Those of you who believed that our departure time was too early were sort of right. It was hard to get organized to meet at 8AM at the ferry docks. (Remember when we met at that hour every week?!) But so worth it! The air was just above cool and very pleasant. There were more people than we'd usually find because there were TWO races that morning - a running race and a bike race.
We met to take the Ward's Island Ferry at 8:15 and at 8:30 we disembarked. A kind co-passenger took our group photo (which you can see on the group chat) and then we promptly headed across the island to Hanlon's Point to return along the boardwalk for breakfast on Ward's .
What can I say that you don't already know - the islands are a city treasure. a giant park (820 acres over 15 islands, not all accessible). It has several beaches (one is clothing optional), an amusement park, a disc golf course, several yacht clubs and year round residents whom we saw lined up on their bicycles to board as we arrived.
It was hot when we finished! One clever member of our group found a table at The Island Cafe that fitted us all in the shade and we enjoyed breakfast. A discussion whether we'd take the 10:30 or the 11:30 ferry back to the city had us all scrambling to finish our meals and heading for the ferry.
