Chi-town and the Seaport

Sunday was a study in the way people view and interact with the world around them. Molly and I set out for the South Street Seaport on Sunday afternoon with a quick stop planed at my co-workers house in NoLita (North of Little Italy). Charles has a place right near Spring street and Molly wanted to meet his puppy, at 4.7 pound toy poodle. The dog was actually really cool, doesn't bark, nice and calm, more like a kitten then a dog. While we were there we chit-chatted about our plans to walk down through Little Italy and Chinatown on our way to visit the Seaport. Charles asked if he could join us since he had never been to the Seaport, and I was more than happy to have him join since he wonders around Chinatown all the time

As I said this walk was a study in the way that people interact with the world around them. I have been for most of my life much more interested in stepping back and viewing the world, the journey is more important then the destination. Molly is much more a destination type person, which is why we work well together, without her, I would never make it anywhere in this city. My ability to just wonder forever has led me to getting very lost many times. Without me, Molly would have missed the so many strange things on the way to our destination. But Charles is one of those rare people who just jumps in and interacts. More than once, as we where just walking along, Molly and I had to stop and look for Charles. He had wondered into some shop, checking out the strange foods and people that are everywhere in Chinatown.

Charles had been telling me about this little stand for about a week. These two Chinese ladies work a little vegetable stand on the corner of Canal and Mulberry. Those large white things in the tub are young coconuts which they chop the top off just enough to pry open and they stick a straw into the middle for you to enjoy the cool coconut milk. When you are done, you come back and they will chop up the whole thing and give you the meat on the inside. All for $1.50.

This is a vegi-stand. Charles is inspecting something that none of us could identify. Later on he tried a grape looking thing that turned out to be incredibly bitter.

This is just a random fish market stand. These are all over Chinatown. The fish are live, and the places smell real bad. Every once in a while a fish will flap out of the ice down onto the ground. The handlers there will then give them a whack with the flat side of the knife to knock them out again. Yea, Chinatown is strange.

Once we got to the Seaport we realized there was a huge festival of some sorts going on. Live band and a huge line to pick up some free junk from a Proctor & Gamble tent. Nothing like beers and soap samples on a Sunday afternoon. The Seaport turned out to be a pretty lame excuse for a Museum. The exhibits consisted of a bunch of Nautical paintings of ships, a few pieces of scrimshaw, and an exhibit on Irish Boxers? Not sure of the connection. The one cool thing was that they had the largest ever sail cargo ship in dock that you could walk around and inspect. Molly is standing in what was the bunk room.

Out by the helm. Charles is in the back, drinking a beer, and looking at the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a fun day, nice walk, and a good way to see the world from a little different view.

http://southstreetseaport.com/html/