Manhattan Walk

So cleeeeeeeear back on April 19th my friend Chris Vermillion organized a group to walk the length of the Manhattan.  (I'm just barely blogging about it two and a half months late because this post took almost as long as the walk itself.)

The island is about 13 miles from the tippy top to the very bottom, however with the bit of zig-zagging we did it was about 16 miles or so.  Some people joined in and dropped out at various parts of the trip, but we made it the whole way!

It was the absolute most beautiful day; honestly, couldn't have been any more perfect.

We met on the bridge that connects Manhattan and the Bronx, at about 10am.

It was seriously so awesome.  We went down the west side, following Broadway till we got to Central Park, and after the park headed down 6th Avenue, until branching off from the group and just heading south on various streets.  

We saw the following areas: Washington Heights, Inwood, Harlem, Central Park, Midtown, the Fashion District, Union Square, the Village, China Town, SoHo, NYU, TriBeCa, the Financial District, and Battery Park City.  It's crazy how you can honestly cross one street and the neighborhood changes so drastically.

On the bridge just before we took off.

Practicing my boxing along the way...

The only free standing house in all of Manhattan.

My old chapel in Harlem.

Lots of these stores way uptown.

Chels caught a picture of me taking a picture.

Me and Chris.  Love him.

That whole group crossing the street is with us.

Maybe Chels and I stopped in for a little treat....

It took me a while but I finally worked up the courage to go for it, our photographer had left by the time I finally did though.  I was kind of a pansy for a long time.

Curtis and I have hot legs.

Chris Vermillion

After four miles or so we made it to 110th Street at the north end of Central Park.

My feet needed a break for a minute.

We came across a random school group and this kid was trying to get some attention.  We all had a good laugh.

Checking out the skyline with the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir.

Spring had finally sprung!!  The flowers were gorgeous!!

I love the tulips.  They're all over the city.

Everyone grabbed lunch at various places in the Time Warner building, and then we all relaxed in the center of Columbus Circle.

More tulips at Columbus Circle.

Trump Tower

That area by the fountains is where we ate lunch.

The red double decker bus is one of the best things to do if you're a first time tourist.

The twin buildings.  I love these buildings.  Back when I lived on West 112th Street sometimes I'd run the 2 1/2 miles down 8th Avenue along Central Park to Columbus Circle and when I could first see the tops of these buildings peaking out from the trees of the park I'd get the boost of motivation I needed to get to that point.

Curtis told everyone to strike a pose, apparently I'm the only one that got the memo.

The Chrysler Building is my favorite building in the city.

Bryant Park, right by my office!  At this point we're on 6th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets.

Herald Square, 34th Street

Empire State Building, 32nd Street

Gotta love the illegally recorded dvds.  Any movie that comes out in the theaters is for sale on the street the next day for $5.

The Flat Iron Building rivals the Chrysler Building for my favorite.  It's SO cool.  Right by Madison Square Park (and the Shake Shack...mmmm) at 23rd Street.

Seriously, coolest building.

Union Square, a zoo at the markets on the weekends, 14th Street.

The Empire State Building and the Credit Suisse Building.  Not the best photo to see the buildings, but the CS building has a really cool clock that lights up on it at night.

So at 8th Street Curtis and I branched off to go see Washington Square Park.  When we got there we saw them filming an episode of Sesame Street.  It was actually pretty cool to watch.

So I was really excited to see the Washington Square Arch.  For months Curtis and I have seen so many movies based in New York and every time we see the arch in a movie I say, "Where is that???"  When we got down by NYU Curtis realized that maybe it was in Washington Square Park so we branched off and I finally got to see it!  I had a total tourist moment, felt a little weird, but I didn't care.

Random art on the side of a building.

We made it beyond the numbered streets into SoHo (South of Houston street for you non-New Yorkers.  And it's pronounced like HOUSE-ton, not Houston, Texas.)

I loved how this restaurant was totally open with people sitting halfway inside and halfway outside.

There was so much artwork along the sidewalk.  Loved it.

These little figures were so cool.  They're made from little pieces of mesh, kind of like the material on screen doors.

Aaaaand a random cello player on the sidewalk.

Some of the street graffiti is actually really cool.

We just thought this building was really weird; no windows????

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of my favorite sights in the city.

This was my reaction when Curtis had me completely convinced that he wanted to get a cab for the last mile or so of the walk since we were downtown and in an area we've already walked a million times.  I was determined to walk the whole thing.  Luckily, he was just kidding.

City Hall

The Marriot, and Ground Zero.

Tower 7 of World Trade

The Trinity Church.  Love love love walking out of my building every Sunday to the sound of the church bells.

And the graveyard next to the church, and more tulips.

Down my street, my favorite Chinese restaurant.

The Wall Street Bull (not actually on Wall Street.)

The Peace Sphere, taken from World Trade after the Twin Towers collapsed, and put down in Battery Park City.

The Eternity Flame, in remembrance of those lost on 9/11.  The fire is always burning.

The tourist traps...

Can't step foot outside without seeing a million pigeons, aka, rats with wings.

Street performers.  They were really good.

Lady Liberty

Kinda creepy?

The last of us, running to the end.  This was actually super exciting.

The final group shot.

On the walk back to the apartment we saw them filming Taking Pelham, 1, 2, 3 with Denzel Washington (although no DW sightings, boo.)

We finished the walk around 6ish and were beyond exhausted.  So hungry, tired, and just beat.  My legs and feet and back hurt so badly.  I was so happy that I lived downtown and could walk the couple blocks home instead of having to get on a subway (running local since it was the weekend) and head way uptown.

We seriously had so much fun.  I'm so glad we did the whole thing.  It was so amazing to see the whole city in a day.  Granted, we missed out on parts of the east side, but it was such a neat and new way to see my city.