Day 8 – Got the Blues

The hotel has free coffee, so I picked up a cup and headed out for my first full day in New York, The plan in general is to visit the Highline in downtown Chelsea, which is an disused raised railway that is now a 1.5mile walkway with great views. Then Chelsea market, ideal for foodies, the 9/11 memorial pools, the Hudson River walk, Staten Island ferry, Wall Street, Times Square etc etc.

So to business, the subway system is great once you work it out. It helps a lot to know how the street system works. (See yesterday’s post) You can buy a single use ticket for 3$, but if you use your contactless card or Apple Pay instead it is cheaper at 2.75$. I just tap my phone on the contact and it works perfectly.

I walked the highline and had my first glimpse of the Empire State Building. There are some good views, but a lot of the little stalls, vendors and food options are shut for the winter.

Talking about the weather it is cold today, it is -3 at the moment, so I have dug out my hat and gloves. It’s a bit windy too so the windchill is pretty brutal on the face. After the highline I popped into Chelsea market for some food, there are literally dozens of food places, from oyster bars, to pizza. I had my first NY hotdog. It was good, but nothing exceptional. I’ll try again somewhere else.

The memorial pools are a place of reflection, the two pools are bordered on all sides by the names of all the thousands that died. The engraving goes right through the metal and you can see some names where the family has pushed the stem of a rose into their name. Even after 20 years, the pain is still plain to see.

I then took the Hudson River walk towards the very bottom of Downtown and the Staten Island Ferry. Lots of people run along here and little narrow cleaning carts whizz up and down. There are good views out over the Hudson River and I had my first view of the Statue of Liberty.

The ferry is free and runs 24 hours a day, all year round. The journey takes 25 minutes and passes close to the Statue of Liberty. This is an ideal way to see it without having to book a tour to Ellis Island where the statue is. It’s not as big as I thought at 151 feet, but it’s still impressive standing there like a sentinel guarding the entrance to Manhattan.

The game with the ferry is to get off  and then run like mad to get  on the ferry going back the other way. If you miss it you have to wait half an hour. I just got through with a couple as the guard was pulling the gates closed. Nearly everyone else didn’t make it.Feeling in need of some refreshment I stopped at the Fraunces Tavern, an old haunt of George Washington himself and the oldest tavern in New York.

I’m seriously clocking up the steps as I head for Wall Street, no Gordon Gecko in sight, but I did have a look at the New York Stock exchange before wandering on to Times Square. On the way there was a giant bull sculpture in bronze I think. There was quite a queue of people waiting in line to take photos of themselves with the bull. Most of the women crouched down to be pictured by its rather oversized testicles. Hmmm…

Times square is a blaze of lights, advertising hoardings, noise and people. I’d need a selfie stick ten foot long to get me and the rest of it in.

I decided to finish off by visiting the Rockefeller centre, where I saw the famous Christmas tree and the ice rink below it filled with skaters.

It’s dark now, but I have decided to walk  back to my hotel. I skirt the edge of Central Park and Columbus circle on my way. It’s a long way although the skyline, sights and the smells from food vendors make my tummy grumble. I check my watch as I arrive weary and wind burnt. 31,265 steps so far and I’m off back Downtown in a bit to catch some Blues at the Terra Blues Club.

Changed and refreshed I hop on the Orange line and head Downtown. The band I want to see isn’t on until 10pm, So I stopped at the Red Lion a music bar a couple of doors up that has a good band on and had some food.

The entrance fee to the Blues club is 20$ and having splashed the cash and flashed the Covid pass, I was shown to a table near the front and settled in for the evening.

One thing I really like here is that almost everywhere you go, you are immediately brought a big glass of water and they generally keep it topped up all night. Really great for staying hydrated, especially if you’re out for a few beers.

The band were outstanding, Junior Mack is a traditional blues man and the drummer has been enrolled in The NY hall of fame. They played 3 sets. I had meant to leave after two sets, but in the end stayed until the end, finally leaving the club at 2am.

You hear stories about the subway after midnight, but I’m pleased to report that all went smoothly and soon enough I was home.

Whew, that was a long day!!