New York City - Day 3

Saturday was a little more laid-back on our New York City trip. Our first stop was Central Park. We just saw a tiny section of the park; Strawberry Fields - the memorial for John Lennon. 

We also stopped for a few minutes at Lincoln Center before driving through Harlem, where we saw the Apollo Theater. We also passed Columbia University on our sightseeing trip; in fact, we drove right by the Teachers College where the new reading/writing curriculum I'm using at school was developed. I also finally got to taste my first (and last!) New York hot dog. (Not sure why they're supposed to be so good...it was just a little hot dog with ketchup and mustard on it that was very overpriced!)

Lincoln Center

Saturday afternoon was the primary reason I was in New York City: to see my first Broadway show ON Broadway - Amazing Grace! I had seen the show twice in Chicago when it was doing a trial run and was interested to see the changes in the show. It is still amazing; the changes I noticed enhanced the story and some of the songs still gave me goosebumps. This is a wonderful show; I'm so glad I was able to see it again and in New York! This was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

In New York, everyone lines up outside the theatre before the show. The Nederlander theatre is quite small and it was interesting to see that the wall on the side was actually made up of doors, so we walked right onto the sidewalk from our row after the show! The other difference from the Chicago, Toronto, and touring shows I've seen is that in New York the cast members come out after the show to greet fans and sign autographs - that was so cool! (Yes, I turned into a gushing teenager when I met the main cast members.)

Josh Young plays John Newton

Harriett D Foy plays Princess Peyai

Chuck Cooper plays Thomas

Erin Mackey plays Mary Catlett

We met the rest of our tour group for supper at Ben's Deli and then rode the Staten Island Ferry so we could get another view of the city at night. We got to see fireworks as the boat left Staten Island - a fun bonus!

New York City - Day 2 afternoon/evening

After a busy morning, our tour guide brought us to Chelsea Market for an hour of shopping and lunch choices. One of the advantages to writing these blog posts after returning home is that I'm finding out more about some of the places we visited from Wikipedia. Apparently some Food Network TV shows are filmed in the upper levels of Chelsea Market! It's a large building that takes up a whole city block and is filled with a variety of stores and restaurants. It reminded me of the new Downtown Market in Grand Rapids (but bigger).

chicken & spinach crepe - delicious lunch

After lunch we visited the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum. The museum is all on the Intrepid aircraft carrier, which was used in World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. There are a number of aircraft (both US and international) displayed on the flight deck as well as the space shuttle Enterprise. Although this museum was not on my "Must See" list, it was pretty interesting.

space shuttle Enterprise
(the first space shuttle orbiter and the prototype that launched the space shuttle program)

There were several options to fill the time between the museum and our dinner reservations, so my mom and I decided to spend an hour in Bryant Park. Located just a few blocks from the noisy, crowded Times Square, this 9 acre park is a calm and peaceful refuge from the busyness of the city. The lawn in the center of the park provides a place for people to sit and have a picnic lunch and is also used during concerts or summer movie nights. Along the edge of the park are tables and chairs for people to sit and talk, as well as areas for special activities: a reading room, a game area with games to play, an art cart, a carousel for kids, and a few food kiosks. It is a delightful park; I'm so glad we could spend some time there.

We met the rest of our tour group at Bubba Gumps, a restaurant based on the Forrest Gump movie and located right across the street from the ABC station where Good Morning America is based. It was a fun restaurant and I even won a prize from a trivia contest the waitstaff hosted!

Our final destination for the day was Rockefeller Center and the Top of The Rock observation deck for a view of the city. New York City is certainly beautiful at night with all the lights!

NBC Studios at Rockefeller Center

Radio City Music Hall

the plaza outside

the plaza outside - restaurant in summer, skating rink in winter

outside plaza fountain and statue

New York City - Day 2 morning

My initial plan was to summarize each day in New York when we returned to the hotel in the evening. But our days were so full that I was exhausted by the time we got back and the last thing I wanted to do was write a blog post! I'm amazed at how much we fit in just three days in the city!

The second day of our trip was by far the busiest and included lots of walking. We began by visiting St. Paul's Chapel at Trinity Church. This chapel was founded in 1766 and George Washington prayed there after his presidential inauguration. The chapel is near the World Trade Center and provided relief for workers after the 9-11 attacks. We then saw the New York Stock Exchange building on Wall Street and the Federal Hall National Memorial building, where George Washington was inaugurated.

St. Paul's Chapel, Trinity Church

New York Stock Exchange

Federal Hall National Memorial

FDNY Ten House: Engine Ten, Ladder 10;
the only fire station located within Ground Zero
and is just across the street from the World Trade Center

We spent most of the morning at the 9/11 Memorial Museum at Ground Zero. This museum is incredible and very carefully planned out; it is a solemn, quiet place as people see, read, listen, and reflect. We didn't have enough time to experience everything in the two hours we had here; there's just so much (110,000 square feet of exhibition space!). (I wish we had looked at the museum map first instead of immediately buying the audio guided tour; the audio tour was very confusing to follow and wasn't really necessary. We probably would have used our time more efficiently had we seen the map at the beginning.)

The exhibition center, which is located at the original foundation level of the World Trade Center site, is comprised of several large exhibition areas; the most moving for me was the In Memorian memorial section. Photographs of all the victims are displayed along the walls; tables with touchscreens allow you to tap on a photograph and learn more about the person who died. It is a powerful visual display showing how many lives were lost.

photo credit: 9/11 Museum website

Other areas of the museum showed artifacts found and tributes created in response to the attack, the history of the World Trade Center, and a multimedia exhibit describing the day of the attack and the aftermath. There is also a short movie showing the rebuilding process and an area of reflection on 9/11. 

Reflecting Pool Outside Museum - names of those killed are inscribed in bronze panels;
there are two reflecting pools showing where the twin towers stood.

Memorial Plaza with Swamp White Oak Trees

"Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning" - artwork by Spencer Finch,
Quotation by Virgil - letters were fashioned from salvaged remnants of steel from the World Trade Center

"Survivors' Stairs" - remnant of the Vesey Street staircase
used by many to escape from the building

damaged fire truck

"Last Column" & "Slurry Wall" in the Foundation Hall

Our visit to this important memorial and museum is one of the most memorable parts of our trip to New York City. I'm so glad we could see it.

New York City - Day 1

My mom and I are taking a short bus tour to New York City. She hasn't been on a vacation in several years because of my dad's health and we've both wanted to visit New York. We found this "long weekend getaway" tour online and the timing is perfect. In a way it's a little bittersweet as we still miss my dad very much; in fact, there have been several times today that one of us has said we can't wait to tell dad about something. But we know he would want us to enjoy ourselves and that's what we plan to do. It's good to have this short vacation time together.

We started off very early this morning (5:30 a.m.) boarding our Blue Lakes Charter bus in Adrian, Michigan and then spent a very l-o-n-g day traveling. I didn't realize how long of a drive it is (although we stopped for a few short breaks). Beautiful scenery along the way, though. We even saw the sunrise.

We arrived at our New Jersey hotel around 5:30 and then headed into the city for the evening. Did you know the Lincoln Tunnel goes under the Hudson River? I hope they keep checking to make sure there are no leaks!

About half of us had New York pizza for supper at Cafe Rustico II - delicious!

Then we walked to Times Square for a bit of exploration. Apparently you can find almost anything there: caricaturists, rappers, live snakes (being held by people, not just wandering around!), girls in thongs and body paint (nothing else) in patriotic red - white- and blue colors, costumed characters, and tons of people with cell phones. Actually tons of people in general.

I did learn a lesson involving the costumed characters. As we were walking past some of them I thought it might be fun to have my picture taken with one of them to show my students. "Elmo" saw me glancing over and immediately came up to me, shook my hand, and began to pose. I realized I was going to have to give him a tip, so I handed my mom my phone to take a photo. As she started taking the picture, three other costumed characters slid into place next to us and then I had to give them each a dollar! (Even though they didn't all get in the photo!) So from now on, I will not make eye contact with any costumed characters in New York City!

The photo that ended up costing me $4!

Lots of lights, signs, tall buildings, people, movement = a busy place! 

And we found the theater where Amazing Grace is playing - can't wait to see the show on Saturday!