New York in the Fall

Last week was our long awaited trip to New York City. Rob had a College Board meeting on Wednesday and a few conference sessions on Thursday, so we made a week of it, just the two of us. We had a fantastic time. Since I have been to this wonderful City before, it was Rob's turn to select our sight-seeing destinations. We began our trip with a visit to the Iridium Jazz Club where we listened to none other than legendary inventor of the electric guitar, Les Paul jam with his trio. Not bad for a 92 year old. The following day we took a ride on the Staten Island Ferry for views of the New York skyline and Statue of Liberty. Then it was on to a walking tour of the financial district including Wall Street and the Trade Center site. The Trade Center site is buzzing with activity as the City works to rebuild. Native New Yorkers seem somewhat irritated that tourists want to see the site, but we felt like we wanted to see the place where our world changed on that September day, and honor those who lost their lives. There is no official memorial yet, but New York has done an excellent job of keeping the site a somber place in spite of all the construction and tourism. From the Financial District in downtown Manhattan, we decided to walk as far uptown as our legs would carry us. We made it a fair distance, but finally broke down and caught the subway back to our hotel at the southwest corner of Central Park. Our legs were sore the rest of the week. I spent Wednesday while Rob was in his meeting walking in Central Park, window shopping on 5th Ave., and buying treats for the girls at FAO Shwarz. Wednesday night we had a lovely dinner with Rob's brother Joe and his girlfriend Sarah who live in Brooklyn. Thursday we took the subway to Little Italy for some New York Pizza and spent some time walking around SoHo. We walked so much. It was almost addicting. Every time I thought about catching the subway instead, I would think, just one more block, I don't want to miss anything. Once we finally decided to catch the subway on Thursday, we took it all the way to the Museum of Natural History. We got there about an hour before closing when admission is free. So, we made a speed trip through the dinosaurs and a few other exhibits. This is where the movie "Night at the Museum" was filmed, and they have a program for families with 8-12 year olds where you can actually spend a night at the museum. Too fun. We'll have to go back when the girls are old enough. We ended our time in the City with left over pizza in Central Park and some really great gelato. Click the play button below to see some of our pictures from the trip.