sun! I'm thinking four to five separate segments, starting from the point left off on the last leg (or thereabouts). So, NG and I left one car near Fairway and drove the other to our starting point -- Baker's Field in Inwood at 218th Street.

At 9:15 a.m., we are at the junction of Baker's Field and Inwood Park (that's us below). And, next to us are two gentle Inwood folk (never got their names) who took this shot (we told them about our mission...maybe they'll fall over this blog). Note to self -- do not ever, ever go out of the house with wet hair and without a brush (that's why the shot of NG and I are not close-up). Now that these photos have messed up my writing flow, I'll have to stop now and start another post...taking us through the amazing trails of Inwood Park (who knew?)