We traveled 8 hours and 14 minutes in the Atlantic Ocean to reach Staten Island, Great Kills Yacht Club! We did see another boat on NEBO and traveled North in the Atlantic with Bellisssimo to New York Harbor. It was great having a buddy boat for traveling in the Atlantic. We had calm seas and a great day of travel. We saw lots of dolphins but no whales!
Great Kills Yacht Club was a great place to stay! The facilities were very nice and the Club Room was lots of fun! It reminded me of our local American Legion Post with lots of folks visiting and $2.00 draft beer! We had a great night mixing with fellow loopers from Salaud, Rikert, Steeles Aweigh and Waterview!
Left: Bellissimo (Buddy Boat)
John Calaciabetta and his wife greeted us at Great Kills Yacht Club. John makes arrangements for fellow loopers to stay at this marina at an affordable rate! He and his wife did the loop about 15 years ago and have been greeting fellow loopers ever since!
From Great Kills, Staten Island you can take a bus or the ferry to get to NYC. We took the bus and did go into Central Park. We wanted to see the Mall area of Central Park. We walked in the park and did manage to see many attractions, The Ravine, The Pool, Shakespeare Garden, Belvedere Castle, The Bow Bridge, the mall, The Carousel, The Boat house, Tavern on the Greene and much more. Central Park covers 843 acres and it is difficult to see it all in one visit.
We exited the Park near The Trump International Hotel. From there we caught a subway and went to visit China Town. We did eat lunch at Joe Shanghai Chinese Restaurant in Midtown. From there we took another subway to get to Times Square. After strolling Times Square we caught our bus back to Staten Island. We plan to re visit NYC on May 19th and 20th with Zach and Nora Jo.
Staten Island has lots to offer. We spent one day riding bikes. The Gateway National Recreation Area was nearby with bike trails along the Raritan Bay. The town has many Italian shops and restaurants. We had wonderful Pastrami for lunch and Pizza for dinner. We visited Frank and Sal’s Italian market for some hard salami and Holtermann’s Bakery for wonderful Italian pastries.
