This is my third spring in New York. But, this year, for the first time, I feel like I'm discovering some of the special spots that people don't write about in guide books.

Yesterday, I ran down by the Hudson River in the early afternoon. The river was bustling with activity. Two tugboats were shepherding a long slender barge toward Battery Park, moving their angle on either side of the barge's bow to steady it against the current. Above the path that paralells the river, I went into the Boat Basin Cafe. ( See picture above ) I could smell the hamburgers on the outdoor grill. Most of the outside tables were full of local folks, soaking up rays as they ate summer food. I love this place. It sits over an overpass to the West Side Highway, so you'd think it was noisy and dirty. But it just isn't. It's this great tucked away place that requires a little work if want to go there--across Riverside Drive, avoiding all the 79th Street traffic coming off the highway. There are no signs to speak of, you kind of have to know it's there. I got a diet coke at the bar, wishing I had finished my run so I could have a hamburger and a beer. But I didn't.

I ran along the river from 79th down to 40th Street past the Intrepid, the huge aircraft carrier, past Circle Line Tours
( one of my first memories of Manhattan at 17 when my father took me on their great 4 hour boat tour of the island ), and finally to Pier 79 where New York Waterways ferries shuttle commuters to Hoboken, Weehawken and Jersey City. The good part of that particular run is that I don't have to do a U turn and run back home. If I've run the distance I need to, I treat myself to a cab ride home--nothing very exciting about doing loops in my view!

On the way home, I noticed that there are brand new flower beds full of hyacinths and tulips in the park surrounding The Museum of Natural History. The whole park smelled like damp earth.
M.C.