From Cape May to Atlantic City, New Jersey to Staten Island to New York City to Croton-on-Hudson, New York with Cindy and Jay

On Tuesday, June 16 we left Cape May, New Jersey to head to Atlantic City via the Atlantic Ocean. It was a little rough with following 3ft swells so we cruised at 20 mph on plane to make the ride more stable. Along the way we captured many beaches and boardwalks as typical of this area. Atlantic City has many casinos along their boardwalk in addition to the Steel Pier with an amusement park. We passed those and docked at Farley State Marina in a protected bay at Golden Nugget Casino. They tell me the marina used to be called Trump Marina and Trump had a penthouse suite at the top of the casino. They have a rooftop pool which I took advantage of that day. Many loopers were at this marina and we gathered for "dock tails" before dinner. We ate at Los Caminos, the Mexican restaurant at the casino with Sue and Lance and Tim did well at Blackjack and quit while he was ahead. We visited Vic and Anthony's and caught the last song of a band at the Bayfront Bar and Restaurant in front of the marina. 

On Wednesday, we got ready for our guests, Jay and Cindy, good friends from back home, who arrived around 7:30 pm. We had snacks and drinks ready for them after their long travel day due to delays and then ate dinner at Michael Patrick's in the Casino. The next day we took a taxi to the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk.  It was a cloudy, windy day so we looked at the beach but did not walk on it. There was definitely a difference between the older and newer sections of the boardwalk. We had lunch at Margaritaville on the water next to the Pier.  Later we shopped and had drinks at the newest casino The Ocean which was extremely nice. Back at the marina we had a fantastic dinner at The Chart House overlooking the marina and back on the boat we listened to a popular local band playing at a special event in front of the marina. We had to go through security just to get back to our boat, which made us wonder about the band's following! However, all went well and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. 

Friday, June 19, we left for Staten Island, a borough of New York City. It was a 100 mile trip and a good place to position before entering New York Harbor.  We left Atlantic City at 7 am and went 20 mph and were there by 12:30. It was a much smoother day on the Atlantic than the previous trip from Cape May.  Jay took the helm a couple times and he also went to the bow to secure a loose rope.  I thought Tim should have slowed down for him but he decided Jay could handle it!  On the way to Staten Island we of course got our first glimpse of the New York City skyline. We stayed in Great Kills Harbor at Mansion Marina. Upon arrival, we celebrated our safe voyage and docking and Cindy put the pin in our map. Later we walked around the harbor where there are several marinas and restaurants.  Sue and Lance (The Dash) joined us for dinner at The Marina Cafe. 

On Saturday, June 20, Cindy and I walked to nearby  Frank and Sal Italian Market, a well known market on Staten Island. They had anything Italian you could want and also had all sorts of homemade entrees, salads, and desserts. We took meats, cheeses, and salad, and cannolis back to the boat for lunch! In the evening we ate at  an Italian restaurant, Fiore Di Mare. It was an open air restaurant overlooking the harbor and the food was delicious. We also stopped at the Richmond Yacht Club and the people there were very friendly and welcoming! They had a wonderful facility and a band that night. They also have mooring balls and great restroom and shower facilities for any loopers or transient boaters  needing a great place to stay. 

On Sunday, June 21, after worshiping with our home church online, we left for New York City at 10 am. As mentioned previously we were not going very far. The marina we were headed for was called Liberty Landing and is on the New Jersey side and is part of Liberty State Park near the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was amazing and a bit nerve-racking going into New York Harbor between the container ships, the Ferries and the other boaters. The captain did a great job though. The tricky part was holding your boat in place trying to capture a photo in front of it while your buddy boat takes your photo. When it was our turn there were several other boaters with the same idea but it all worked out and was a great experience. Before we knew it , we were docked in Liberty Landing among various types of boats. There were average boats like us as well as large yachts and of course several Ferry boats. In addition, you could rent jet skis so there were many of those as well in the harbor. The marina was great and had a nice ship store and facilities and very nice restaurants. We were only there for one night so we chose to go to the 911 Memorial on nearby Manhattan in the Battery Park area as it was an easy ferry ride from where we were. We took the short ferry ride over to the Brookfield Place which was a short walk to the Memorial. We did not go in the museum but it was enough to see the large plaza where they had water flowing into the actual locations of the two towers and they were surrounded by all of the names of the people lost there. It was truly sacred ground and it felt a little strange to smile for the photos we took there. Across the street was the bronze sphere sculpture that was originally between the twin towers and had been recovered from ground zero.  This was all next to the new One World Trade Center so we took some photos of that as well.  We had time before the next ferry to stop for a hot dog and pretzel and also  stopped at Liberty Bistro for drinks.   This was part of the Brookfield Place shopping and dining area so we walked through the shopping mall with amazing floral windows and atrium feel and very near the ferry stop. After taking the ferry back we ate at the restaurant with stunning views of Manhattan called Maddie Rose. 

On Monday, June 22, Tim and I took a walk around part of Liberty Park.  You can see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty from there. Also New Jersey has their own Memorial to 911 that we discovered.  At 9:00 we left for our next stop, the town of Croton-On-Hudson to a marina called Half Moon Bay. The first part of the short 40 mile trip was viewing all of Manhattan Island on the Hudson River. It was definitely a unique perspective from the water. I was struck by the contrast once we got out of the city.The  terrain was just beautiful with trees, hills, and even cliffs on the New Jersey side. By the time we got to Croton both sides of the Hudson were just New York State and there were few boats and again beautiful scenery. Steve at the marina is very accommodating and tells you everything you need to know about the local area as well as recommending  renting a car to explore many places which we would do in the next couple of days. Thankfully we beat the rain, but on the other hand it put a "damper" on exploring the area that day. Once the rain let up we did take a taxi to a local Italian restaurant called Capriccio and had a great meal and service. We enjoyed Deena our waitress and she was fun to joke around with as our guest Jay loves to do. Sadly this was Cindy and Jay's last full day so we said goodby the next morning as they rode with Mike (a local driver Steve recommended)  to LaGuardia to fly to Chicago and drive home. Our next move will be to continue up the Hudson and on to the Erie Canal near Albany!