The Little Red Lighthouse...

Today we went on an adventure to find the Little Red Lighthouse...

A few weeks ago I'd read on the internet about this little lighthouse, I'd read that it was up in Harlem, on the Hudson river under a big bridge (which turns out to be the George Washington Bridge). So, we ventured out into the baking sun and got the subway all the way up 181st Street (the hightest either of have been before).

When we got out of the station at 181st Street I was expecting it to feel a little sketchy, a little rough around the edges, like parts of Bedstuy, but we were both shocked (in a very good way) to see that it was an absolutely lovely area.

It felt like we had stepped off the train in San Francisco or something, there were hills! There are hardly any hills in Manhattan, but here they were pretty steep. It felt quite fancy, there were some very nice apartments up there and it felt like there was quite a diverse mix of cultures, but prodominantly wealthy American families.

We wondered towards the Hudson, down a steep hill and over the freeway, onto a lovely cycle and running track that lead down towards the river. Along the way, there were little gaps in the trees where you could see the river and the impressive bridge...

The path kept winding down the hill, towards a flat area under the bridge, where there was a grassy area with picnic tables and rocks and people resting after cycling along the path, or just reading their books in the sun.

And there, round the corner, under the bridge, was the little red lighthouse, standing proud but completely dwarfed by the George Washington Bridge...

It's one of, if not the, only surviving Lighthouse in New York (City?) and was built in the 1920's only to be decommissioned 10 years later after the bridge was constructed.

Originally the lighthouse was there to warn boats off the rocky coast on a particularly tretourous part of the Hudson River called Jeffery's Hook - but once the bridge was built, the lights from the bridge lit the river too, so this poor little lighthouse didn't have a job to do. Luckily there was a protest against it's demolition in the 40's - and it's been there ever since.

From where I was standing to take this photo you could see the Manhattan skyline, you can see the Empire State Building poking above every other building. It's quite amazing how you can see that building from so far away...

It was such a lovely, relaxing place to be - it felt like we were in a whole nother state! It's amazing to think that we were just two trains away from our apartment, and we were still in Harlem!

It was so sunny, and surprisingly quiet considering how close to the bridge and the freeway we were, and there weren't many people around so it felt like a little secret spot in New York that not many people know about.

We sat on a rock under a tree and just enjoyed the view for a while...

After soaking up the view and the peace and quiet, we made our way back up that steep steep cycle path, across the freeway and back up the San Franciso street hill and got back on the train...

It was an absolutely perfect day. Another new discover in New York - I can't believe that I've been here for over 2 years and there's still SO MUCH still to see.