Sailor's Valentines at South Street Seaport Museum

The day after City of Water Day, we attended an awesome craft workshop at the South Street Seaport Museum, where we made sailor's valentines. Kev and I sat off to the side after setting Mikro up at one of the craft tables. The folks running the workshop came over and invited us to participate too, so we did. It was a lot of fun and kind of meditative. Here are our pieces:





Afterwards, we toured the museum.









The Seaport Museum is in trouble, and it really needs support. New Yorkers, if you enjoy offerings like this and want to see a NYC landmark survive, please show your support by visiting, or even better yet, becoming a member of the museum. I would hate to see this local treasure disappear!

After enjoying the museum, we had lunch on Pier 17, which was open for business despite the previous day's pier fire. Pizzeria Uno had an awesome frozen tropical nonalcoholic drink that my food allergic boy was able to enjoy. His dad and I indulged in one of their decadent desserts. Yum (and the pizza was great, too). Perfect meal on a hot summer day. Afterward, we wandered through the shops and took in the view from the pier, including the people learning to fly on the trapeeze nextdoor. We also had a wonderful view of the Clipper City coming into port.













Clipper City:


















This is where the FDNY cut some holes in the pier in dealing with the fire the day before.



On the way to the subway, we stopped to have a look at the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse:

City of Water Day, Part 3: Hidden Harbor Cruise and Fire on Pier 17

After enjoying the activities on Governors Island, we headed to the pier to catch our ride on a New York Waterways Ferry for a Hidden Harbor Cruise, which showed us New York Harbor as working seaport. We also got an awesome view of the Statue of Liberty. The bells on the harbor bouys ringing in the waves sounded almost like church bells, a strangely comforting sound. I would love to have a tape of it to fall asleep by.























Along the way, we had front row seats for a dramatic fire on Pier 17 and the efforts of the crew of The Shark, a tour boat berthed nearby, to control the fire until FDNY arrived on scene soon after. Watching the fireboat deploy her water cannon and knock down the fire made this one boat ride we will never forget.

Thankfully, the fire was quickly extinguished and no one was injured. It was eerie to watch clouds of smoke blanket lower Manhattan, and gave us the chills as we remembered another day when New York was not so fortunate...

City of Water Day, Part 2: Governors Island

After the Circle Line dropped us off on Governors Island, we had a quick picnic lunch (and an awesome guava smoothie) and then checked out the activities. Mikro enjoyed all of the nature oriented exhibits and hands on displays featuring aquatic life. He had a blast playing wetlands jeopardy. He also had fun making a wetlands puppet (a spider crab) and petting a male bearded dragon named Bruce who was bigger than his female beardie, Amicus. Kev and Mikro toured the Canal Boat Urger, which I admired from the pier. We also learned about the steel clad civil war ship, the Monitor.



















































What a fun day! And it wasn't over yet.