Hudson Cruising

New York City is like a second home to me. I feel like I’m there at least 10 times a year visiting friends, shopping, seeing shows, meandering or just plain relaxing in the city. However, because I am there so often, it’s very rare that I participate in a tourist-y activity. My boyfriend on the other hand is not quite as comfortable with the city and by that I mean, he hates going and wishes I had more girlfriends to go with. Every once in a while though I twist his arm into just the right position that he caves and decides to spend the day with me in the magical land that is Manhattan.

On my most recent trip into the city I was really only going to get my hair done (yes, I get my hair done in NY, shush), but once Steve said he would join me for the day we decided to figure out something to do. I rattled off a few things we hadn’t done together, Central Park, MoMa, China Town and some things we had done, the Highline, Times Square. Eventually we decided on something completely different, a Hudson River Cruise. Once we had a made a decision I headed on to Viator to find the perfect one. We decided that we wanted something that was a few hours, had some food and drinks, and that as reasonably priced. In the end we chose a New York Harbor Happy Hour Cruise. It was a 2 hour cruise with music on board, food and drinks. There were four ticket options (1) just the cruise, (2) cruise with food, (3)cruise,  food, beer and wine, or (4) cruise, food with an open bar with prices ranging from $30-108.00. We chose to do food, beer and wine for $82/per person. Our thought was, how much can you really drink in 2 hours and make it worth the cost.

In any case, we headed to the South Street Seaport for our 6pm departure, ensuring that we would at least catch a glimpse of the incredible sunset behind the city skyline. To put it lightly, we were not disappointed. Everything was perfect. I recommend getting there on the early-ish side. We were able to get a table near the railing, but there were a lot of people standing without seats. The food was buffet style and offered a lot of options. There was certainly something for everyone. There were at least 2 bars so you never had to wait long for a cocktail.

As the sun began to set behind the skyline we looped down toward the financial district and back past the statue of liberty. I am one to always want to view a city from the water, and honestly I can’t believe it took me this long to get there. This little two hour cruise is something I would do a million times over. It was relaxing, peaceful, and reminded me just how much I adore Manhattan. There really are no words.

I mean really…those views though….