In the vicinity of the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park is the Loeb Boathouse, on the eastern shore of The Lake. Opened in 1872, it has, for much of its life, been joined at the hip to a restaurant, a perfect location for a warm-weather, waterside cocktail.

This summer the restaurant will re-open, having restored its waterside decks as the most beautiful place to rest and observe following a Ramble stroll, or a row on The Lake. Going for a self propelled row boat ride is something like visiting the Statue of Liberty. People want to do it and having done so, decide once is enough. It is fun, but those little aluminum rowboats are not well designed for even a novice rower as the thwart to oarlock distance/ratios make both pulling and pushing on the oars weirdly uncomfortable.

So, a next stop, if westbound, might be the Bethesda Terrace to hear the buskers (I’m never surprised to see ballerinas or opera singers), and if eastbound, to sit on one of the benches surrounding The Boat Pond (officially, The Conservatory Water), in sight of the Alice in Wonderland sculpture, where my older daughter used to play. There, on the east side of the pond, is a coffee outlet—often crowded, and an unpleasant experience.

On the west side of the pond near the Hans Christian Andersen sculpture usually can be found several birders using high-power telescopes and video display terminals to allow walkers to see what they see.