...Into the Fire (Third Day, Second Leg)

First a little housekeeping...One chagrined reader asked where Nature Girl's unique and now-famous "walking chapeau" is. Sad to say, she forgot to bring it. Were I more clever with computers, I guess I could "photo shop" it in. But, this isn't a Warner Brothers production so, until I sell the movie rights for this blog, we'll all have to learn to love NG without it. Not that it can replace NG's vaunted hat, but there is a certain "jen ne se qua" to the cap that the Old Guy is sporting.

We're now strolling along the most densely populated and commercial stretch of "the walk" along the Hudson...the area of piers from the mid-50s down to the mid-30s, with ocean liners, tugs, the Intrepid Air and Space Museum (a God-send if you have to show teenage boys around the city), Circle Line Cruises (if you know the city, try one in another language -- and see how much you really know), the t0w-pound (I am most familiar with that, thank you New York City Parking Police)...all one right next to the other.

Not the prettiest strip, though it does have a few patches of loveliness...

We're almost down to the Javits Center (around 34th Street) and still awash is rather unsightly buildings and piers, with glimpses of the water now and again. Just then, a horse caught my attention:

I thought it odd that this rather garish, but patriotic, statue was displayed behind a chain-link fence -- and then I read the sign on the building. "Police Horse Ring." Indeed -- there was a horse ring inside one of the tin sheds. At least they get to exercise with a water view!

The trail is getting a bit less crowded and a lot more funky...

And, the piers have given way (more or less of their own volition)to unobstructed river views.

We're around 26th Street by now and, because of the late start, we're nearing the noon hour. Lunch-like thoughts are wafting through the air. NG has been crying hunger since the Circle Line pier, where she was thwarted in her efforts to secure a bit of sustenance (she, of no breakfast). I doubt she was ever a girl scout or she would have know to "be prepared."

Given the title of this blog, it should come as no surprise that thoughts of food are never far from our collective brains. The "food vibe" we were giving off must have been pretty powerful...out of nowhere, we stumbled over "The Frying Pan." I had absolutely no idea that there was a cafe along this part of the river walk...and I have a feeling most New Yorkers would say the same thing. But, once you clambered over what looked like a set of locks or a bridge that would load up a freight train and then turn towards the sea freighters to load or unload some cargo, you were face-to-face with a junk yard...no, I mean a sculpture park...no, it's more like a barge...no, I think it's a bar...a music venue...a party boat (sweet)! Look at the photos below and tell me what you think it is:

To the surprise of absolutely no one who knows the Old Guy, he struck up a conversation with a musician that was likely only a few years his senior, while NG lit out for a little reprieve from the grueling pace of the walk to catch a fresh breeze and seat on the bow of this art, music and libations barge.

In her post-walk role as Nancy Drew, NG found out that we were among the "cool kids" in the know for having found The Frying Pan (I could have told her that we were, once again, on the "cutting edge"). Alas, we were not on the way to satisfying those rapidly-growing hunger pangs in our stomachs, as they weren't serving anything past beer and wine (and not the "good stuff" like a honeysuckle-laced Torrontes or a passion-fruited Sauvignon Blanc -- from such great Argentine producers as Valentin Bianchi). So, with our stomachs audibly growling, we returned to the "road more taken" and continued south along the Hudson River.