Greenwich Point

Today, Mommy decided to get out while the gettin' was good. Hurricane Irene is on her way and they say she'll be as bad as Gloria in 1985. (Which, I recall, not being all that bad for higher elevation areas, like the Bronx where I lived at the time.)

Alex SWORE he didn't want to go to the beach. "No beach!" he insisted. Apparently, he doesn't care for the sand when it gets in his mouth. I suggested that there are ways of stopping that. He wasn't interested in hearing them. I suggested Island Beach for us all. I even enticed Alex into the ferry ride with his new captain's hat.

Greenwich, however, had other ideas. We got on an 11:15 train and arrived in Greenwich some ten minutes later. I hightailed it to Town Hall to get Orquidea a day pass while Dan, Alex and Orquidea waited in a nearby luncheonette. When I arrived at Town Hall, I spotted the sign that announced that all ferries had been cancelled for the day. (Would have been nice of them to announce such on their P&R webpage, but I digress.) I grabbed a Day Pass anyway. When I got back to the deli, I ordered lunch and asked the staff there about alternatives. It was suggested that I go to Greenwich Point because Byram Beach and Pool gets too crowded.

Now Greenwich is starting to tick me off. Greenwich Point is closest to Old Greenwich stop - some 3 train stops away. Then there was the issue of calling a cab company, the only one of which that will operate in Old Greenwich is Greenwich Taxi - available at the train station at Greenwich. 2.5 hours after we left the house, we arrived at Greenwich Point Park.

It all turned around after that.

The beach was just like a REAL beach. The Sound there even had little waves. The high tide line was really close in and made for little tidal pools left all over the beach.  

 

But the water stayed at a lower level for very far out. It allowed for some great wading and swimming.






Alex dove right into a tidal pool with his boats and toys.

Then I suggested exploring, but he said he wanted to show ME how to explore the things he loves about the beach. He showed me some sand snails he found in the tidal pool.

He pointed out some fish - which he called "tadpoles" - in the pools.  After some argument as to what it was, he concluded that the fish must be "dancing or something".

He showed me the long trail of tidal pool water stemming all the way down the beach. He showed me the wet sand and the rocks collected in the pools.

I talked him into a walk for some ice cream. We took the long road down the tidal pool trail.  He was all excited to make big splashes along the way.

Alex ordered a sandwich and I had a King Cone. We finished it by the time we got back. Then we had a big excitement back at the blanket space. We saw a real live sand crab!!! It was just a juvenile, so its evading skills weren't so hot. It allowed us some great shots.

Then, after Mommy took an exploring walk by herself, Alex made some new friends - or so he thought anyway.

Then came the REAL fun - time in the water with Daddy. Alex was a fish!!! He wouldn't come out at all!!  He even "swam" for us - as Superman, apparently.

Inevitably, he cried when I said we had to leave, but he eventually took it like a trooper. He especially loved getting out of his wet and sandy clothing.   We even spotted a butterfly on the way out!

My dirty little secret was that we didn't turn in our Day Passes at the gate when the cabbie dropped us off. I was so pissed off at Greenwich and Greenwich Taxi's apparent cartel, I decided that we would get our day on Island Beach after all.


But I'll gladly pay the next time - provided I rent a car to get there.