We found a high hill overlooking the Susquehanna River. The far bridge is the interstate, but we took the old road, the one showing only two partial spans just a bit closer.
On the hill, we also found the Mason-Dixon trail, and walked it for a few feet.
Back on the road, after a short time, our eventual destination popped up on the navigation app.
From our New Jersey hotel parking lot, we can see across the Hudson and into (Upper) Manhattan. We’re staying here because it’s easier to deal with the car (free parking), yet still access the city.
We took a bus across to Port Authority, and walked out of the terminal and, tadah, lookee there! Also, our noses were assailed by a strong whiff of weed-smoke, which turned out to be the common street-perfume of today’s Manhattan.
We walked down to see the Flatiron Building, and discovered it is covered in a layer of scaffolding, and looks bulky and strange.
We also passed by two sides of the Empire State Building. The upper floors look less scruffy than the basal floors.
For a change of pace, here’s a statue of Minerva and two bell-ringers. A Smithsonian webpage says:
A granite niche flanked by pilasters supporting an entablature and attic with clock faces on the north and south sides. Standing in the niche is a figure of Minerva bearing a spear and shield. She has serpents entwined around her arms and breastplate, and she holds her proper right arm out. An owl, whose green eyes used to blink, is perched on top of a bell in front of her. Two bellringing blacksmiths, known as Stuff and Gruff, rotate at the waist and appear to hit the bell with their heavy hammers. Their hammers stop three inches from the bell while a mallet hidden inside a box behind the bell actually strikes the hour.
I thought the owl’s eyes looked odd; now I know why. I’m now slightly sad we didn’t hear the bell toll, but that’s what can happen when you do your research after the fact.
Ah, that’s enough high-points from a brief exploration of Midtown Manhattan….