Today is my day on my own.
Carl & Rey departed this morning for Baltimore (Orioles game of course), and will return early tomorrow morning. About a 22 hour sojourn. I hope they get a little sleep, although we have nothing planned for tomorrow morning.
Ashlan was going to spend some time with me, but I slept late (part 1 of my plan for today), and she got called in for an earlier shift at work. (Part 2 of my plan was to do some reading. That part has not materialized as of yet.)
I did have what might be considered a luxurious morning.
After a brief time vertical, in which I made coffee and wished the boys, “Bon voyage,” I slept until 10 AM.
Ashlan made me a smoothie for breakfast, and I had some of the previously brewed coffee.
(This may not seem like much, but this Seattleite went the entire day yesterday with no caffeine.)
Then after she left for work I took a shower, without worrying about anybody else needing the bathroom. This was indeed a luxury in a place currently inhabited by 6 people.
Finally it was time to venture out into the CITY.
So, with apartment entry tools in had, I exited.
Found my way back to the subway entrance, and the side of the tracks running west.
The stop I was ending at was the end of the line, so no real mystery there.
Two blocks further west, and the stairs to the High Line appeared directly in my path.
The High Line is now a park, but was a train that served the industrial area near the west waterfront.
There were some signs explaining the history, and just lots of vistas to check out.
Buildings, people, scenery… and it was OK to look like a tourist with camera in hand.
I even got stopped by a group asking for advice about raising kids.
They liked my 1 line answer, so I had my picture taken and was provided with a $5 Starbucks card.
[My advice was, “Wait for them to answer.” To frequently the parents are on to more questions before the wee toddler has formulated an answer to the first question.]
I have put together the following pictures from my day in one small part of the city.
The High Line is about 1 mile of trail, and I went from end to end, so a short walk. At least I got some exercise in.
(Apparently you will need to click on the pictures to get to the larger view)
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- A bit of history, if you can read it
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- Buildings to the north
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- View from the north end of the High Line
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- One answer to limited parking. I had read about these, but only seen it in use for boats
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- Car butts
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- Pier 54 (I think)
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- A pier no longer in use, by boats that is
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- Art along the path
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- Colorful rendition of a familiar picture
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- There is always somebody watching
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- One of my personal favorites along the route
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- Art for the Lilliputians
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- Early use
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- The High Line itself
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- I really was there
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- Green space with reminders of the past
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- The garden rail
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- On my return walk I was surprised by a view of the Statue of Liberty. It stopped me in my tracks, even at this distance. I had not seen it in person for 48 years.
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- One last distant view. I could not find a closer vantage point
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- From whence I arrived
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- Each street had its own look
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- View of the river to the west
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- Tenth and 15th West
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- An architects playground
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- Apartments with a lawn view
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- True to the historical use
The return trip went fairly well, except I chose the wrong exit out of the subway (wrong corner of the intersection that is). I turned around 3 times trying to get going in the right direction, but never got too far wrong before I figured out my mistake. Anybody choosing to watch me probably got a chuckle, and I am SURE I looked like a tourist for these few moments.
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