Ferry Happy

Maybe it's the spring weather that made me think of this, but taking a ferry to work has got to be one of the most pleasant experiences one could ever hope to have. I tried it a few times during my short stay in Sydney, but I also tried it going from the Jersey Shore to Manhattan. Yep, there is such a ferry, and it's awesome. SeaStreak seems to be the most dominant ferry company, but I think there may be a couple of others that fight for the scraps every now and again.

Rolling out to Manhattan early in the morning, sun shining, coffee, newspaper, the smell of salt water - nuthin' better. You do have to jive with the Ferry Schedule - 'last train out' at around 8 pm (which was a problem for us Internet-boom-indentured-servant types) - but boy is it worth it. And on the way home, if you've had a rough day at the office, feeling like you need a little attitude adjustment? Well, have no fear, because the ferry has a full cash bar. It's like going on a miniature cruise every day, twice! Unreal.

On a semi-related, but not so happy note, many people who died on 9/11 in the WTC were from the Jersey Shore area. Many of them take the train to get to 'the city', but a bunch of them took these ferries. When regular service did continue after 9/11 I'm guessing that it was possible for riders to notice that some of the people they used to ride with were no longer riding - perhaps killed on 9/11. I kinda like to think that those riders who died on 9/11 at least had a nice ride into work that morning...