Typing Monkey: biking

Showing posts with label biking. Show all posts

Monday, August 1, 2011

Jersey City on Two Wheels: Weehawken & Hamilton Park

to enjoy this panoramic view, click to enlarge

For this edition of my semi-regular photo-essay on local attractions accessible with a bicycle, I took a trip outside the Jersey City limits. Yes, I know. I understand your outrage (and the vituperative comments I will surely receive), but please hear me out. Don’t consider this a betrayal of my adopted city; the JC will forever have a special place in my heart and on this blog. But a bright Saturday morning is perfect for a ride to the cliff-top Hamilton Park in nearby Weehawken, a trip I’d like to take you on here—even if you’re unwilling to leave your doorstep, or the familiar streets of Jersey City.

Jersey City on Two Wheels: A Three-park Tour

This weekend I decided to string together three small parks into one bike ride/blog post. These parks are all within easy running distance, and I frequently visit them. Nearby and smaller than the previous parks, I overlooked writing a post on them. But I realized that including all three would give both my ride and the post enough distance and material. So, here are three parks tied closely to their respective Jersey City neighborhoods.

Jersey City on Two Wheels: Lincoln Park

Another (rain-free) Saturday morning to cycle about my fair city equals another installment of my series on the best places in Jersey City beyond walking distance of my apartment. (The only truly great, blog-worthy places within walking distance include the Landmark Jersey Loews Theater, and our local churrasquiera.) This time I bring you photographs from Lincoln Park, a valued patch of greenery on the West Side of Jersey City. I first stumbled upon this park on an exploratory walk one evening during my first summer here. Enamored with my discovery, I have returned frequently since then, whether on foot, on a bike, or behind the wheel of a car. And finally, now I can show someone other than Walter what a great park this really is: where joggers and cyclists circle cricket and softball players sharing the inner fields, where tennis and basketball players hit the courts early, where families stroll through the passing seasons, where birds and other wildlife find safe haven, where monuments commemorate chapters of the city's history, and where a solemn statue of a clean-shaven Abraham Lincoln presides.

Jersey City on Two Wheels: Liberty State Park

Hello, my avid readers (and those random strangers who may have stumbled upon this site while looking for tips on arranging your own 100 monkey/100 typewriter set-up in your basement). Welcome all! Since I have recently discovered that my digital camera does not encumber me while pedaling about my fair city, I plan to share with you some of the sights and attractions that make Jersey City just about the greatest city around. Sure, it can be rough for a place to be in the shadow of NYC and to be ridiculed as part of every Jersey joke or slur, but I’ve come to embrace all aspects of the JC: its convenience and frustrating lack thereof, its beauty and rampant ugliness, its history and modern woes. But where else would I live? Brooklyn? Ha … haha … bwahahahahahaha!

First stop on this virtual tour, the crown jewel of Jersey City’s waterfront redevelopment: Liberty State Park (Okay, okay … any golfer would say it’s actually the adjacent country club that deserves such a designation, but that place is private and extremely exclusive, ie. I cannot shoot a round or bike there. Hence, it will never be mentioned again, and boycotted forthwith.) These photos can only provide a small sense of the wide expanse of rolling parkland and harbor vistas adjacent to those iconic New Jersey landmarks: the Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. (See what I did there? You might think those islands are part of New York State or something like that. Well, that misconception has just been corrected. BOO-YAH! Tell your friends—you’ll seem smart. Or just a snarky know-it-all. And if that’s the case, then you’re better off without those friends anyway.) Thus, the best way to experience the park is to visit yourself—preferably on a bike, and never as part of a half-marathon. Now, I’m no J. Moskowitz or M. Crenshaw when it comes to capturing gorgeous snapshots of my travels, so please bear with the results of my photographic endeavors, and (if you can) enjoy them.