Liberty Marina & LSP North 2013

WALK the WALKWAY
Liberty Marina and Liberty State Park North Section– Sep. 8, 2013

The weather for this walk could not have been more perfect – sun shine, blue skies accented by wispy white clouds, no humidity and temperature in the 70’s! The walkers assembled across the street from the Liberty State Park Light Rail Station at 9:30AM. While we waited to cross over the Light Rail tracks to head towards Liberty Marina, a thunderous freight train roared above on separate tracks. The stop light took a long time to change and the freight train was even longer. We veered left towards Liberty Marina. One walker noted that the boat slips were mostly full and on such a nice day, it’s surprising that more boats were not out in the open water. Someone suggested it might be the high cost of fuel that’s keeping the boats unused even on such a beautiful day. But the marina was not all quiet. Preparation was taking place for the 11AM Speedboat Race. Speedboats were being lifted by cranks into the Morris Canal.

The path along the marina was narrow and asphalt. It changed to 16 feet wide pavers only when we neared the restaurant. Further down, the WW became fully compliant with the design standards with benches and lighting. We stopped at the 9/11 Memorial – 2 walls engraved with names of the victims pointing to NYC. The gap between the walls is the void left by the collapse of the twin towers. The Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal and the Liberty State Park Administration Building are next to the Memorial. We were only able to peek in because the site was cordoned off since repair necessitated by Superstorm Sandy was great and is not yet complete.

With still a lot of energy left, the walkers decided to continue around the CRRNJ to the Ellis Island Bridge. The path here crosses over an inlet and many fishermen were out with their reels and rods. One man caught a large flounder while others were waiting for blues and striped bass to bite. With Ellis Island a short distance away, the walkers shared knowledge and personal stories about Ellis Island. The walk concluded at the Ellis Island Bridge. It would have been nice to continue walking to Ellis Island but the bridge is not open to pedestrian traffic and the island is accessible to the public by ferry only. As walkers headed back to the parking lot, several were attracted by extremely tall sunflowers near the Grove of Remembrance which is dedicated to NJ resident victims of 9/11. We were back to the parking lot around 11:30. Walkers bade each other fond farewells along with wishes to see each other at the next walk – Liberty Harbor and Jersey City Southern Section on 9/22.

View Photo Album (HRWC). Album2 (Dan Chall)