48 Hours in NYC : High Line
High Line
40.7480° N, 74.0048° W
We completed our day in the Chelsea neighborhood with a walk through the High Line. The High Line is a relatively new park space in New York City. It’s built on an old freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side and is the perfect stop after visiting Chelsea Market —- the stairs that lead up to are literally around the corner. The High Line is reminiscent of the Promenade Plantée that we recently visited in Paris, France. There are established plants and flowers throughout the 1.45 mile-walk — look out for the white clusters of Queen Anne’s Lace in full bloom.
Multi-million dollar condos and apartments voyeuristically overlook the activity below and in turn, we wondered about who was behind the glass windows above us. It seemed there was a building boom along the High Line and it’s easy to see why —- the views are incredible and when not filled with walking tours, it looks like a pretty place for a morning jog along the boardwalk slatted maze.
There are beautiful glimpses of the Hudson River as the High Line mazes its way through the neighborhood.
And, this wonderful view of the Empire State Building….
One of the things I really liked about High Line is the way the city has incorporated sculptural art and murals along the way…. There is a new installation of Brick House (Simone Leigh) at 30th Street + 10th Avenue —- A 16 foot tall bust of a Black woman. She stands tall as a symbol of strength, endurance and integrity…. a powerful representation of the African-American women she represents.
Another standout, was this mural of the Statues of Liberty — it reminded me that not far from this neighborhood, people from various corners of the world set foot in the United States for better opportunities and the realization of dreams……. there’s a wooden deck here to sit and soak in the sun, reflect on the mural and take in the views.
Next thing we knew, it was 12:30pm……. Game Time! And, it just so happened the Yankees were playing our hometown Oakland Athletics! Now, many of you know that Kevin is a HUGE baseball fan but, you may not know his #1 team is the Yankees. Many of the players he watched as a child went on to play for the Yankees and his heart has remained there. We hopped on the Subway and found ourselves looking up at the stadium 20 minutes later.
I enjoyed watching the game from our seats near the 3rd baseline….. the men balancing their concession items as they creatively called out their items —— POPCORN H E R E! Kids sitting with their parents wearing Yankees gear that still had the tags on them. The smell of hot dogs in the air. Fans cheering on their perspective teams. And, Kevin, watching in pure heaven. On this day, the Yankees, won……. but, the series was won by The Athletics.
We hopped back on the train after the 5th inning…. savoring the remaining daylight and heading back to Times Square for our final treat of the evening - Aladdin!
Aladdin was absolutely amazing! Funny, funny, funny —- fantastic music and dancing. I think we were really surprised at how much we enjoyed it. Two thumbs up and a memorable ending to our whirlwind weekend!
We hope we’ve inspired you to take your own weekend getaway. It was a nice change of pace for us —- no time to really plan an agenda so, we had to be okay with seeing a small segment of the city. In the end, that was perfect… we were more relaxed and focused on just enjoying the time together.
Happy Travels!
