vip in the city

Working Harbor cruise

The co-workers surprised me this afternoon with a Carvel cake. I probably had one of these to commemorate every birthday until I graduated from high school – and truth be told, even a few more after that – so the sight of that familiar red gel icing spelling out “Happy Birthday Vanessa” really brought me back. Demonstrating the advances cake decoration has made since the 1980s, this one even had edible confetti sprinkled over the top — very festive! Sure, there are better ice cream cakes to be had out there, but on the basis of nostalgia alone, you just can’t beat Carvel. And who doesn’t love those chocolate crunchies?

I slipped out of the office a little early to meet Mom at South Street Seaport. Weeks earlier, I had signed up for a two hour “Sunset Hidden Harbor Tour,” a charity event for the Working Harbor Committee, an organization whose mission is “to strengthen awareness of the working harbor’s history and vitality today, and its opportunities for the future.”

This morning’s downpour made way for perfect sailing weather this evening: mid-70s, clear skies, low humidity. After signing in at the kiosk on Pier 16, we boarded the 143–foot luxury yacht Zephyr for the tour that brought us into the Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey ports and terminals… all the way through the Kill van Kull to the Bayonne Bridge. Along the way, we passed tugboats, container ships and sailboats, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Red Hook’s new cruise ship terminal (and Fairway Market), Governors Island, and (as required of all New York Harbor cruises): the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Captain John Doswell, Executive Director of the Working Harbor Committee, was on board to provide narration for the Zephyr’s 300+ passengers. Doswell, a very active member of the waterfront community, founded the Friends of Hudson River Park, and is part-owner of the retired fireboat John J. Harvey.

About two-thirds of the way through the sunset cruise, I finally figured out how to work the “Color Accent” setting on my Canon PowerShot – just one full year into ownership, heh!

What a beautiful day! Check out the full flickr set here.

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