Inky Marina!

One awesome thing about living in New York City is that lots of people come and visit because it is such a fun and exciting place.  At the end of August, my friend Nora came to visit me. She's from Canada and loves our city.  I had to go to a group meeting on her first day, but we decided to meet up in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and walk through Central Park. The weather was perfect!


We walked through the park talking about all our favorite things. One thing Nora and I have in common is a shared love of the Swallows & Amazons series.  Of course, a must in the park for two girls obsessed with adventures on sailboats is Conservatory Water.  There, you can rent model sailboats to sail around the basin! So cool, right? Nora and I loved watching the boats.


After watching the boats and chatting, we stopped by the Loeb Boathouse to use their bathroom! I saw this beautiful flower and asked Nora to take a photo of me next to it. Isn't it pretty?


Once we were refreshed, we headed west toward Bethesda Fountain. Nora's family *loves* Bethesda Fountain, so I took a photo of her in front of it to give to her parents.  Of course, the Angel of the Waters on top of the fountain isn't in focus, but you get the idea.


We decided to rest again near the fountain. It's so fun to watch all the people go by! We saw a lesbian couple in their fancy outfits taking wedding photos! We wanted to run up to them to say we're both from two-mom families, but we were a little shy, so we just smiled at them instead.  We also helped a few different families by taking their photos in front of the fountain.


Nora loves adventures. I had to take her climbing on the rocks! They are probably Manhattan schist, a special kind of rock in Central Park. City kids love to climb on them - and so does Nora!


I was having so much fun with Nora! After we climbed on the rocks, we stopped by Strawberry Fields.  Strawberry Fields is a special memorial to John Lennon, the famous musician.  We didn't take any photos because so, so many other people were posing for their own photos!


Strawberry Fields is on the west edge of the park; we had officially made it all the way across Central Park! We celebrated with cold lemonade before going into the Eloise exhibit at the New York Historical Society. We didn't take photos there, but it was great! We learned so much about one of our favorite storybook characters.



Nora and I had a fantastic time together. By the time we were standing on the platform to take the train home, it was already getting dark.  Hurrah for friendship and hurrah for Central Park!

Have you ever shown your friends around your city before?