High Line Park

When we went to see the fireworks on the 4th, we found High Line Park. It was closed then and we didn't get to see it so we went back yesterday to explore it. The High Line is a park built upon old, abandoned elevated railway tracks that were a part of the industrial portion of Manhattan. They renovated a section of the old tracks running through the meat packing district and converted it into a park. Here is a view of one end of the park.

Part of what makes the park really cool are the great views of the surrounding city and Hudson River. That and it's elevated. I've never been on an elevated park before. Chalk up another new experience for Jessica. It's a park on the second story.

We could see the pier that we watched the fireworks from.

The plant life in the park was pretty. It wasn't heavily manicured, but just appeared to be growing naturally. There were lots of varieties that I recognized and that can be found growing in Idaho. There were ornamental grasses, purple coneflowers, coreopsis, yarrow, smoketree and lots of other varieties of plants. I really liked it a lot. Without all of the people and the surrounding buildings I could have almost imagined being at home in Idaho.

You can still see the train tracks in portions of the park.

A lot of the buildings were built over and around the tracks when they were in use, so the park passes through and under a few buildings as it winds through the city. There is a sheltered portion where we found these cool windows. We hung out there a little while, because the shade provided a nice break from the heat.

I liked the jutting lines on the edges of the planted portion. In some areas, these spaces are filled with growing plants. The effect is pretty cool.

You can even see The Statue of Liberty from the park. She is the tiny gray dot in the center of the picture below.

Another cool thing about the park and the portion of the city it's in is that it puts you up in the middle of lots of cool buildings, and funky architecture. We walked right by windows of apartments located halfway up the buildings. I don't know if I would like having a public park running right outside my living room or bedroom window. I'd definitely be keeping my curtains closed.

Empire State Building in the distance.

Towards the end of the High Line there was a portion of lawn that you could sit on and enjoy. We found a cart selling popsicles, and after purchasing a couple, sat down in a shady spot to rest our feet and enjoy our cold treats. You can see how close the park is to the surrounding buildings/apartments in the pic below.

Loved the blooming flowers!

Here is a portion of the old tracks that have not been restored yet.

After the park, we walked over to the Hudson River. Along the way, Brian decided to show off his muscles of magnitude.

We also walked by a trapeze school. Brian has actually heard about this place before and has always wanted to go since. He got so excited when he realized what it was and started running down the sidewalk to the open door to peek inside. I think he would have signed up for a lesson right there and then if I would have let him. Maybe next time, when we can afford it. :)

Brian snapped a picture through the opening in the chain link fence.

We found this funky table that we wanted to sit at and eat lunch. However, the sun was so bright reflecting off the table and Brian's sunglasses that we decided to opt for a spot with more shade near the edge of the water.

In front of the Hudson River. You can see the huge cruise ship coming down the river in the background. We saw two of these ships while we were there. It got us wishing we could go on a cruise... maybe we'll have to look into that.

There were tons of sailboats, jet skis and people in kayaks on the river. I loved watching the sail boats.

All in all it was a pretty fabulous day! I love Saturdays, because we get to explore New York and spend our whole day together.