New York City

Today we made our trek into the "Big Apple". We took the 9:55 train from a station close to our grandparents' house and arrived in Penn Station around 11:15.

The girls and I on the train ride into New York City.

We started out immediately for the Empire State Building. We would've liked to have gone to the Statue of Liberty, but the ferry tickets were sold out until July 5th. So, anyway, off to the Empire State Building we went. It's pretty expensive to go to the top to the observation deck and since I had already been a couple of years ago, just Mom, Josiah, and the girls went up. Right before they were going up I leaned close to Josiah and said "Do you have any weapon paraphenalia?" He promptly responsed by pulling this ginormous pocket knife out (as we're standing inside the building!!! where were the guards??). The knife went quickly into my pocket and then . . . out of his pocket comes ANOTHER knife! Thankfully we confiscated his knives before security did. :) As the fantastic four went off to the top of the ESB, Dad and I headed east and walked down to the East River. It was a beautiful day and we found some old churches and went in and looked around at them. One was an old Episcopalian church and the other was an Armenian church. It was really interesting to go into the St. Vartan Cathedral. It was so different looking and very fascinating.


Views from the observation deck of the ESB. Important note for any "Sleepless in Seattle" fans: apparently they didn't see Meg Ryan or Tom Hanks up there.


Josiah and the girls at the top!!

After the ESB group came down from their "withering heights", we ate lunch at the base of the Empire State Building at the Europa Cafe. Then it was off to the next stop: Carnagie Hall. At the hall they told us they gave tours "five days a week . . . but not today". We begged to be allowed to just peek inside, but they wouldn't let us.

Josiah standing where his picture should be located!! :)

Four of the world's most infamous musical siblings - in front of Carnagie Hall. Hehe!! ;)

So, down the block we walked to Central Park. We always go to NYC in November or December because we're usually here at holiday times. It was so beautiful at Central Park!! We walked into the park at Artisan Lane (right off of 7th Avenue) and then walked down toward the playground, the Carousel, then down to the quiet zone and also to the lake. It was just stunning. On our way out of the park we walked past a part of the lake where people were sailing little sailboats.It was so picturesque.

The above area is called "Sheep's Meadow". Apparently it was a grazing area for sheep until 1934. Now it is an area that is a designated "quiet zone". You can't have any radios and you're supposed to turn off your cell phones before you enter. It actually was really quiet there.

Josiah and I on Literary Walk. The elm trees around this area are just stunning.
Here we are in front of the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain which is located right next to the lake. I must admit, I never realized just how large Central Park is until we walked through part of it and we barely scratched the surface of seeing it all!

Next we went to Grand Central Station and looked at the amazing architecture. And lots of people. :)

New York Public Library was next. I have never seen such a big building with the name of library that had so few visible books. The girls and I explored until we found the women's bathroom at the very back corner of the third floor. Then it was off to the gift shop where we browsed until it was time to go.


We went to Jackson Hole (our favorite resturaunt in the city) for dinner and we met our Aunt Mary Ann and her friend Wayne. We had a nice dinner and a fun visit and then it was off to Penn Station to catch the train back home.


My favorite memories of our trip to New York City:

- Sliding down the banisters at the New York Public Library

- Sing 3 part harmony with my sisters on the train

- Eating hot pretzels in Central Park

- Finding out that Josiah logged into his Facebook account at the Radio Shack 1/2 block from Carnagie Hall and changed his status

- Walking around with just Dad