Warning: This is a really loooooonnnnggg post. (My sincerest apologies in advance, but thanks for hanging in to the end.)
John and I spent 4 days in April with Ashley, Brandon and the boys. 2 days in Philadelphia, 2 days in New York City.
Can I just say 4 days was not long enough!!! We needed a few more days, mostly because we couldn't get enough of these two little cuties!!!
But I digress...easy to do with those two little tykes around.
Here is a whirlwind summary of the trip, the things we saw, and a little commentary along the way.
You can't go to Philly without seeing the Rocky statue and posing like said statue. Good imitation Grandpa and Talmage. Apparently another popular touristy thing to do is run up the stairs in front of the Art Museum just like Rocky. We chose to stick with posing. Although, we did watch some tourists running up the stairs. I say we can check it off our list.
This was a common sight during the trip. Talmage couldn't be with Grandpa enough. He was excited to show Grandpa everything about the Please Touch Museum. This picture is the two of them heading into the museum.
You also would be remiss if you skipped the Liberty Bell. There is so much American History in this town.
The trickiest thing to see in Philly is Independence Hall. I say tricky because you have to get tickets. We didn't get tickets as early as we wanted, so it was a little iffy with the boys because we had to wait a few hours until we could get in. But as luck would have it, the boys were troopers and we got in. The room in the picture above is the room where the Continental Congress met to write and sign the Declaration of Independence and form the United States of America . John and I both agree that you can feel the history surrounding you as you walk through the rooms.
Ashley and I agree that when you come to Philly, you have to go to Reading Terminal Market and buy the best pretzels in the world. Sadly, we didn't get a picture of the pretzels, the above picture is the produce section of the market. We just have the memory of the buttery, chewy, salty treat. Isn't there a recipe out there somewhere????New York City was the destination for the other two days of our trip.
All I can say is wow! What a fantastic place!
#1 Favorite Place (in my opinion)
Central Park
The Plaza Hotel is right on the corner of Central Park. Even though I'm not a huge Eloise fan, I got a kick out of seeing a flag flying in her honor.
Talmage was just the right height to peek through the wall.
This is the fountain from the movie "Enchanted". I had hoped for a little production number to come through the park while we were there, but I had to settle for 2 drunk guys holding each other up as they walked through the park. :-) Maybe next time.
On many of the park benches there are metal plates with dedications to people or quotes like the one above. I have no idea who Jane and Terry Shea are but I love that they put this on the plate for this bench.
Talmage decided to have a little two-year old meltdown on the way through the park. Here he and Brandon are reconciling - just a little dad/son moment.
I put this picture in just because it says "Central Park West". Maybe some of you needed a little proof that we were actually in Central Park. :-)
This is the memorial to John Lennon in Strawberry Fields. I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure he lived just across the street from this part of the park. Ashley said there was a man who took care of Strawberry Fields, kind of its caretaker, I suppose, and quite often this is decorated with flowers. We clearly came on his day off. Even if you're not a huge Beatles fan, its a beautiful thing to see.
This is the view of Central Park from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. It doesn't even do the park justice. (And in case you are wondering, yes, I wish I had framed the picture a little better so that railing wasn't in it and from a different angle so the big, tall building wasn't the main focal point. Oh well...guess we'll have to go back so I can try again!)Other things we saw in NYC.
I took this picture of a hot dog stand just for Kristin. She was a little disappointed we didn't actually get a hot dog from it, but a picture was the perfect hot dog stand experience for me. Apparently, when many people see a corner in Manhatten they say "This is a great place for a hot dog stand." (That is the name of a book we adopted at our school library many years ago. :-)
There are so many old churches right in the middle of all the skyscrapers. This church is right across the street from Ground Zero and was used after the attack on the twin towers as a place for the rescue workers to rest, get food and take a break from the very difficult job they had to do. There was a tree that was uprooted from the attack, and the roots were huge. Not one of the gravestones was damaged when that happened. I thought that was amazing.
This is one of the doors of the Trinity Church (think National Treasure). The church has beautiful stained windows (no picture as they were having a service when we peeked through the doors). These doors were worth the trip though. Such detail is truly amazing.
Of all the religious buildings, this was our favorite. Right across from Julliard Music School and the Lincoln Center is our very own LDS Temple. To see all the huge buildings surrounding it, you wonder how those who enter are able to leave the world behind, but I imagine they do just fine with that.
They think of everything in NY. Notice the marquees (sp) in the steps of the Lincoln Center. We country mice thought that was pretty cool and efficient of the designers, architects - well whoever thought the concept up.
Brandon was so excited to take us to Empanada Mama. A hole in the wall (literally) that served authentic Columbian Empanadas. We were happy to indulge him and eat lunch there. Yum! John had a little trip back into time when he ate a dish he had often on his mission.
Here is a shot of the financial district from the Empire State Building. In case you are wondering, I wouldn't have done one thing different when I took this picture. I really love it because it gives you a feel of the vastness of New York City.
My Mother's Day present from my family was a ticket for the musical "WICKED" Oh my word, it was fantastic!!! Ashley and I had ourselves a little girl's night out, and saw it together. Should I sing a few songs from it for you? I could...Seeing a show on Broadway is a once in a lifetime experience. Although, I wouldn't mind making it a twice in a lifetime thing...:-)
When we got into the subway system, a security person asked me not to take any pictures "inside the system". So, this is not a picture of us riding the subway to the financial district!
Here are my traveling companions at the very tip of the island. You can see Lady Liberty in the background. We chose to admire her from afar.
Times Square was the biggest sensory overload!!! Apparently, my senses were so overloaded that I didn't get a good picture of it. Take my word, it is an amazing place. There is a huge Toys r Us that had a ferris wheel in it. Talmage and Brandon gave it a whirl and gave it their stamp of approval.
We walked across this (the Brooklyn Bridge 1.3 miles)....
...so we could eat this!
We ate the yummiest pizza and meatballs in Brooklyn. Not at the famous pizza place (the name escapes me) but at a different one. John and I didn't know what the other place was like, but we really liked the food here. Tanner really loved it too. So much that he gave his mom and big slobbery kiss for taking him there!Walking across the bridge was great. The view looking back to Manhatten was amazing, and the bridge itself is pretty amazing too. It is a suspension bridge, really old, and has a lot of character. We decided to skip the walk back and took the subway instead.
I thought I should take a picture of the NY Stock Exchange. I like to know where our money hangs out when it is not with us.
This is one of the things they have in the Pre-Memorial for the victims of 9/11. It is covered with patches and other stuff from the rescue workers. It is very sobering to see the whole area. We couldn't see the actual building foot prints with the construction going on all around, none the less, a person feels the significance of what happened that tragic day in September, almost ten years ago.
The Apple Store is right by Central Park. We watched an employee count off a certain number of people and when there was the right amount, they would stop letting people in and wait to let the next group in. I hope they all like their new iPads.
Of course, I had to get a picture of the New York Public Library. I can't be too jealous because we are finally getting a new library here! Yay! Maybe I'll suggest they fashion it after this one. I'd happily make a copy for them.
Here we are in Grand Central Station. It wasn't as bustling as I expected. We were probably not there at peak time. I was still in awe of its beauty and size.
The very last thing we saw before getting on the bus was Madison Square Garden. We didn't actually get to go inside the coliseum, but there were some pretty interesting things to look at outside it.Well, we are still country mice. I have checked. After a not very scientific poll, not one person said I look more sophisticated after our trip. So, we are still country mice. I can tell you, these country mice were pretty happy to see our valley at the top of the Lewiston hill, but we wouldn't trade our trip back East for anything. Especially when we get to hang out with these two compadres and their parents.
Thanks, Ashley and Brandon, for showing us a heck of a good time!
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