After quite a few unexpectedly glorious days, it was about time for some gloom, and we got it. Toss in a few drizzles as well. But we have places to be.
The ferries across the Sound come and go every hour and their path is directly across the path we needed to take out of the marina. The one this morning was the P.T. Barnum. There may be a sucker born every minute, but we’re smart enough to time our departure. This time we left in front of the ferry, however, rather than waiting. Brent would’ve been proud.
As a bonus, the Sound was smooth all the way to City Island. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to see through the haze. Hey look! It’s Stamford, Connecticut!
And Oyster Bay. Teddy Roosevelt’s house is back up in there somewhere but we couldn’t spot it.
The sun started creeping out just as we passed Execution Rocks Lighthouse.
We looked it up. Maybe early Americans executed some prisoners by chaining them to the rocks at low tide. Maybe the British chained up some revolutionaries. Maybe a serial killer dumped bodies there. Maybe none of that happened. There isn’t a consensus. At one point it was a B & B but that seems to have gone by the wayside.
Just before City Island—our destination—sits Hart Island, former site of a Civil War prison.
Those poor brave Sons of the South. New York is nice to visit but we wouldn’t want to live here.
The clouds were gone by the time we tied up at Minneford. Bronx, New York.
We immediately could tell we were in New York by the crime wave.
Up here, even the wildlife are pushy. When Doug was hosing off the salt, a goose stopped by and demanded a fresh-water shower.
The photo sucks because it came from about fifteen minutes of shaky phone video we took, but the dude kept swimming back and forth and fluffing his wings in the spray. Doug was afraid to stop but then we got hungry.
One last highlight. From the boat we can see the New Rochelle skyline.
New Rochelle is famous for being the home of Rob and Laura Petrie and their zany neighbors Jerry and Millie. And their not-funny-at-all son Ritchie, who was the complete weak link in an otherwise all-star cast.
Tomorrow a short trip down the East River to the Hudson to close the Down East Circle.
We are always proud of the Belknaps!
😊😊
Closing in on finishing the Down East Circle, I’m afraid this is going to mean an end to the seafaring Belknaps blog, which will make me sad. I can’t tell y’all how much I’ve enjoyed following and learning from your adventure. I plan to follow in your footsteps, or rather wake, in a few years. I’ve read every word of your great loop twice, and will likely read all of it again, because I’m a geek sometimes. If indeed the boating adventure is reaching its conclusion, I would like to toss out an idea: buy a big ole RV (really a land yacht, no?) and do a Great loop of The whole country…and, of course, write a blog about it. I’m telling ya, I smell a book deal in the future…..douganddanaandaboatandarvadventure.book. Maybe the title needs a little tweaking, but folks like me would definitely buy a copy.
All the best,
Greg D
We don’t think we’re RV people, but thanks for the kind words. We’ll be in Chattanooga the last two week of November. Come on down and meet us for dinner someplace . . .