Sept 8-12 2008 - NYC with Jim and Sandy -

I don't know if other people get nine months behind posting a blog, but it has happened to me. Instead of feeling overwhelming guilt at my posting sins, I'm just going to catch up so I can start with our current adventures.

On Sept 6, 2008, our friends Jim and Sandy from Murphys, CA joined us on Grand Fromage. Jim and Sandy were our neighbors in Forest Meadows.

There are very creative parks in Manhattan. The park where the little ferry from Libery State Park lands is called Battery Park. During the day, staff puts out toys. Here are some children playing with soft toys.

With Jim and Sandy on the subway

The Chrysler Building

Big buildingsHere is the mandatory picture of the "naked cowboy", a must see in Times Square. You know it is a must see when you are asked at least ten times, "Have you seen the naked cowboy yet?" Yokels on the lose in midtown Manhattan.

A statue at the Rockafeller Plaza. During the summer, the area is filled with resturants. During the winter, it is a skating rink.

Jim and Sandy at the top of the Rockafeller building. Let Robert pour you a beer at the Rockafeller Plaza.My friend, Sandy Our last night in NYC was 9/11. Directly across from our marina is the Trade Center. Every year on 9/11, search lights are lit to commenorate the buildings that were destroyed.

Aug 30 - Visit to Central Park

Wandering about Central Park was an extremely enjoyable experience. It is a treasure for any city, let alone a city the size of New York. The park is magnificent in size and scope. We only had time and energy to explore a very small segment, but I could happily spend days discovering new gems. When you are in the park, until you look at the skyline, you'd never know you were in one of the largest cities. The people who designed and built this park left a real gift. From all appearances, it is a gift greatly appreciated by the locals. There were people everywhere - jogging, playing on the vast lawns, sunbathing, strolling on the winding paths, rowing boats. Even with all of the people, you could still easily find a private, hidden nook.

Belvedere Castle, which is a wildlife viewing area. In front is Turtle Pond.A wonderful view from the tower of Belvedere Castle

A resident of - you'll never guess - Turtle Pond

Aug 23-28 - Cousin Joe visits from Alabama

Joe Finnegan joined us on Grand Fromage for a few days' sightseeing in NYC. Joe is a fun guest because he is so enthusiastic to see all of the things he has read about and seen on tv.

Robert and Joe wait for the Liberty State Park ferry. This was the one of the few relaxing moments in a day of frenzied sight seeing.

We took the subway up to Times Square and wandered around. Our main challenge was keeping track of Joe who was so enthusiatic to photograph the surroundings that he would sometimes wander off.

One find was Bryant Park on 42nd and 6th. This park is very popular for relaxing, reading and meetings. It is a big park and the amazing thing is it is filled with bistro chairs, tables and stools that seemingly stay in the park. They are constantly being rearranged for round table discussions, napping, reading, lunching and people watching.Bryant Park is right next to the NYC library. Part of the park is a reading area with rolling carts of adult books, childrens' books, newspapers and magazines available.
Another surprise about Manhattan was the sense that it is a safe place to be. There are over a million people living and working there, so you know there is crime and violence. However, whether we were wandering the streets or traveling by subway, we never felt threatened, endangered or insecure. There is a sizable police presense patrolling the streets, driving around or hopping into the street to move trafic. Prior to Joe's arrival, we had checked into going to the top of the Empire State Building. It was going to involve long lines and significant waiting. We had read about an alternative..the top of the Rockefeller Center. Imagine our surprise when we discovered we could walk up to the booth and buy a ticket without first standing in a two hour line. Even better, with tickets in hand, we were immediately going up the elevator to the top for a fabulous view of NYC. "The Top of the Rock" was one of the most fun adventures we shared with Joe. Here is the Empire State Building from the top of the Rockefeller Center
View of Central Park
On Joe's last day, we were up and out early for a ferry ride over to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. We really enjoyed the museum at Ellis Island. One thing clear from the exhibits...immigration issues are not new.

The main building at Ellis Island

There were many photographs of immigrants going through the process at Ellis Island or leaving their native country. I enjoyed all of the photos, but this was one of my favorites. It is a gypsy family.The first thing you notice when arriving on Liberty Island is the actual size of the Statue of Liberty...it is HUGE. The second thing you notice is that the statue is set on a fort. This mandatory silly photo demonstrates both the size and the underlying fort. A close up of the book and the copper overlays.
After Liberty Island, we took the ferry back to Manhattan for the mad subway dash up to the theatre district. We had tickets for the matinee of "The Lion King". Our second foray to Broadway was a roaring success. Our seats were wonderful. The set and costumes were imaginative and fun. The pace and energy level were extremely upbeat. The singing and acting terrific.

Aug 12-14 - John and Vivian visit from NC

It was a real treat to have our two doctor friends from New Bern, NC - John and Vivian - visit Grand Fromage. The only problem was the visit was so short, but we tried to cram in lots of sight seeing and adventures.

We took a five and a half hour All Aboard small bus tour. This tour was highly recommended on the Trip Advisor website. I did feel like we got a good overview of Manhattan, but a lot of time was spent in traffic and a few of the stops were rather silly.

The first stop was the tribute to John Lennon in Central Park..."Strawberry Fields"....one of the silly stops. However, it was wonderful to see a little corner of Central Park and very interesting to see The Dakota, the condo where Yoko Ono stills lives. If you'd like to buy a flat in the Dakota, you can get a bargain for 12.5 million or 18.5 for the upscale flat. Robert and I have our realtor negotiating as we speak, err write. Shucky darn, our offer of 150,000 was turned down.

The Empire State BuildingI can't remember the story about this building, but I liked it.

The Brooklyn Bridge

John and Vivian relaxing during a break in our All Aboard tour

We dropped by Wall Street for some pre-bailout negotiations.

Our tour included a trip on the Staten Island Ferry for scenic views of the New York Harbor. On the way back we saw this storm over the Hudson. Manhattan is on the right of the river. Jersey City is on the left side. You reach Liberty Landing by going up a creek right next to the tallest building on the left. That building, by the way, is Goldman Sachs.

We wanted to see a Broadway show with John and Vivian. We already had tickets to see Wicked in September. John and Vivian had never seen Phantom of the Opera. We had loved it so much when we saw it in Sacramento that we figured a repeat performance would be a treat. We were very disappointed. The sets were not up to the standard in Sacramento. The singers did not enunciate and thus you could not follow the story line. There was no zest or exilaration. Our first foray on Broadway was a dud.

Aug 10-12 - Exploring Manhattan

To get to Manhattan from Liberty Landing, we took the Liberty State Park Ferry, "Little Lady". This ferry ran sort of every half hour, except when it took on gas or broke down or just ran late. Despite the little problems on occasion, it was a wonderful service and we thoroughly enjoy the ferry rides.

Our ferry landing place was next to the Financial Trade buildings and a few blocks from ground zero, which is now a giant construction site.

This picture is interesting because it shows a few of the older buildings in with the new.

It didn't take long to locate the subway entrances. This led to our first surprise about NYC. When we were leaving the Chesapeake, we were told by several people, "As soon as you leave the Cheasapeake, you will not find any more nice people....nice will be over" We were constantly amazed by the helpfulness and graciousness of the NYC people. We would be studying a map of the subway system and someone would ask if we needed help. We had a couple of people actually walk us out to the street and up a couple of blocks to show us which way to go. People would frequently strike up conversations on the train. Instead of nice being over, we discovered a whole new world of nice.

In a couple of days, we had figured out the subway system. We also discovered a Whole Food Store within walking distance of the ferry. We grabbed our trusty cart and headed our for some provisioning.

The traffic in NYC is completely crazy. The parking fees are even worse. We would pass signs at parking garages..."Special...1/2 hour....$12.95", "Special....1/2 hour $14.95" Eeek!!! It looked like it would cost $500-1200 and up to park a car in the city. We started to converse with many people about car ownership in NYC. What we learned is that none of the folks with whom we chatted owned a car. One fellow told me that no one in their right mind would drive in the city during the week and since most New Yorkers work five days a week, owning a car for two days' a week was an unaccptable luxury. What they do for that big shopping or the weekend getaway is Zipcar...http://www.zipcar.com/index . You apply in advance for the service. There are cars parked all over town. When you want to use a car, you call or go online to reserve one for an hour or days. Your zipcard opens up the car you've reserved. New Yorkers are wild about this service. I noticed on the zipcar website that the service is also available in San Francisco.

The view from Liberty State Park across the Hudson to Manhattan was fabulous. We would frequently walk down to the river to enjoy the panoramic and dramatic NYC skyline. Here are a few pictures looking from Liberty State Park to Manhattan.

Lower ManhattanMidtown Manhattan. The tall building is the Empire State Building. The smaller lighted peak to the right is the Chrysler Building. One of the big New York City ferries