Is it already over? What a great vacation. It actually consisted of two mini vacations. For the first half, I enjoyed non-stop sea breezes in Provincetown. For the second half, with five consecutive days of sunny, warm weather in the forecast, I decided to play it by ear and wound up staying in the city. It was a wonderful at-home vacation, largely because I was barely home and got to see some cool things like the Cloisters, sunset on the pier, and other places I haven't gotten around to seeing during your usual standard weekend.

For example, who knew the West Village had such interesting microclimates? Walking west in the afternoons, I noticed what appeared to be a convergence zone right around Hudson Street. Warm air rising over Manhattan was pulling in slightly cooler air off the river. Then the winds would slacken towards West Street, and pick up again out on the pier. Flags at different points on the New Jersey side seemed to indicate a boundary between a local harbor breeze in Jersey City and the prevailing wind direction, also ascertainable by observing takeoffs from EWR.

I also loved the water taxi from Logan Airport to the wharf in downtown Boston. I had an hour to pass, so I decided to give it a try. I was expecting something like the New York Water Taxi, e.g. a small boat to hold 10-20 passengers. Nope. When I arrived at the Logan docks, a small boat (the kind used for waterskiing) pulled up and the guy yelled, "Hey, you need a wahtah taxi?" After I moved to the right side of the boat to balance the weight (so my laptop wouldn't wind up in the middle of Boston Harbor), we took off on the most exhilarating seven-minute boat ride imaginable. It was sunny and warm, the harbor was calm, and we were right next to downtown Boston and could see all the buildings. It is almost worth another trip to Boston just to take the water taxi again.

It's odd to be back (although less odd after a somewhat hectic morning). I have been physically here for the last five days but felt like I was in a new city. You can always re-invent the New York experience; it's why I'll probably never leave.