I sadly somehow haven’t seen my old roommate Nicole since we moved out of our old place in Hell’s Kitchen. I would have invited her to do her 28 Things suggestion with me, but I knew she wasn’t interested. She is not into having water from the Hudson River hit her in the face, but didn’t seem to mind suggesting it to me.

#12 Take a ride on a speedboat around the city

So, because I’m not a liar, I will say that Nicole actually suggested that I take a ride on the Beast, not just any old speedboat. I made an executive decision to instead to take a ride on the Shark which looks exactly the same to me, because I found discounted tickets and this 28 Things project has not been light on my wallet. Both the Beast and the Shark are run by Circle Line.

I certainly love being out on the water, whether a row boat in the pond at Central Park, a kayak on the West Side, or the Staten Island Ferry, A few weekends ago, Aubrey and I went down to the South Street Seaport on an absolutely gorgeous day and hopped in line for the Shark.

The ride was so much fun! It was basically a mobile nightclub but during the day and without any creepy guys. They played loud music through the speakers and gave shoutouts to the skyscrapers and islands we passed. People on the boat were dancing and wooing and had their arms up like they were on a rollercoaster. It was actually quite a thrill. We were going a lot faster than I thought we would, went over every wave, leaned to each side as if we were going to flip quite a few times, and did get hit with plenty of water, although the other side of the boat had it a lot worse than us. The boat also paused for a few minutes in front of the Freedom Tower and the Statue of Liberty.

We also got a special surprise because the President was coming into town and we saw his three helicopters fly in and land on the dock.

When this item was first put this on my list, I was thinking of it just as a fun ride to be honest, but really, the Shark is an amazing opportunity to see the city from a different viewpoint. That particular week was the 11^th anniversary of September 11^th and was the same week we went to the Empire State Building. It was really a perfect idea to see the city from two such different views than usual that particular week. It makes you appreciate your city even more than you thought you did.

xx