Just as famous as the city is the writer who helped make it famous – Jane Austen – who visited many times and lived there from 1801-1806, when it was a highly fashionable destination for the elite of British society. She set many scenes from two of her most famous novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, in various locations around the town.

When in Bath I visited several of Austen’s homes and walked the same streets she would have walked. It was easy to imagine fashionable women in ankle-length dresses and dainty shoes carrying parasols and strolling through the parks. At one of her residences, 4 Sydney Place, Austen reputedly wrote Northanger Abbey while gazing down on Sydney Gardens. Here, balls, supper parties, and musical breakfasts were held.

The town’s pride is reflected in the Jane Austen Center https://www.janeausten.co.uk/as well as at the Parade Gardens, the gateway to the city, where a commemorative flowerbed for Austen was designed to look like an open book and quill. It’s not often we get to walk in a writer’s shoes and have the surrounds be so close to what they were in her day.

Ferry Docking

I first walked along the waterfront under the FDR drive. There is a new (well, new to me) ferry docking area at Pier 11 that was busy with boats coming and going, while overhead a helicopter whirred. In the distance to the south, the Verrazano Bridge was visible, while to the north, the span of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Historic District

Nearby are the iconic ships that bring to mind New York’s shipbuilding past. The Seaport is now a historic district, and for me what stands out most are the distinctive red-brick buildings, all of modest scale, though a few shiny new buildings have cropped up nearby, providing textural contrast.

Shops and Museum

There were tempting stores and restaurants on every street, and an expanded and marvelous Seaport Museum https://southstreetseaportmuseum.org, with a wonderful permanent collection, an education program, and walking tours. Under the museum’s umbrella is Bowne Printers and Stationers at 209 Waters Street https://southstreetseaportmuseum.org/water-street/bowne-printers. The printers use historic presses from South Street Seaport Museum’s working collection. Visitors can take classes in letterpress techniques, or, in the Stationers, purchase hand-printed items or customs prints.

Nothing better than wandering – whether country or city!