The Perfect Day on Governor’s Island, NYC

Hi friends, welcome back! This was the first “fall” weekend in NYC🍁, so Jon and I hopped on the ferry across the East River to Governor’s Island. This was our third time at Governors Island and now it’s become a tradition. Usually the island opens around Memorial Day, but due to COVID, it didn’t open until later this summer. The ferry currently limits the amount of people onboard, but we luckily had no issues getting our tickets the same day. I would say that 95% of people wore masks on the island and it felt very safe.

The ferry ride is about five minutes and offers some great views of Lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, as well as Brooklyn. It felt so great to be on a boat again!

Once we disembarked the ferry, Jon and I headed left to explore the south east side of the island. This was the only part left uncharted from our previous visits. This side mainly had walking/biking paths and some great views of the Buttermilk Channel. I’ll confess, I had to look up what the name was, but the water was still a pretty view!

We eventually came around the corner and had a great view of the Statue of Liberty! She looked way bigger/closer than she does in the pictures.

Jon and I took a break and relaxed on a bench overlooking the Statue of Liberty and enjoying the fresh air! There are no cars and people don’t live on Governor’s Island so it’s very quiet and clean. It almost felt like time stopped when we were on the island. We weren’t in a rush and had nowhere to be, it was so relaxing and refreshing!

Governor’s Island was busy, but not overcrowded. I could tell that there were less people than usual because there were quite a few empty picnic tables and Adirondack chairs. One of the most popular activities on the island is renting bikes and riding around. They have four-person bikes that are always filled with groups of people laughing their heads off!

We stopped for a delicious snack that has also become a tradition, a Melt Bakery ice cream cookie sandwich. This visit Jon and I both got the “Lovelet” ice cream sandwich which was cream cheese ice cream in between two red velvet cookies. Yum! Last year we had the classic vanilla ice cream with chocolate chip cookies.

I managed to do some yoga on the island 🙂

To end our day, we lounged in Hammock Grove. I spy the Freedom Tower! I will admit, we got a little chilly which was the first time I’ve been cold in a very long time, it was kinda weird!

We caught an earlier ferry back and were rewarded with amazing views of the sunset and Statue of Liberty!

It was another perfect day on Governor’s Island! This is the best escape from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan with incredible views! You can read about our first visit here, and second visit here as well 🙂 have a great week!

16 thoughts on “The Perfect Day on Governor’s Island, NYC

  1. As with an earlier post of yours the first photo of the Freedom Tower is spectacular, especially the contrast with the older buildings nearby. My son mentioned Hammock Grove once; is that a coincidence of the name or is it really a grove of trees with and/or for hammocks?

    1. One day you’ll have to experience the Freedom Tower in person, it’s mesmerizing! It is a man made group of maybe 15 hammocks scattered in a little garden area, very relaxing spot!

  2. Hi there! Just to let you know. I have nominated your blog for the Liebster Award. If you would like to accept the nomination please reply back on this post, I will then send the link on how to accept. Best wishes 😊

  3. Well done for wearing masks. I recently had to wear a mask during my entire trip to Paris (except when eating or sleeping). It was a bit of an annoyance, but hopefully it will mean Covid goes away sooner and we can all travel easier in the future.

    1. I agree – as much as I’d rather not wear a mask, I’d like to think it will somehow help Covid go away a little sooner. Hope you managed to have a bit of fun in Paris!

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