Harbor Lights Cruise

After spending all day at the Met, we attempted to take taxis down to the Hell's Kitchen District where we had reservations for dinner. The rush hour traffic was so bad that the taxis could only get us so far, and our driver asked us to get out and walk the rest of the way haha. It was only a few blocks to the restaurant.

We had reservations at Obao, I was enchanted by the pictures of it's ambiance online, and it had really good food reviews, but their customer service left something to be desired. I won't get into the details, but basically they were trying to act like they were too fancy for us, even though we had a reservation *eye roll* 

But, their food was pretty yummy, maybe a little too sophisticated for some of the little's palates though ...

I got a creamy Thai tea which was amazing, so cold and refreshing and just the right amount of sweetness.

After dinner, we walked down to the river to catch our boat for a sunset cruise around the harbor. 

We did the Harbor Lights Cruise with Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises, it is included in the New York City Pass, and I cannot recommend this cruise enough. It is such a magical experience, we got to see breathtaking views of the one-of-a-kind New York skyline both at sunset and at night when all the lights are glittering. 

This is a map of the cruise route, it took about 2 hours.

The cruise was narrated and the dialog was both interesting and hilarious.

My favorite little buddies

We sailed under the three most well known bridges:

The Brooklyn Bridge

The longest suspension bridge when it opened in 1883, its 276’ high towers are built of limestone, granite and cement.

The Manhattan Bridge 

Constructed in 1901, the Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge, connecting Lower Manhattan with Downtown Brooklyn.

The Williamsburg Bridge 

Constructed in 1896, The Williamsburg Bridge connects the Lower East Side of Manhattan with Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

Our tour announcer taught us a handy little way of remembering the order of the bridges, their first initials in order are BMW.

A big highlight of this cruise is getting amazing views of the stoic Statue of Liberty, right at the perfect moment to get the vibrant sunset behind her.

Our boat stopped here for a while, and we were thinking it was to make sure everyone got a good picture, but then other Circle Line boats started making a semi circle around Lady Liberty.

And then, the fire boat came out and did a water show for all of us!

 Such a fun, unexpected surprise.

The spires of Ellis Island looked beautiful silhouetted against the sunset sky.

Then we got to watch the city transition from day to night....

It was so cool to see the sunset reflected in the buildings as they were being lit up for the night, it was  like having the best of both worlds.

This was one of my favorite things we did on this visit to New York. It was relaxing and exciting all at the same time, and it really is one of the best ways to get amazing views of the city.