2015.04.03 New York (Day 2)

Day #2 in New York made me absolutely fall in love with the city. The weather was not very cooperative and was rather gloomy, but we didn't let it stop us and had a blast anyway.We started out in the morning at the 9-11 Memorial site. What a sobering and emotional place that was. I love what they have done there to honor the victims, and the museum was very educational and interesting. I did not take any photos inside, but I did snap a few outside.

After the memorial, we headed uptown on the subway to see the Empire State Building. We purchased tickets to go all the way to the top, but I think if I were to go again, I would just stop at the observation deck on the 86th floor. That was pretty cool to be up that high and the inside of the building was absolutely gorgeous.

From the Empire State Building, we headed to Times Square and went to the Irish Pub where Ty Duma works. We had lunch there and got to visit with Ty. It's been many years since I've seen him, so it was great to do some catching up. We didn't get to meet his wife though, so will have to meet her another time.

Our next stop was to Central Park. Here we hired a driver and took a tour on a bike. I highly recommend this tour. The driver told us a lot of interesting facts about the area that we would otherwise not have known. Truthfully, I can't even say that I remember anything right now, but I know that he sure made it more fun and I would love to head back to Central Park when the weather is nice and explore some more.

When we left Central Park, we headed back to Radio City Music Hall, as we had purchased tickets for the show later in the evening. Before the show, we had a little bit of time to kill, so we explored Rockefeller Center a little bit and picked up a quick bite to eat. It's fun to see all of these places that we see on TV every day. 

Next, we had tickets to see The Rockettes in the New York City Spring Spectacular. What a phenomenal show! It was so entertaining and enjoyable. I would highly recommend seeing it if you ever get a chance.

We had a full day and we were all beat by the time we got back to the room, but I loved every minute and can't wait to go again some time.

One World Trade Center

Reflections

9-11 Memorial 

9-11 Memorial

9-11 Memorial

9-11 Memorial

Had to get a photo of this for my Macy!

Empire State Building

Central Park

Central Park

Rockefeller Center

Jeff and Sue at Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center

Empire State Building

Empire State Building

Empire State Building

Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center

2015.04.02 New York City!!

Jeff, Suzanne and I headed to New York City today. It was an interesting trip to get there. I have always said that we should not rely on a GPS alone, that we should have a map and have some sort an idea of where we want to go before we head out.  Well, we did kind of know that we wanted to head to the Holland Tunnel to get on to Manhattan Island, but the GPS took us through Brooklyn and it was a very crowded freeway and a stressful drive. We did get to go across the Brooklyn Bridge though. When we got to Manhattan, there was some kind of street work going on and we had to switch lanes from where we wanted to be and ended up turning in the wrong place, and low and behold we were in Battery Tunnel heading back to Brooklyn. DANG!! That is not where we wanted to be. So, back through the Battery Tunnel to Manhattan we headed and found a parking garage, but could not find a parking space. We drove around and around that garage looking for a space. Finally found one, then headed for our hotel.  And to get Suzanne a drink. She certainly deserved one after the stress of getting us there and getting us parked.  

We got settled in to our room and then headed out to find a boat trip for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We talked to a street vendor first thing and bought tickets from him for a trip around the island. This boat did not stop on Liberty Island or Ellis Island though. He told us that the line to get tickets for that boat was more than a two hour wait and we could get on his boat in the next half hour. It ended up being quite a walk to his boat and then we had to wait in line for quite a while. I guess that we learned a lesson right away, do not buy from the street vendors. One of the reasons for visiting New York was to go to Ellis Island for Jeff to find his grandparents' name on the walls. It was a nice cruise around the harbor though and relaxing after the stressful drive of getting there. 

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Native American Museum and toured there for a while.

We ended the day with a nice dinner at the hotel so that we could get an early start the next morning. We had a lot that we wanted to see on Friday.

Manhattan Skyline

Manhattan Skyline

Ellis Island

Statue of Liberty

Brooklyn Bridge

Look Ma...I'm sprouting a flag!!

Brooklyn Bridge

Suzanne

The Bull of Wall Street

View from our room

2015.04.01 Valley Forge, PA

We are hanging around Philadelphia today and decided to spend the day at Valley Forge and learn a little history. It was a pretty nice day, albeit a little on the cool side. I was not very good at history when I was in high school, but I have discovered that I am enjoying learning about American history as I get older. I can just not imagine the hardships that most of our ancestors had to endure when creating this country. It makes me appreciate everything all that much more.

The bell is the Justice Bell and I did ring it! Not sure if I was supposed to, but I did it anyway. It is an exact replica of the Liberty Bell and traveled around Pennsylvania between 1915 and 1920 in support of the women's suffrage movement. Of course I rang it!! =D

Covered Bridge.

Jeff and Suzanne outside the Officers' Quarters.

Robyn and Suzanne outside the Officers' Quarters.

Washington Memorial Chapel

Justice Bell