Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Circling Manhattan

After being disappointed at the Flea Market we realized we were not too far from the piers where the Circle Line cruises pulled out so we headed over there just in time to catch the 3-hour around-the-island tour. Here's a little trick my Blog Wrangler pulled off as she stood by me at the ticket window::
"Do you have a Senior Discount rate?"
That saved us a big chunk of change and No, there was nothing posted anywhere saying that a Senior rate was even available. Be advised that you need to look vaguely like a senior to have this trick work.

Even though the day was sunny it was cold and windy so it wasn't a problem to get a seat on the upper deck, outside. There had previously been a fire on the Harlem River Bridge so cruise lines couldn't go there because of debris in the water so the around-the-island turned out to be up the East side and back and then up the West side. We were pleased anyway with our cruise.

Our commentator/guide was very amusing and articulate and easy to understand. Like most guides he was full of trivia and pointed out a LOT of stuff that you just can't see unless you are on the river.


Here's some trivia for you: The Citigroup/Citicorp building was designed incorrectly. Just before it was finished, a design engineer spoke to a group of students about the design of the building. One student asked the proverbial "dumb question": If the supports are on the sides of the building instead of the corners, won't it be a stability problem during high winds?" The engineer dismissed his question but the next day realized the student had a point. Not only was he correct, it was just a few months away from summer hurricane season . . . . The answer is here.

The moral of the story is: There is no such thing as a dumb question.

Here's a bonus trivia bit: The angled roof line was supposed to be for solar panels for energy. But they got the angle wrong and the panels don't face the sun correctly.

The main lesson of our Circle Line cruise was this: Wear a lot warmer clothes than you think you'll need. We froze our butts off and I came home 3 days later with a bad cold. Never fear, eventually you will be seeing more blog pictures of Yours Truly in Times Square on Halloween Night. I was dressed up as a Tourist.

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