Sunday, May 24, 2009

We spent the morning cleaning the inside of the boat before leaving for the 79th Street Marina in Manhattan at around 2:30 pm. We were surprised by the number of pleasure boats using New York Harbor – it reminded us of Clear Lake on a busy Memorial Day weekend. Passing by the Statue of Liberty again was very special since we were able to get a little closer to her than we could last evening. We put the headsail up to help us with the current and the tide in the Hudson River and we were able to get to the marina by 5 pm to meet Gale’s nephew and his spouse, Chris & Lindsay Goranson, who make their home in Manhattan. We were planning a barbecue on the boat with Chris & Lindsay and when we arrived at the marina they greeted us with a large bouquet of lilacs, wine, and meat for the grill! What a wonderful meal we shared with them! We had a nice time visiting on board Blue Heron and enjoyed the view of Manhattan as the sun set. To cap off a marvelous evening, Chris brought a copy of Lindsay’s movie, Plaguetown, in which she plays a leading role. The film was fun to watch and we were impressed with Lindsay’s performance. Too bad we forgot to ask for her autograph!! Since the Blue Heron was tethered on a mooring buoy, Gale took Lindsay and Chris back to the dock in our dinghy. The lights of Manhattan were all around and it truly was a spectacular view. After returning to Blue Heron he asked Maureen to go out for a dinghy ride. We enjoyed the lights of the city together before bedtime.