Sunday, July 1

Eileen and I agreed that we are so happy we did our busiest days at the beginning of our stay in NYC.  We're getting worn out! 

We started today by attending church with the Manhattan 1st Ward.  The chapel is in the same building as the Manhattan Temple.  The temple baptisty is on the first floor with a family history center and the lobby for the temple and the elevators.  The 2nd floor has a distribution center and offices.  The 3rd floor is the chapel and classrooms.  The 4th and 5th floors are the temple.  It is a great use of the space.  The Manhattan 1st Ward was very welcoming.  There were many visitors there today.  It was nice to sing patriotic songs as an early reminder of Independence Day on Wednesday.  It was also nice to hear from a couple of Canadians who celebrate their national holiday on July 1st. 

After church, we decided to walk around some of the big name shopping places in NYC.  Neither Eileen nor I are big into shopping, but it seems like a trip to NYC wouldn't be quite complete without some store visits.  Our first stop...FAO Schwartz.  Fun store.  Luckily, we still have to pack our suitcases one more time for the train ride so there wasn't room to purchase stuff for the grandkids. 

The famous Big Piano.  We didn't want to take off our shoes and fight the crowd to dance on it. 

 Of course we had to take a stroll through Tiffany's.  They certainly have some amazing jewelry, china, and crystal.  I think the crystal was my favorite.  We were very careful not to touch anything knowing that anything broken would cost more than our whole trip!

We also took another stroll through Central Park.  This is the turtle pond with the Great Lawn in the background.  The turtle pond is really filled with turtles.  This time of year, there are a lot of plants that are on the surface of the water so it is hard to see the turtles.  

We also walked up to the Belvedere Castle in Central Park.  It has some unique architecture and is right smack in the middle of Central Park. 

We then took the subway uptown to Harlem.  We wanted to visit Grant's Tomb where Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia are buried.  The area surrounding the monument has these beautiful tiled benches.  Here is one (below).  They go all the way around the building.

The monument is in the heart of Harlem and that is a good place for it to be.  Ulysses S. Grant believed strongly in equality and worked hard to provide equal opportunities for all races.  Although Harlem is traditionally an African-American neighborhood, it is apparently becoming more diverse.  From what we could see, the neighborhoods were in good shape.  There were 2 neighborhood parks on our short walk from the subway to the monument and the monument itself is nestled in the Riverside Park that runs along the Hudson River. 

 This is a picture of the Riverside Church in Harlem covers two entire city blocks.  It has a tall carillion.  Unfortunately, the carillion is closed to the public at this time.  We decided not to go into the church since it is Sunday and they have events going on.  There was a tour earlier in the day, but we were not able to make it to the tour.  Still a beautiful sight to see.

We are back at the hotel and enjoying a quiet evening.  NYC, it's been a blast!!  Next stop, Buffalo.