Our family was in New York City for two days last week on our way to our vacation in Norway. In the morning, I walked about 8 miles. In the middle of the walk, I called Coach Traci to check in and to get some pointers if I decided to rent a bike later that day. As I told Traci, the morning was so beautiful and the park so lively that I found myself a few times with a few tears forming in my eyes and goose bumps on my arms. I was so thankful for the great day and that I was able to be more physically active to enjoy the day. Central Park seems like a magical place! One of the events that really touched me was when I made it up to the north end of the park on the edge of Harlem, there was a group of moms and their toddler children singing, dancing, and playing musical chairs on blankets. I was tempted to stop and join the fun, but I decided to proceed with my walk. Eventually the weather clouded up some, but I took the picture shown here with my phone camera showing a fountain, small lake, and boathouse in the background.
After the walk, I asked my wife and two sons if they were interested in renting bikes for a ride around the park. We took the 6 or 7 mile loop without the aid of an Optibike motor. With about 2 miles left, the skies opened up and it POURED buckets of cold rain. At first, it was a bit refreshing then we just got soaked. We finished the ride soaking wet, but we all agreed that the rain added to our great memories of our day in the park. Friday night, we walked to dinner, the theater (to see Jersey Boys), down to Times Square, and back.
On Saturday, we took a walking tour of several other neighborhoods… Greenwich Village, Soho, Little Italy, Chinatown, Wall Street, Ground Zero, and others. That afternoon, we headed to Newark airport for our flight to Norway. More on Norway later…
June 17, 2011 in Central Park NYC