Fourth of July 2021

This 4^th, Lauren and I had a really nice time in the city. The day’s adventures consisted of a COVID test, Persian food, a bike ride across the East River, a lazy trip back home, and then fireworks on the Hudson.

COVID Test?

While vaccinated, we were planning on flying to Aruba on the 7^th. Immigration on the island requires COVID tests between 4 and 72 hours before arrival. Most tests turn around in 24-48 hours. Our local clinic was closed on the 5^th. As such, there was the possibility that we wouldn’t have our test ready in time to fly. It might have been OK, but with beach time precious and the expense non-trivial, we thought we’d fly more comfortably with our tests in hand before we showed up at the airport. This lead to the weird situation of needing to get our rapid test on the 4^th. The clinic is located near my work in Midtown East, so a bike ride along my commute path seemed like a fun way to deal with a less-than-fun obligation. That was our first stop.

We biked over to the clinic and found ourselves getting swabbed right under the tramway from Manhattan to Roosevelt island, right up the way from the access ramp to the Queensboro Bridge which goes over Roosevelt Island, and finishes in Long Island City.

Persian Lunch After

With our tests completed, we began looking for lunch. We biked over to 3^rd avenue and started biking up the northbound bike path looking for something. Not two blocks later, I heard Lauren call “Steven” as she bade me stop. She had found a Persian restaurant. Persian is one of her favorite cuisines and was a special treat from the Orange County of her youth. Having tried her storied restaurant (“Caspian”), I can confirm, it’s pretty good. We’ve only had Persian once or twice here in NYC and it’s been years since we’ve done so, so this was a pretty special moment. We stopped and ate at Ravagh Persian Grill. We had generous portions of Cornish game hen and cherry rice.

Over the Bridges

After lunch, we took the Queensboro bridge over to Queens and then biked a smaller bridge from Queens onto Roosevelt Island. RI is a small community that’s mostly residential save for a few small shops and a library to support the community. We made a loop around its bike path and, well, that was kind it. It’s a scenic ride where you get to see a different view on the stores, roads, and boats in and about the East River, but that’s about it. As we rounded the Southern end of the island, we came to the tram stop and climbed aboard bikes and all, back to the E59^th and 3^rd nexus.

Back in Bedlam

We headed up to a nearby grocery store and put some snacks and beers in the ol' saddlebags. We also stopped by a Nut House and got candy and well…nuts. I remember growing up with Morrow’s Nut houses in the mall (chocolate turtles for me and gummy bears for my sister), so the rediscovery that this type of store had not gone the way the way of the dodo under the onslaught of “Dylan’s Candy” or “It’s Sugar” was a bit of a comfort to me. It smells fantastic and they also brew Brooklyn Roast beans there. Hot coffee on a hot day was not in the cards, but the smells took me back to a less commercial candy-house time.

Park Respite

It was a hot day as we headed into Central Park, so we found a copse on the East side and pulled the bikes into the shade and sat down. We whiled away some time listening to music and talking and enjoying the all-too-appropriate Westhampton beach blonde beer and imagining our looming vacation. We then biked home, picked up Byron from day care, and had dinner.

Evening Fireworks

That evening, as the skies darkened around 8:30, we biked down to the Chelsea Piers area to watch the New Jersey fireworks. Our first summer in NYC, we went to the Macy’s East River fireworks and it was such a crowd: bathrooms were hard to find, access is controlled by the NYPD, you’re largely left out in the sun to bake for hours before the main event, etc. It’s basically New Year’s Eve in Times Square level misery, but in summer instead of winter. As such, we go for the more-sedate West-side show because, when it’s done, we can get home pretty easily. This year, with our bicycles, we felt like royalty of the island knowing we weren’t going to have to pile into densely-packed train cars.

From this position, we were able to see some of the East River show as well as the Hudson show.

After

After the show, we climbed back and had an uninterrupted bike ride from 18^th street back into the 80’s. Our legs were tired at the end of that bike ride after all the riding we had done earlier in the day! It was a wonderful and outdoor way to celebrate the occasion after last years had been scotched by the pandemic.

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