7/15/03 Papa and Mommy on Circle Line!:







It may be blurry, but it's there. My name is on the schedule at Circle Line! Yay!


Today I came in to do my tours, and my Mother and Grandfather came aboard to see my 3-hour tour. I was a little nervous, but more excited than anything else.




Me, in uniform, in front of the pier.




My Mother and her Father. Same location.




Look! Another tour guide! That's Jim Horn. He has sort of taken me under his wing. He's been doing this for about 17 years, now, making him the third most senior tour guide. I'm #10. Here he is, giving me a few useful pointers about crowd control before I leave on my tour.




Papa, having been a tank repairman in World War II, knows a thing or two about engines, and the engine on this boat dates back to that war, so he was taking a look down.




Here I am giving the tour. I walk around the whole ship. I love the freedom of the wireless microphone because I can connect with the people on the boat. I prefer upstairs in the back, and down in the very front, where most people cluster on nice days. In the photo you can see downtown Manhattan in the background.




I gave the camera to my mother for the duration of the tour, and she took a photo of Lady Liberty.




Here's Papa enjoying the tour just past the Brooklyn Bridge.




Here I am under the overhang on the upper deck.




And here, on the upper East Side in the East River.




And here I am, mugging as the New Jersey Palisade is behind me, in the Hudson River near the northern end of Manhattan.




At the end, I stand at the exit so I can say goodbye to people, and so people can thank me or yell at me if they'd like. Most people overflow with compliments, and sometimes tips, which is nice. Here, my grandfather stands to the side and watches this process. This gentleman talking to me works as a cameraman for CBS, has lived in the city for decades, and thanked me for surprising him with information he didn't know about his own city. This is the instant gratification part of the job.




So then, My grandfather, mother, and I went to an overpriced, not so tasty Japanese restaurant in Battery Park City that I won't be going back to any time soon. But... it certainly does have a beautiful setting, on the South Cove, near the water, especially at sunset, and we ate outside. It was a fun day, and it was really cool to have my grandfather, who brought me to so many museums and other tourist attractions when I was a kid, come see me BE the tourist attraction. An interesting role reversal, or perhaps, a wacky coming of age. My grandmother was feeling ill and couldn't make it, so she will come some other time.