Vacation 2009

Between my mother and myself, we took over thirteen hundred photos on our vacation to Ohio/New Jersey/New York City. I sifted through and chose just over one hundred to post on my facebook. I have chosen only six to share here.


Central park was not at all what I expected. For one thing, it is enormous. For another thing, there are giant rocks all over the place that are absolutely fantastic. We only made it through about half the park; we turned around after visiting the museums of Natural History and the Met. Isn't this couple cute in their rowboat? Also, I only wish it was this GREEN here in the deep, hot south. It is beautiful.

Across the street from Ground Zero, we visited St. Paul's Chapel, and cute little church that survived the September 11 attacks despite the close proximity to the Towers. Throughout the chapel memorials have been erected to the lost loved ones of the terrorist attacks. Countless paper cranes, patches of fire and police uniforms, pictures, cards, and signs are very nicely organized along the walls, leaving all the pew space empty for services. This is the front window and gorgeous chandelier. The cemetery behind the church was also very breathtaking.





This probably looks familiar, but we stumbled upon it while trying to find a bus that would take us back uptown; I am so very glad we did. The sign reads:
THE CROSS AT GROUND ZERO
FOUNDED SEPT. 13, 2001
BLESSED OCT. 4, 2001
TEMPORARILY RELOCATED OCT. 5, 2006
WILL RETURN TO WTC MUSEUM A SIGN OF COMFORT FOR ALL

We did not visit Ellis Island, but we rode the Staten Island Ferry in order to get lovely shots of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. And the ferry ride was a very nice opportunity to rest our aching feet.










The Metropolitan Museum of Art was delightful and I especially enjoyed the roof. A large, steel, modern art sculpture dominated and there were views of the treetops of Central Park and protruding skyscrapers of various buildings. Does the sky look ominous? It rained the majority of the time we were in the city, but I am a fan of rain, and it only downpoured once. :)




Last but very far from least, a shot of Times Square. I chose one featuring the poster for In the Heights because that is the musical I chose to see, and it was a good decision. The storyline, music, and especially dancing was fantastic; I really wanted to see something I had never seen before, or even heard the music to. It was something totally knew and it did not disappoint me at all. Times Square was exactly what I expected, full of people, sounds, colors, and life. I loved it.




All in all, our trip was a ton of fun. I cannot wait to get back to New York City.




but PS: London wins, no contest. :)

also PS: Sorry the formatting is so bad... I'll work on that for my next post of pretty fireworks from tonight. :)