Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
The Hudson River Waterfront Walkway starts at Exchange Place in Jersey City and travels north to the George Washington Bridge in about 10.5 linear miles. All along the waterway are artifacts from the waterfront's past as a hub of intermodal transport and oddities of its new role as a financial center and high-end residential living. The HRWW is the easternmost section of the Liberty Water Gap trail, which eventually will create a hike and bike friendly path across New Jersey.
This is a great series to do on a bike. If you do not have one, you can rent a CitiBike near the Exchange Place PATH station near the southern end of the series or the Newport PATH station at the northern end.
One of the advantages of working in JC is going exploring (and geocaching!) at lunch time. Not only are there an excellent array of high-end food trucks, the Harborside area has an interesting history that are displayed on various plaques that are posted on the East Coast Greenway, which runs right through this area. At one time, this was were sea and rail met to transport goods across the country and around the world. Much more can be found at the Jersey City Landmarks website including pictures of the iconic Powerhouse.
One day while exploring at lunchtime, I came across this odd sculpture:
"What the heck is a robot doing in downtown Jersey City?", I mused. It was only on a subsequent visit that I noticed the plaque that explained that this work was called "Longshoreman" and honored the history of the workers in this area. Come, sit, and admire him (although I still think that it looks more like a robot.)
Cache original contents contains a log, pencil, and a small trackable to move along. Parking can be difficult on the street. There are a few 15 minutes parking spaces at the nearby suite hotel, park there at your own risk.