Out of the Frying Pan and into the Hudson

For a city surrounded by water, Manhattan is not good at taking advantage of the water views. Granted the Hudson River is no Sydney Harbor or even Port Philip Bay, but for those of us who desperately need an occasional sense of space and to see the sky once in a while, it dearly offers both.

So imagine my delight when I found out about a bar on a barge - in the Hudson! It took an "out-of-towner" to introduce me to this concept, but now I am a convert. The boat, called "Frying Pan", used to protect the Frying Pan Shoals off Cape Fear in North Carolina. It spent three years under water until it was salvaged, restored and brought to Chelsea, where it now resides at Pier 66 at the end of West 26th St.

You certainly don't come here for the decor or food. But if you want a cold beer and some fries, pull up a plastic chair, rest your legs on the side of the barge and watch the sun set over New Jersey. It doesn't get much better than that in this town.

Images: Brian Dube @ new york daily photo, mine