A free bike tour and bbq lunch? Sign me up! Yours truly was lucky enough on Saturday to join a small group, compliments of the Active Trails grant, on the first-ever bike trail ride from Grant’s Tomb to Governors Island. This grant has enabled the park to develop and launch a ranger-led bike tour that will serve thousands and focus on both youth and the public. And it just so happened to be National Public Lands Day. National Public Lands Day? Looks like September 25th is set aside to promote the enjoyment and volunteer conservation of public lands. Who knew?

We started right in my neighborhood in the Upper West Side. Grant’s Tomb, the largest mausoleum in North America, was not only Grant’s final resting place, but for his wife Julia as well. On our bikes, we traveled south on the Riverside bike path amongst thousands of participants for the annual Big Brothers and Big Sisters Race for the kids run/walk. As we slowly, and I mean s-l-o-w-l-y, made our way through this crowd to Battery Park, park rangers provided information on the history and ecology of New York harbor and its parks.

A short (free!) ferry ride and we’re on the island and greeted with a fabulous barbeque lunch. Thinking it would be a typical box lunch…but NO, a fabulous first class picnic with roasted corn on the cob, the most tender bbq chicken, to die for roasted potatoes, salads, burgers, brownies, you name it. Nestled under the mature elm and maple trees, we all felt like we’d died and gone to heaven. Throughout the tranquil lunch, I could have sworn I was hanging out on a plantation in Charleston, South Carolina.

Next up, a group tour led by Ranger Natalie of the 172 acre island (the shape of an ice cream cone) surrounded by the Manhattan skyline to the north, the Brooklyn waterfront to the east and the Statue of Liberty to the west. We learned all about the inhabitants of the island, first by the US Army and then the Coast Guard. Just this year an agreement was made to make the city of New York the proud owners, resulting in the creation of a trust with the mission to bring the island back to life.

My favorite area was the southern part of the island called picnic point, an eight-acre park offering views of the Statue of Liberty with hammocks to relax and pass the day away. Just the beginning, but already Governors Island is showing great promise to be a major destination for both locals and tourists. The most excellent day!