Tuesday – August 14, 2012
Today was a fun city day with my grand-daughters! After some research, the girls wanted to experience a boat ride on the Hudson River called: The Beast. Reviewed as:
Hold onto your hats and get ready for the ride of your life aboard “The Beast” speedboat! Fast, loud and funny, “The Beast” delivers spectacular views and pumping music on a New York trip that’s a rollercoaster, water ride and 30 fun-filled minutes of high-speed cruising, all in one!
The Beast Returning to Its Dock
We took the train into Grand Central Station and, since it was lunch time, we walked to a Japanese restaurant on 49th Street called Sushiden. The girls have sophisticated palates and enjoy eating unusual food like escargot, spicy dishes, kale, and Japanese sushi rolls. No “Kid’s Menu”! No Micky D’s or Bubba Gumps for them! At Sushiden, we enjoyed dried squash, salmon skin, real crab’s legs, and yellowtail rolls and miso soup.
Personalizing M&Ms
After lunch, the girls spotted the M&M’s Store near Times Square and wondered what was inside. Since we didn’t know, we stopped in to find all-things with Ms written on them: cups, hats, shirts, bags, jewelry, etc. The best treat was on the second floor where people could personalize their own M&Ms. Well fortified with their names on their M&Ms, we continued westward toward the Hudson River and The Beast.
The Beast in Its Cage
The Beast lives next to the Circle Line Tour Boats on West 42nd Street. As we watched The Beast return from its previous trip, a man with wet hair & clothes walking off the boat said to us, “Plan to get wet! Everyone gets wet!” The girls laughed and Jeff and I put on our rain jackets. The Beast is an ocean racing boat with an open deck and modified with seats for about 60 passengers.
Instructing the Passengers
As we boarded, my older grand-daughter asked the crewman where were the wettest seats. He said to sit near the middle of the boat along the railing. She sat near the rail and we sat toward the middle of the boat. One of the crewmen introduced the crew and gave safety instructions. We buckled our seat belts and held on the hand rails in front of us.
New York Harbor
It was a windy ride down the Hudson River with the boat reaching a high speed of 45 mph. That’s fast on the water! Loud pounding music accompanied the ride along the Manhattan skyline. It was the fastest ride I had ever taken in a boat! And YES! It was FUN!!! :-)
The Beast went to New York Harbor near the Statue of Liberty and stopped long enough for all us tourists to take lots of photos. There were many boats in the harbor. The crew on the old wooden topsail schooner, The Clipper City, had to trim her sails to avoid hitting The Beast.
Another Way to Travel On the Water
We weren’t too wet at that time; just a little spray from the side of the boat. Then the skipper of The Beast announced to the passengers to “Hold on to the handrails. We’re gonna have some fun!” He turned the boat in a fast spiral going round and round and crashed through The Beast’s wake! A huge wave of water broke over the entire boat and we all were soaked! The skipper did that another time, spinning the boat into another wide spiral. Then another huge Splash! On the way back to the dock, The Beast skipped over other boats’ wakes crashing down and getting everyone more wet! It really was fun!! :-)