New York City 2009
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The first night, we cut the chase and headed to the top of the Empire State Building to get aquainted with Manhattan.
My goodness, I can see where George Lucas was inspired when creating his city planet in Star Wars. Here's the view north.
You can see the glow of Times Square over on the left. And the Chrysler Building anchors things on the right.
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Our accomodations were a half block from Central Park so we had an easy time going for a morning run. We were surprised how wooded and hilly the park was.
A nice respite from the bustling streets. We saw some of the sites from that uber fun number from "Enchanted"
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We headed to Lower Manhattan and caught the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty! Sharon was mighty enough to keep the grand lady
in place for this photo.
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From up on the statue's pedestal, there was a nice harbor view to be had. Ellis Island is on
the left, Lower Manhattan dominates the middle, and the Brooklyn Bridge graces the right side.
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We visited the museum within the pedestal which offered a thorough history of the giant statue. Here's the original torch
she carried. The one that is now up there is a bit more modern and showy.
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Ellis Island was the next destination. Coming in on the ferry offered a glimpse of what the immigrants felt
as they neared America. Here is the great hall everyone came through. The museum is impressive. There are terminals
where you can look up relatives. We easily found Grandpa Jacob's arrival in 1913.
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We walked up through lower Manhattan and by Ground Zero. It is a flurry of construction these days. They are beginning to build a 1776 foot
skyscrapper called the Freedom Tower.
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That night we hit Broadway! We caught "Rock of Ages" which was a hilarious romp with lots of 80s nostalgia. It was a ball and the actors
were very talented and could belt out the high notes. 80-ites like us were singing along the whole show.
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The next day, Chris just had to see one of the great engineering feats of the 1800s, the Brooklyn Bridge. We walked halfway across on the pedestrian/bike trail.
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We then walked west across several nice neighborhoods. Lots of restaurants and interesting shops. If the stuff in Times Square wears you down,
NY has many great neighborhoods that are a tad more layed back. Here is SoHo.
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After our afternoon stroll, we caught an evening boat tour that traversed the bulk of the bottom half of Manhattan island
and back. Cool to see the city lights from the Hudson and East Rivers.
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The boat also paid a visit to that famous statue out in the harbor!
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On to the next day. We headed straight over to the Mighty Met(Metropolitan Museum of Art). The collection is so vast
and diverse, we could only sample it. Up on the roof was an impressive sculpture called "Maelstrom" which was like a big
metallic lightning bolt tree.
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Within the walls were pricelss works by Monet and other masters. Plus picks from across the globe. Here is a full
Egyptian tumb.
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Up 5th Avenue from the Met is the classic Frank Lloyd Wright designed building, The Guggenheim Museum. We took an artsy
flair with our self portrait.
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As we wandered through midtown Manhattan, we came across a 14 block long street fair. We found out later it was called
"The Avenue of the Americas Family Expo". Lots of merchants, food and artisans.
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With Autumn in full swing, the hot fashion accessory were scarves which were being sold by street vendors all over the city.
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Amongst the chaos of tens of thousands of people clogging the street fair, we made it to Radio City which was
the reason for coming to NY in the first place. Lord Of The Rings with a symphony!
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The show blew us away along with the other 6000 in attendance. The power of 100 musicians combined with a 200 member choir and both a female and male soloist performing
the full 3+ hour soundtrack live with the film projected behind them, well, was a sight and sound to behold. One that I will never forget.
The Academy Award winning composer of the music, Howard Shore, gave an interesting talk before the show too. This format upped your appreciation
for this fabulous music that you might otherwise take for granted as you watched the movie. Awesome. Upon returning from intermission, I snuck a quick
flick.
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After the show and back down at the Temple of Capitalism AKA Times Square, we checked out the 3 floor M&Ms mega store. Fun stuff, especially for a junkie like me!
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No matter if its new years or not, midnight at Times Square means just one thing. Smooching with your honey!
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The last morning we were there we scaled 30 Rock for more great views.
Its actually better than the Empire State observation deck since it lets you see that great building.
All in all, we had a fun first swing through the great American metropolis.
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