I’m thinking of visiting all the major financial centres. London, Tokyo, Singapore & Hong Kong in the bag. Now New York, Chicago to do. Any others I wonder?

We arrived back in New York in fine weather but it soon changed to rain and then thunder storms. We were treated to a spectacular lightning display back lighting Manhattan.

It remained wet for most of our stay.

On the last day it cleared nicely

The marina was only a 20 minute ferry ride from Manhattan.

We rode on the subway, chatted to NYPD twice (asking for directions – very helpful), had a hot dog, visited chinatown and almost made it to Central Park.

We stayed the night at a marina in Halfmoon Bay, the nearest town to the marina is Ossining.  The town is known for Sing Sing prison.

From this comes the saying ‘being sent up the river’.

As we were early we passed the city and cruised up the Hudson River. 

Underneath the George Washington bridge is this little red lighthouse. It was destined for demolition after the bridge was built but a publicity campaign supported by a best selling children’s book saved the day.

We only went 30 miles up the Hudson, if we had kept going we would have ended up in Canada.

This photo will give some idea of how big it is:

After a night at anchor we got underway and headed for the big Apple.

First site of the Narrows bridge:

Rounding the corner with Manhattan in the distance:

The harbour was busy with ships, ferries, tug & barges and all the recreational boats as well.

First sight of Liberty Island with New Jersey in the background. The marina is to the left of the tall building.

Next up was Ellis Island, millions of immigrants entered the US through that building.

Next up for them was this train station

Empire State Building

Following a pleasant stay in Cape May we then set off to the north. The New Jersey coast can be a rough and we had a plan to call in at Atlantic City (Lois was going to spend all the cash at the casinos).

However the sea was calm so we continued all the way to Sandy Hook Bay south of New York and anchored for the night.

Cape May Beach

Atlantic City, as close as we got, the money was safe!

Philadelphia has a lot of history and was the site of the first constitutional convention prior to the start of the revolutionary war. Benjamin Franklin is buried here as well.

We did a lot of walking round the old city with its squares and streets made of ship’s ballast stones.

We next steamed down the length of Delaware Bay, passing Fort Delaware on the way.

Arriving from the north the best way to Cape May is via the canal to the port itself, not very long but cuts a lot of steaming out.

Cape May is said to be the oldest seaside resort town in the US. It was an attractive, quiet town with friendly citizens and some lovely old holiday villas.

The marina was very close to the old city but right under a very busy bridge and the river was also very busy. No one here had heard of the ‘no wake rule’ and we were always banging around on the floating jetty.

There was a very nice bar / eatery right next to it where we had a pleasant lunch.

Philadelphia is approached along the Delaware River, Pennsylvania to port and New Jersey to starboard.

There are a lot of old buildings which would make great projects for renovation.

One that has already been done is the old HMV building on the NJ side, now luxury apartments.