Island Hopping

Last weekend, Lee and I went out to Governors Island for a lesson in bike riding. The island was used as a military facility by British and American forces for over 200 years, and now it has been converted into a giant park space open to the public. The island still has all the old buildings intact, and it is really charming and peaceful -- and car-free! The free ferry was a really quick ride out to the island (literally under five minutes), and we had a lot of fun exploring. Lee's bike riding lesson was a success! No training wheels, no assistance necessary... We rented our bikes from the folks at Bike and Roll, and the island is so small that it really doesn't take much time to travel the entire perimeter. Here are some shots of Lee on wheels:





It sort of felt like we were kids again, riding up and down suburban streets lined with cute houses like this one:


This church is now home to a light installation project -- which, really, was sort of weird and creepy when we went inside:


The open fields on the island are perfect for picnics, and Manhattan makes an amazing backdrop!


For lunch, we headed over to the Water Taxi Beach for hot dogs and fries. There was actually an old guy laying out on the sand in a Speedo as if it were a real beach, not imported sand on a corner of an island in the Hudson! (My apologies, no photo of that beautiful sight). Here's a photo of the beach -- again, Manhattan works nicely in the background.




Downtown Manhattan:


Governors Island ferry... we couldn't decide if we were goats or sheep.


Nice view of the island from the ferry:


Downtown Manhattan again:




Brooklyn:


The Dirty Jerz:


Governors Island was a very fun (and free) place to spend a beautiful day, and I definitely think we'll be going back! It would be lovely to bring a picnic and relax on the grassy fields with friends. Can't wait to go back before the summer ends!