My woman, being as cool as she is, surprised me with flying lessons for my birthday. So, yesterday we hopped on the Triumph and rode out to Jersey to try it out.

Despite my uncomfortableness with flying, we were airborne in no time, bouncing along in our little Cessna 172 heading towards Manhattan. We then made our way down the Hudson, dodged a bunch of helicopters, buzzed “The Lady” (twice at 500 ft), circled the Verrazano, flew back up the Hudson, then headed back to Jersey.

It was a pretty amazing feeling to be actually turning the plane or climbing/decending using my hands and feet. Plus after a while I even managed to get used to the bouncing around in the air currents.

I need to remember all I learned on the short lesson and consider whether I can afford to become a fully certified pilot.

(more photos from the flight by uberfrau)

Speaking of birthday presents, I also got a flint, a knife… and no water bottle. Two out of three isn’t bad, but without a water bottle I’ll never be able to spend the day drinking my own urine like Bear Grylls.

Oh well, I should remember not to get lost until I find myself a water bottle.

So, I had a birthday the other day. And what better way to spend the day than sailing on the Hudson?

Fortunately, the weather was gorgeous (the first day of what the news was calling a heatwave) and the water calm. Unfortunately, the current in the Hudson is extremely strong and the wind wasn’t particularly blowing. As a result, tacking into the wind and into the current for 3 or 4 hours left us going backwards so far we almost ran into Governor’s Island.

Back on land, all we could do was nurse our pride at one of New Jersey’s fine drinking establishments: The (not-so-creatively named) Sand Bar.

Oh well, it was a great day on the water and I should remember to get some sailing in next time I’m in the Caribbean.