Sunday, November 28, 2010

From 23rd Street Up -- I'm Sure (Second Leg of East River Stroll, Third Chapter)

I'm feeling incredibly "geographically-challenged."   I realized that I'd totally lost my "street" compass since starting the Second Leg of this walk and that all my street references in the first two chapters have been a bit askew.  You'd think that, having fairly successfully navigated my way through Rome, Tuscany, Siena, Chianti, Florence, Ravenna and Venice, I would not be stymied by a few blocks of waterway (hey, I was hardly lost in Venice -- which may or may not be a good thing). 

I've gone back in and made a few adjustments...you may want to re-read them so that you'll understand exactly where we are right now...which is at the southern end of the 23rd Street Boat Basin. 

Compare and contrast...this was behind us.
And, this was ahead...
We'd reached the 23rd Street Boat Basin, an area with which I'm pretty familiar, as I enter the FDR Drive quite frequently from my office, on the ramp that is right next to this part of the trail.  Ah yes, there's the gas station/boat dock with the waving palm trees...

We'd left the land of greenery and flowing water for cold, hard cement (though still with a water view).   We walked past the station, and the entrance to the apartment complex where our friend's mom lives (which I'd always envy every July 4th, as they had the absolute best views of the Macy's fireworks display on the East River).   Now that the fireworks have moved downtown further (and to the West Side), not so much. 

Where to go now?   Would it be trespassing to walk down what looked like a private entrance for cars picking up residents, and a private service entrance for trucks?   Well, better to try and be ejected, than not to have tried at all.   With Sacajawea leading the way, we walked down towards the water.




As we rounded the above tree, I had to pat myself on the back (again) for embarking on this walking odyssey in the first place.   One of the greatest pleasures of this walk has been discovering parts of the city that we never would have seen from a car or from taking the usual routes around town.  So, who knew that the British School is here...
...and that they have terrific views overlooking the water...

...and that the trail along the East River continues right past their windows.


After a brief rest...

...we were on the road again.
We continued walking northward along the riverbank, past stairways and skyscrapers (the start of the Bellevue Hospital/New York University Medical Center complexes). 
Not to go into my massive and varied history with the doctors and labs at NYU Medical Center -- let's just say I was overjoyed when my new favorite tea shop, Argo, opened in the lobby, right next to where you have your blood tested.  I'm there often enough that having my Chai Latte with Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup (with Half & Half) is a much anticipated treat!

As we kept walking, with the river and Long Island City on our right, and ahead our first sighting of the iconic United Nations Building...

...the thought of food started dancing around my brain.   I had recently read that famed chef and TV Food Network celebrity Tom Collichio (who my Brazilian relatives are convinced is a long-lost relative as they have the same family name) had just opened a new restaurant near NYU Medical Center, overlooking the East River, called RiverParc.  It had great potential for today's lunch option, as it had all the pre-requisites -- great food within sight of the river.  Only problem is that I wasn't sure exactly what street it was on. 
We kept walking towards another well-known sight on this side of the city...Buzzy O'Keefe's Water Club.
As we neared it, I reminisced about the many times I had been there...for drinks on the roof deck and, most memorably, for the wedding of an old college friend with whom I am no longer in touch (I was the matron of honor as it wasn't too long after the OG and I had tied the knot).  It was a rather strange wedding, and even a stranger, short-lived marriage, but I recall how lovely it was to have the ceremony and reception floating on the East River, under the stars.






We rounded the north side of the Water Club (where they used to dock a barge filled with sand that served as an urban beach in past summers (but don't know if it is still done).   There we found the parking lot for the restaurant, as well as some lovely flowering plants flanking modern wooded benches.  




Time for a sit-down (or shall I say a "lean-down")...

And, also a good time to take some photos, in front of us...

...behind us...


...and ahead of us.

As the Water Club wasn't a lunch option, I asked the OG to try to find the aforementioned RiverParc on his Blackberry.
To no avail.   We later learned (as you will, too) that this turned out to be a good thing, on many levels.

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