Saturday, June 30

Another busy day in NYC.  We started the day at the American Natural History Museum. 

This museum is dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt.  That is his statue in front of the museum, although it is hard to see.  This is the same museum that was featured in the movie, Night at the Museum.  We saw some great exhibits.  It was not the greatest place to take pictures but we got a few of our favorite things.

We watched an IMAX film about two women in Africa, one who rescues orphaned elephants and one who rescues orphaned orangatans.  Their stories were amazing. 

There were a wide variety of taxidermy displays with animals from all around the world.  They included habitat, life span, range, food sources and all kinds of interesting information.  It was very comprehensive.

If you watched the movie--Here's Rex.  We didn't see him fetch a bone.  :o)

 After the museum, we did some more exploring through Central Park.  Unlike earlier in the week, the weather has turned hot and humid.  It's not too bad though, and Central Park offers lots of shady spots to enjoy.

After we had wandered for awhile, we went back to the hotel to cool off and get a little rest.  After that, we felt highly invigorated and decided to set out for a little bit of NYC style shopping.   Where else would we go but the world's largest department store--Macy's.  There are 9 floors of shopping in this store and somehow, we didn't buy a thing. 

My favorite feature--the wooden escalators. 





 We also got a nice shot of Grand Central Station from the outside. 

Art Museums and a Boat

Today we decided to visit the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I had been to the Met before but this was my first visit to the MoMA.  Well, let's just say that neither Eileen nor I are art experts and some things that are probably highly acclaimed just don't look much like art to us.

But, we did see Monet's Water Lilies, which is beautiful.  We looked through the entire museum and saw some things that were interesting.  Our favorite was a large map of the world where each country was composed of its flag. 

The Met is more up our alley.  There are some amazing displays there.  Our favorites were the rooms where period furniture, decorations and art were set up.  They also have a large selection of musical instruments that is interesting.  This piano was one of our favorites.

Another favorite had to be George Washington crossing the Delaware.  It is a wonderful painting and such a symbol of victory for America.

 This stained glass window was also a favorite display.  There were many more beautiful pieces.

After the Met, we needed to catch the subway to get to the pier to take a boat ride.  The best way to the subway station we needed was straight through Central Park.  So, that is where we went.  We didn't have too much time to explore but we are going to see Central Park again tomorrow and probably Sunday, too.  We did take time to get a hot dog from a cart while were were in Central Park.  It was delicious!

A friend had told us that the Circle Line 3 hour around Manhattan boat ride was really great.  So, we signed up for the ride.  Unfortunately, the water was too high to go all the way around.  We were still able to do a 3 hour trip and the commentary was very good.  We got to see the island from a new point of view.  Even though we couldn't go the whole way around, it was worth our time.

Here is a nice shot of the Manhattan skyline looking north.  The tall building is the new Freedom Tower which is under construction at the World Trade Center site.

Thursday in New York City

Today was a busy day that started early and was filled with fun.  We got up at 6:15 so we could have breakfast at the hotel and catch an early subway train to the south of Manhattan.  We prepurchased tickets to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island and that was the way to go!  We were on the first boat out of the harbor and the crowds were much lighter in the morning.  You can't really see her, but the Statue of Liberty is just to the left of Eileen's shoulder. 

Here's a shot from the boat closer to the island.

It was a beautiful day.  In fact, the weather has been perfect our entire time in NYC.  The Statue of Liberty is a beautiful icon.  We talked quite a bit about her symbolism and meaning for the US and the world.  Unfortunately, renovations are being done to the pedastal and the statue and they are both currently closed to visitors.  It just means another trip to NYC one day.  Here are a few more pictures.

Next stop was Ellis Island.  It is very moving to see the pictures, read and hear the stories of the immigrants who left everything to come to this country, many of them with nothing but hope for a brighter future.  Some were escaping religious persecution, some were seeking greater opportunities, some were just dreaming of a better life with a fresh start.  They all have unique stories.  I don't think we have any relatives that came through Ellis Island.  Even still, it is a touching place to visit.

Since we were on the south side of Manhattan, we decided we should see the things there are to see on that end of town.  So, we walked to Wall Street to take a gander at the bull.

We then took a walk to the site of the World Trade Center.  It is under construction as the new towers are being built.  They will be marvelous.  Apparently, there will also be a memorial museum.  The area was very crowded, advance tickets for the display were required and we were pretty thirsty by this point.  We took some pictures of the new buildings and decided to forego the wait for the display.



Next on our agenda was to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.  We found what we thought was the right subway to take us to the bridge.  Turns out, it did take us to the bridge, just in Brooklyn.  No problem, we just walked back.  :o) 



By this time, we were hot and thirsty, so we headed back to the hotel for some cold water and a little rest.  It didn't take long to recover and we decided to head right up the street to Rockefeller Center and the Top of the Rock tour. 

Here's the Empire State Building from the 70th floor of Rockfeller Center

Here's Central Park from Rockefeller Center

Here we are with the Empire State Building between our shoulders. 

We stopped at St. Peter's Cathedral.  It is also getting a facelift.  It is a beautiful cathedral nestled right in the middle of skyscrapers. 

To finish off the walk, here's a picture of Radio City Music Hall.  Cirque de Soleil is playing but we didn't get tickets.  I guess we have to leave something to do on the next trip. 



Wicked and Newsies

Today was Broadway show day.  We went to the matinee performance of Wicked.  Fabulous!  Elpheba's voice was unbelievable.   The show was excellent.  We also thought that the performance we saw in San Francisco was every bit as good.  Such a fun and clever story.

After Wicked, we treated ourselves to a nice restaurant dinner--sourdough rolls, caesar salad, a most amazing steak, french fries, green beans and dessert at Cucina and Company.  MMMmmmm.  Since the restaurant was in the Met Life building and since we had time before Newsies, we went downstairs to see Grand Central Station. 

Grand Central Station is everything you would expect it to be.  There are people running to get places in a hurry, people strolling along, people traveling every which way.  Watching the crowd is really rather like watching life on 150% speed.  It was fun.



Then we headed off to Newsies.  Newsies is one of our favorite musical movies but neither of us had ever seen the play before.  It was unbelievable.  The dancing was just incredible.  Newsies was nominated for a Tony for best choreography and it was truly amazing.  We'll be singing the songs from both shows for days!

To top the night off, we walked back to the hotel from the theater.  There is nothing quite like Times Square.  It is like daylight 24 hours a day.  If you like to people watch--this is the place!

Manhattan Temple

This morning we attended the Manhattan Temple--Temple #3.  This temple is amazing.  It is right in the heart of Manhattan, across the street from Lincoln Center.  It is a busy part of town with lots of hustle and bustle and yet, in the temple it is silent.  They built walls inside of walls.  It is truly a marvel. 

Lehi to New York City

Early this morning, we left Lehi and headed out to the airport in Salt Lake City.  It was tough to say goodbye to the kids but we are excited about this leg of our adventure. 

We learned something very important that you will want to remember if you ever travel to NYC.  It is absolutely possible to take the bus from La Guardia Airport to the subway and the subway into town.  You won't have to pay for the cab BUT, it is not worth it!  It took us 2 1/2 hours from the time our plane landed to check in at the hotel.  We didn't exactly know how to manage the subway system and  I knew that we were staying by Times Square but a better understanding of the routes and we wouldn't have had to walk 11 blocks with our suitcases and other bags.  Next time--we take a cab. 

But, we quickly recovered and headed out to the Empire State Building.  And yes, we took the subway and did just fine.  We managed to catch a great sunset.  This picture doesn't do it justice.

We were just figuring out which way to go when we turned around and saw the Empire State Building.  Guess we head that way!

The Empire State Building was built in only 14 months during the great depression.  It is an amazing building.  It was fun to get a panorama of the whole city.  Here are a few of the pictures.



Yes, it was a little bit windy up there.  Here's a better picture of us inside the building.  This is on the 80th floor on the way to the 86th floor.   It is apparently possible to go to the 102nd floor but there was a local in line with some out of town friends and he didn't recommend it.  So, we skipped it.