After a recently failed attempt, Tania and I tried to get onto Governor’s Island again. This time we did it right. We checked the schedule of the ferry and then made our way to Long Island City to catch it. We originally planned on meeting at 8am in the morning, but Tania was a bit late and I was too lazy to get up out of bed (after a long weekend of work).
Just as we did the first time, we decided to walk to LIC. It’s good exercise and it’s better than taking the train (as we both do every morning already). The day was very nice; the wind had a cool chill which kept us cool and the spotty patterns of clouds occasionally shaded us from the sun. The trip to the island was quick and I was very happy to explore once we got off.
We arrived on the southern end of the island (Yankee Peir), and made our way north. We noticed the historic buildings and newly paved roads. There were tons of food trucks in the area and also a lot of cyclists. The bicycle rental service on the island turned out to be a hit, and quite a lot of people were cycling around either an individual bike or a surrey.
We walked north towards the Leggitt Arch building, and then further up to Craig Road North. We had purchased delicious sandwiches while we were in queens and decided to eat them on the island for breakfast. Tania brought a blanket and I brought an empty stomach. Well, our stomach’s weren’t empty since we each ate a fruit salad while waiting for the ferry in LIC.
We didn’t have much time to spend on the Island and Tania decided we should rent a 4 seated surrey. I was up for the idea and we walked towards Castle Williams to rent our ride. On the way there we spotted a Volkswagen car show (on Wheeler Avenue and Clayton Road). There were mostly old beetles, dune buggies and some camper vans. Some of the vehicles were from the 60s and were still in very good condition. It was also nice to see that almost all of the cars seemed like they had been driven (rather than parked in a lot for an extended period of time). We managed to see all the cars and then decided to rent our surrey.
Once we saw the line we were immediately thrown away. We would have had to wait probably close to 1/2 an hour. We also could have rented individual bikes but Tania did not feel comfortable since she would have to swerve through pedestrians while riding. A bit north of our location was Castle Williams and we thought it would be great to check it out. The place sort of reminded me of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philladelphia. We toured the place, took some pictures and read about how the inmates were able to see the gradual development of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty from their cell windows.
We continued our walk towards Governor’s beach club and then ended our trip on the island by boarding on a free ferry ride into Manhattan. Though I argued otherwise, Tania insisted we purchase return tickets in Long Island City. So we not have an extra pair of tickets which expire on the 30th of September. This means we will most likely be taking a trip back soon. Maybe we will manage to swing on one of several hammocks scattered throughout the island on our next trip.
