Wednesday was horrifically hot and was the first adventure into 90 degree heat. My plan was to get the hell out of dodge and check out the (free) Staten Island Ferry in the hopes that the island would be cooler. It wasn’t but the ride over was refreshing, provided an amazing view of the city and the Statue of Liberty, and was best of all: free.
The Staten Island Ferry starts in lower Manhattan. It’s a few blocks away from Wall Street. So I was able to check out some parts of Wall Street after getting off the ferry. Those will follow in a separate entry.
Here’s what the ferry looks like. I was on that top deck against the railing.
The Governor’s Island Ferry for Dad. Bring back memories?
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Obligatory selfie. (Yes, Mom, I wore sunblock. I didn’t want to go from ghostly white to tomato red)
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Views from the ferry
Crossing didn’t take very long. About half an hour I think. It docks in the Saint George terminal and there are some restaurants and chintzy gift shops where you can get your Statue of Liberty or I heart NYC shirts. When it’s this hot I desperately crave ice cream so I got a Cookie Dough blizzard from the Dairy Queen in the terminal and a side of fries because I felt like I should eat something more besides ice cream. My waistline was crying for me to stop, but both were tasty and it tided me over.While hanging out in Dairy Queen I pulled up my maps to figure out how to get to the places I’d wanted to check out. In the morning, I’d made a list of the attractions I wanted to hit on Staten Island. The lighthouse museum, the beach boardwalk, the historic village, an actual lighthouse (which, strangely, was in the middle of the island and not on the coast at all), and get some of the pizza that Staten Island is famous for. It didn’t want to give me directions so I left the terminal to do a bit of walking around.
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It was godawful hot outside. I didn’t make it too far down the street but got some pictures of the buildings before I went back inside. From there I decided to take the 51 Bus down to the beach boardwalk. Got some neat views from the window and a snap of the Narrows Bridge. I forgot where this one leads. Queens maybe? The boardwalk was I believe 2.5 miles but I’d barely walked 5 minutes on the boardwalk before getting a sharp, stabbing headache that had everything to do with the heat. I wanted to explore the island more but decided it wasn’t worth straining myself for. So I walked a little further then headed over to wait for the 51 bus that would take me back to the ferry. I got a slice of pizza in the terminal and it was okay. Not something I’d do it again but it was something and I felt like I should have some more food before I left.
I made sure to be on the opposite side of the ferry this time so I could get the closer view of the Statue of Liberty.
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Deanna Writes 