Water Taxi Wonders
Fresh air, history. and a great view of New York City
The starting point is Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport. The tour
boat, itself, is a bright yellow (with strategically placed black
checkerboard blocks) double decker catamaran. Traveler stood on line and
overheard people worrying and mumbling, estimating their chances to get
a seat on the top deck. Traveler raced on but chose seats below.
Traveler couldn’t help it. The nice fat cushiony high backed seats were
so appealing— you know, the European ones, old blue plush with all the
red and yellow and blue and green sprinkles, like you find on the
airport bus in Europe.
At the start of our 90-minute cruise, Lee the Water Taxi Guide
introduced himself and noted that those seated downstairs would soon
have a chance at an uncluttered view by just stepping outside the cabin.
But of course. What a relief. And what a triumph.
Lee also served as the DJ. At various times during the trip, music
shimmied out of the speakers.
After we started out and the boat turned left, we played the game of,
“Oh Look.”
It goes like this:
“Oh
look, there's the South Street Seaport! Oh look, there's the Staten
Island Ferry and Battery Park and Battery Park City, Oh look at the sun
making glowing ovals that pop and sparkle off
the
colored glassy buildings.
Oh look, there’s Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
As we approached Bedloe’s Island, the home of the Statue, people started
streaming out of the downstairs cabin.
Lee said don't worry if you're on the wrong side of the boat because
we're going to stop the boat and going to turn the boat around, line
that statue up behind you and take your picture.
Now a word about this. They
actually stopped the boat for 10 minutes or more. The crew leaped out
and offered to take your picture whenever you want with your camera.
Could it get any more exciting?
Yes!
A man, wearing a forest green Abercrombie and Fitch T-shirt, emerged
from the huddled masses on the deck, was handed a microphone by Lee and
turned to a woman wearing a black and white blouse and pants.
He looked into her eyes, and asked "do you want to marry me?"
He handed her the microphone.
"Yes," she said.
From his pocket he produced a small box, opened it and presented the
ring. There was joy all
around. It seems they were
German tourists, and he saw fit to pop the question in front of the
Statue of Liberty. Now
that's democracy in action.
Traveler wondered if Lee were empowered to perform the ceremony, but
apparently that did not come up.
Meanwhile, the tour continued.
We sped away from the Statue of Liberty to the tune of Peggy Lee's
"Fever." It looked as if we
were making straight for the Staten Island ferry.
But no... the water plays tricks on a sense of distance.
Cheated death again!
Now, a police helicopter flew right over our boat.
As the sun grew more rosy golden, it was fun to go back and forth
between the cabin and the deck. The breeze caressed; and
actually having fresh air was such a refreshing surprise.
Now
they're playing nice oldies like the Supremes as the boat goes all the
way up to the Water Taxi’s cute little beach opposite 35th St in
Manhattan.
The
lights were twinkling on the buildings in midtown
East Side Manhattan —the Chrysler building, Empire State
building, the whole shebang.
The silvery half moon above in the evening sky is the brightest light of
all. Even the annoying red
check logo of the Verizon building down by the Brooklyn Bridge doesn't
look too bad.
Marvelous? No. Breathtaking? No. Awesome? No. Interesting? Bingo!
It’s certainly an achievement in plumbing and perhaps a mildly
interesting art experience. At dusk and in the dark, however, the New
York Waterfalls possess a strange beauty.
Not coincidentally, lights play across the falls, and the metal
structures are
And as we headed toward the seaport, the synth rhythms and operatic arias of Coco de Mer played on the sound system.
The trip was a blast. The crew couldn’t have been friendlier or more
helpful.
