Four Miles, Two Bridges, and One Perfect New York Day

A summer day exploring Brooklyn, crossing the, Brooklyn Bridge, and wandering Manhattan’s spectacular waterfront.

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Yes, walking! This is certainly the best way to see and experience the Hudson River ON FOOT.

On a beautiful August summer day, my family and I began our day exploring the borough of Brooklyn. We saw the Barclays Center, where the Brooklyn Nets play, and made our way to Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s gigantic green space. In addition to a concert grove, boathouse and Brooklyn’s only lake, we enjoyed the Brooklyn Zoo.

Green spaces in the middle of really large cities like New York, London, or any of the gigantic Asian cities I’ve had the pleasure of visiting (Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Saigon, Seoul) always make you feel like you’ve stepped out of a sauna (of heat or just human activity in these packed cities) into a cooler place that provides a respite from all of the incessant activity that takes place in a mega-city. In this case, Prospect Park was our oasis, providing a breather from the hustle and bustle of the urban borough of Brooklyn.

This was one of our “experiences” in Brooklyn, but our main experience began in the area affectionately called Dumbo, located at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn. This area features many areas to eat, drink, enjoy live performances, and to appreciate all that lies before your eyes.

Our main experience though had to do with the steel cables and iconic stone towers that carries the name of the borough where the bridges eastern end sits, the amazing Brooklyn Bridge and the backdrop behind it.

The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, was the initial permanent bridge across the East River, connecting the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Brooklyn Bridge is full of remarkable features like its suspension cables, its mighty shoulders, diagonal stays, vertical suspender cables, and the pointed arches of its Gothic Revival suspension towers. It’s a National Historic Landmark and is the iconic bridge in the City of Bridges.

Hugo and I making our 1st walk across the Bridge.

We began and ended our walk at the Time Out Market in New York. A great place to get a coffee in the morning and a drink at night, there is no better place to sit and be amongst the beauty around you. They also have 15 or so different food vendors to satiate your belly. As we made our way over the bridge, we took our time to fully appreciate all that was before our eyes, including watching a NY Fire Department boat as it made its way across the river. We made our 1.1-mile walk across the bridge and made it last longer than it needed to, and then we just kept walking. We exited left and headed towards the Hudson River, taking in Pier 25, and then continued onto the Hudson River Greenway, which is a riverfront property made for walking, running, biking, and meandering. On one side, you have the mighty Hudson River and a 10-minute walk to your right; you have a plethora of dining, shopping, and drinking options in a myriad of different neighborhoods within Manhattan. The Greenway features parks and places to sit and relax. During one of these relaxing moments, it occurred to me why NY is so special. It is places like this. Most places in this world don’t have so much – natural beauty, amazing museums, parks, and restaurants – in such close proximity to each other.

Our walk continued toward Little Island and the Chelsea Market. We saw a live performance at the park, Little Island, which was built out onto and over the Hudson River in a shape that reminds me of the pedals of a flower. Only in NYC! We salted away our time and had some lunch and a coffee, and then, well……My wife and son took the subway back.

I decided to take a walk (4 miles total from Time Out Market to Little Island) again and appreciate all of this wonder around me one more time. Who knows how many more of these walks I have? I found a place to have a beer, the Drift Inn, appropriately named if you ask me, and soaked it all in. Eventually, I returned to where our journey began and reunited with my family at the Time-Out Market. We looked at the carousel, illuminated against the backdrop of Manhattan’s bright lights across the river, and headed towards it. Hugo gleefully rode the carousel, and we savored the enchanting summer evening.

Admiring the majestic Manhattan Bridge, comparable in beauty and grandeur to Mount Brooklyn, we marveled at the scene. Ivy took some photos, and I took even more. Sitting at the carousel’s base, surrounded by bridges, buildings, and lights, I wondered to myself if this was the defining travel photograph of my life.

There are few better ways to experience the George Washington Bridge than at Fort Lee Historic Park.