Ferry Tales of New York

I took the ferry to Fraunce's Tavern today.  It's where the Sons of Liberty decided to throw a little tea party in Boston.  It's where George Washington said his final farewell to his generals.  Herman Melville hung out there.

The museum upstairs had a lock of Washington's hair.

It was the one expensive meal I promised myself in New York, and it was worth it, I do say.  To eat a fancy meal in New York's oldest standing building is enough, really, but the food was delicious, and the service was great.  Attached via a hallway, the tavern had all sorts of beer on tap, and the crowd was lively, and the bartenders were friendly.  One of them bought me a beer.  It's all wood and brick in there with old engravings of times that have faded from living memory.  There are engravings for where locals once sat, and there is are engravings of revolutionary poems.  The place was filled, this being Friday's happy hour near Wall St., but every place is packed around there at that time.

I walked down Stone St. and imagined Melville a little more, and then I walked to Ground Zero.  I circumambulated the are where the World Trade Center once stood.  After reading so many accounts of the events that took place at Fraunce's, I feel wholly inadequate to describe the spot where last I stood stood two interminable towers only seven short years ago.  It was february 2001 when I was last in New York at the bottom of the World Trade Center, and I felt something akin to the first time I saw the Grand Canyon.  Now it is a hole filled with toil and grief.

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If you want to see other pictures of my Ferry trip.  They don't make it easy to take the ferry, only taking cash with no ATMs near the terminal, and it's still quite cold out, but the ferry was fun.  It took me from 34th St. to Pier 11, which is a quick cruise.  Loved it.