[Paddlewise] New York City Trip Report

Since I absolutely prefer tropical beaches with palm trees to concrete 
canyons, it was out of a sense of motherly guilty that I went up for a 
five-day visit.  After four years in New York, my son felt it was mother's 
turn to visit him.  

Fortunately, I had arranged to call Ralph Diaz the day after arrival which I 
did, and we made plans to meet at the now-famous Downtown Boathouse.

We skirted Lady Liberty (it was 10:30 a.m. and they had already reached the 
day's limit for ascent), and went ashore to see the Ellis Island Museum.  
What I expected to be a one-hour tour took us 3 1/2 (the Tom Brokaw 
audio-cassette guided tour was excellent) hours and we could have easily 
spent another half hour but had to rush for our rendez-vous with Ralph.  For 
me the piece de resistance was actually sitting on the same "hard, wooden 
benches" that the immigrants sat on while they waited to see what their fate 
would be.  

After so much introspection and "heavy" touring, it was absolutely fabulous 
to get out on the water.  There's a huge power-boat-free (Ralph said it was 
approximately the size of five football fields) area where visitors 
(equipment use is FREE) can paddle around.  The swells were very noticeable.  
We went on a double SOT, and then I paddled Ralph's K-Light while my son went 
on a single.  I felt as if I had cheated (You went to NYC and went kayaking?) 
and got away with it.  Kind of like beating the system.  Oodles of folding 
kayaks stored on the racks...

Meeting Ralph was like running into an old friend.  Delightful and ever so 
congenial.  The volunteers who helped us were equally friendly.  This is an 
incredible freebie that requires a lot of time and money for the boats and 
ancillary equipment.   CONGRATULATIONS AND THANKS TO ALL THE DOWNTOWN 
BOATHOUSE MEMBERS. 

Another "heavy" moment was seeing JFK Jr.'s and his wife's boats.  They had 
been wrapped and were chained to a post pending instructions from the estate 
administrators.

Ralph, I promise it was not planned, but I must admit that having the 
occasion to visit your apartment to pick up my watch was another bonus.  
Loved looking over your books and seeing the lovely balcony.  Many thanks.  
You and your wife are more than welcome to stay with me in Miami.  Lots of 
wide open spaces...from the back deck!

We visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and OD'd on the incredible array of 
art treasures.  The Egyptian exhibit was awesome, as were the Tiffany 
collection and, my favorite, impressionist paintings.

Saw the IMAX presentation of the Old Man and the Sea.  After an introductory 
bio on Hemingway, we watched the story unfold from animated paintings!!  Did 
lots of walking and getting around via subway and taxi - thorughly exhausting.

Most of the last three days were spent helping my son paint his apartment (I 
was prepared).  We really had a lot of "quality" time together and it was 
absolutely wonderful.  He is 26 (my daughter is 31 but I keep telling her to 
lie about her age - makes me seem old - NOT!!!) and great company.  

We painted through recordings of Evita and Les Miz and he explained them to 
me.  I have seen both stage productions, but he could explain each 
song/scene.  When he comes to Miami he's usually off with his friends to SoBe 
(South Beach) and we spend less time together.

BTW, I was able to check my messages - Paddlewise mail is approximately 50-60 
a day!!  I really had to do a lot of deleting even knowing that sometimes the 
subject line and the content have diverged!

Happy paddles...

Sandy Kramer
Miami, Florida

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