KristyWes

As I Was Walking...

This past Saturday some friends and I participated in the 22nd Annual Great Saunter. Organized by the Shorewalkers (enigmatic motto: "Collecting is Good, Shorewalking is Better"), the Great Saunter is a 32-mile walk around the rim of Manhattan.

Saunterers typically take 12 hours to complete the loop, but my group figured our legs and schedules would only permit us to walk half of the event. At 7:30am, we set off from South Street Seaport and headed towards our destination: Inwood, the northern tip of the island.

As we meandered those 15 miles up Manhattan's western shore, there was lots to look at: some familiar sights (like the Statue of Liberty) but also many things we had never seen before. Here's a partial list:

-WWII Memorial in Battery Park
-Helicopter landing at the Heliport
-Horse trotting outside NYPD's Mounted Unit
-Knee-high kids playing Little League baseball
-Houseboats at the 79th Street boat basin
-Countless public art installations, including a giant wine bottle
-Clay tennis courts in Riverside Park
-Hundreds of motorcyclists on parade on the West Side Hghwy

Occasionally, though, the path did get a little dull, the walking a little difficult, and sometimes stray baseballs and erratic pigeons threatened to attack, so KT and I came up with an activity to pull us through the tough times. We decided to think of all the songs that have the word "walk" or "walking" in the lyrics, and I am proud to report that we counted 44 songs! From PeterPaul&Mary to Dionne Warwick, Aerosmith to Sinatra, Les Mis to Little Mermaid, we covered all genres in our quest for walkin' tunes.

All in all, a good Saunter.