NYC Trip - Day 3, Part 1

The third day in New York we decided to walk Central Park and continue walking until we came to the theater district at Times Square. One of our trip goals was to see a Broadway show and we were hoping to get 1/2 price tickets for either Spamalot (a spoof of the Monty Python film The Holy Grail), The Lion King (a play based on the movie) or perhaps Stomp (a play based on stomping).

When you walk through the theater district you realize just how the entertainment industry had changed. In NYC's heyday in the 50's, plays became movies. Now, primarily spurred by Disney, movies have become plays... the aforementioned The Lion King and Spamalot are joined by Mary Poppins and the Little Mermaid currently running on Broadway.

Anyway, back to our day. Central Park wasn't very far away, so we walked through some neighborhoods with wonderful architecture.

The family on the stairs of one
of the many beautiful
brownstones.

Once at Central Park, we partook of the local cuisine (pretzels) and motored ourselves into the famed centrally located grounds.

Mmmm... pretzels.

In honor of the Bard, William Shakespeare, DC and I stopped at a memorial and over-acted, Shakespearean style.

Let us notith beith so badith
at actingith.

Our first real stop was the Belvedere Castle. Built in the 1800s, it was originally used as a meteorological station. It fell into disrepair in the 1980s and 1990s, but had recently been repaired.

Belvedere Castle

Gabe atop the castle overlooking
his little piece of heaven...
baseball fields.

The view from Belvedere Castle.

Afterwards we continued through the park toward midtown and enjoyed the surroundings.

Dea at the Park.

Cool structure. Leaks though.

Standing in "The Mall"
which is used in
a lot of movies.

During our stay, all through New York, it was not uncommon to come across extremely talented artists playing for change in parks and subways. It spurred an interesting conversation with DC... as an artist at some point she'll have to decide whether she wants to try and be a small fish in a big pond or a big fish in a small pond. If extremely talented artists are working for change, then how good must those who actually perform for a living be at their craft?

Some excellent musicians
playing for donations.

After strolling through The Mall we found Poets Corner, where world famous poets were honored with statues. DC and I again found Shakespeare's statue and had our picture taken.

DC and I below the patient Bard.

You know, Shakespeare's genius is that he is able to, with great efficiency, create completely enveloping imagery. One of my favorite Shakespearean lines is:

"He has the patience of statues."

What is more patient than a human form that never moves? Great stuff.

Our now weary bodies eventually reached the end of Central Park, stopping atop the massive rock structures, overlooking a free outdoor ice-skating rink lined by the towering skyscrapers.

Atop the rock.

Kids take a break
looking at the ice-skaters.

Our day of exploration would continue outside of the calm confines of Central Park and into the busy streets of Manhattan as we made our way toward Broadway.

I Got Mine!

Today I picked up Matt Maher's new CD called Empty & Beautiful.

If you're a frequent visitor to this site you know how I came to hear Matt's music by getting copies of his songs from a source I'll simply call an unnamed relative. When I realized I would meet him in person, I paid Matt cash for the equivalent of the three CDs worth of music into which I had come in possession.

When I saw Matt a month or so ago, I told him I'd actually purchase his CD the old fashioned way... with the store, the distributor and the music company all getting their cut.

So, here's the proof, Matt!

Can't wait to listen to it.

NYC Trip - Day 2, Part 2

We eventually made our way to the site of the former World Trade Center towers. There's not a lot to see there now. Just a big pit where they are setting the foundation of the new building.

It was sad to think of all of the souls lost there... very sad.

Preparing to build again.

One of my favorite pictures.

A neighboring church was used by the police and firemen to sleep in shifts as they looked for survivors. It now holds an on-going memorial to the lives lost seven years ago.

It also is the same location George Washington prayed the moment after he was inaugurated as our country's first president. They still have the pew inside where he knelt that day.

Outside the church.

George Washington's Pew

Patches of the police
and firemen lost that day.

After our solemn visit at Ground Zero we walked over to Battery Park, across the water from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

DC, Dea and Lady Liberty.

DC looking across the water at the Statue.

While we looked across the glistening water we explained to our children how important the Statue was to those immigrating to America through Ellis Island. When they saw the Statue of Liberty, they knew they had made it. They knew they were free.

As we discussed the history, a young woman approached us and told us she had overheard our conversation, was from Fox News, and wondered if we'd agree to be interviewed on camera. They were putting together a pro-America video public service announcement and she wanted us to participate.

We agreed.

We got mic'd up and the producer, Brad, explained his approach. He would ask us a series of questions and if he heard something he liked, he'd have us expound on that. At the end we then said a series of introduction lines.

With Dea, he liked when she said "Freedom, to me, means being able to teach my children the way I want."

With me, he liked it when I said "Freedom is not free, it's not cheap, but it's worth it."

It took about a half hour and was a lot of fun. As I mentioned, at the end he asked us to say some intro lines, like "This is MY American Story" and "Stand-Up America!"

When Dea did her Stand-Up America line, Brad asked that she speak as mother would to her children to motivate them. So Dea takes a deep breath and says aggressively, "Stand-up America!" Feeling it was a little too strong, Brad tries to rephrase his approach.

I jumped in and said "Don't ground America, honey."

We all shared a laugh and finished the interview. Brad said the promos may start showing up as soon as next week, so if you see Dea and me on TV, let us know.

The previous night, on our bus night-tour, the tour guide mentioned that the Staten Island Ferry was free and gives a close pass by the Statue of Liberty. So, after we finished up with Fox News we walked over to the Staten Island Ferry and hopped aboard.

After a long day of walking, sitting on the boat and viewing the New York skyline and the beautiful Statue was a wonderful respite.

New York skyline minus the Twin Towers.

The Brooklyn Bridge

Ellis Island

Gabe and I look on from the Ferry.

The Statue of Liberty

On the way back from Staten Island,
DC collapses into Dea's lap
and enjoys a quick nap.

We had planned to hit the "Top of the Roc", which is the top floor of the Rockefeller Center, but we were all pretty wiped out by this time. So we hopped on the subway and headed back to the hotel for dinner and a good night's rest.

NYC Trip - Day 2, Part 1

We started the day worn out from our journey the day before, but we couldn't dally... we had a lot of places to go this day.

Yeah, I'm tired.

We hopped on the subway and made our way down to Grand Central Station.

Gabe and DC waiting for the next train.

The Grand Central subway stop.

This beautiful, large and impressive Grand Central Station building has been used very successfully by Brian DePalma for both The Untouchables and Carlito's Way. You walk into a building like that and quickly realize we no longer consider buildings as an art form. This building is a work of art.

Grand Central Station

Hanging out at the GCS.

DC, Dea and Gabe outside GCS.

Me and DC near GCS.

After a brunch in the GCS dining area, we trekked on foot around the city, spotting many o' landmarks.

Madison Square Garden

The impressive U.S. Post Office.

The Empire State Building

Can you guess where we are?
That's right!
The American Stock Exchange.

Flat Iron Building
used in Spiderman.

We tried to take in so many iconic and well-known locations. It was stunning to turn the corner and find, one after another, places we had seen on television numerous times during our lives.

Our weary feet continued our tour of this massive, memorable city, leading us toward the saddened ground known as Ground Zero...

NYC Trip - Day 1

I didn't really sleep Monday night into Tuesday morning. Every second that I tried to doze off I was afraid I was going to sleep through the alarm, so I tossed and turned and checked the clock until 4:00 a.m. finally lit up the alarm.

We muscled the kids out of bed and, thanks to my wonderfully efficient wife, threw the pre-packed luggage into the car and headed to the airport.

We made our way through security and waited patiently for our delayed flight. We eventually made it onto the plane and about an hour and a half later we were racing through the Atlanta airport, our carry-on luggage flapping about our winded bodies, making it to our connecting flight to New York just in time.

But how did we get here? The idea was simple enough. My wife turns 40 next year... a month before my daughter turns 16. They were going to celebrate by taking a mother/daughter trip to New York City. Then, as fate would have it, the hallowed Yankee Stadium was being torn down after this year and it occurred to me how much fun it would be to take my baseball-nut son to a game there before it is gone forever.

So, I asked the Mrs. if she would move the trip up a year. The stars aligned (school Spring Break, Little League Spring Break, Yankees home opening weekend against the local Rays) and we booked our flight and hotel through my brother John's travel website.

We arrived in Newark, took a limo over to the Hotel Newton on the Upper West Side, quickly settled in and immediately headed down to Times Square. The kids were excited to use the subway and were amazed at all of the lights in Times Square. Tourists, like us, were everywhere, which actually made us feel safer.

The nicely tiled subway stop for Times Square

DC, Me and Gabe in Times Square

People watching at a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Shop

Gabe outside the Yankees Store

Later that night we went on a night bus tour atop a double-decker bus. It took us through Little Italy, Chinatown, the Village and over the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn where we saw the Brooklyn Bridge at night.

A couple of buildings on the night tour
including the New York Life
building in the center and the
Empire State Building lit in green.

As the night tour ended, rain started to fall. We took shelter near the ESPN Zone restaurant and eventually took our weary bodies back to the hotel and collapsed in a heap.

Raining in Times Square.

A busy and fun first day in New York City.

Back Home

The family and I returned LATE last night/early morning from a wonderful and extremely busy week in New York City.

I'll have more posts and pics about our trip in the coming days.

Little League Highlights - Cards Lose 9-1

On the heels of the big win last night against the Yanks, the Cards came out flat in the afternoon heat and lost to the Dodgers 9-1. A lot of mental errors and one of those games where we simply hit it right to the opponent, the Cards dropped back into a tie for second with the Dodgers.

Gabe went 1-3, but had two really solid hits. His first went to right center and his second was caught in left. His third at-bat he hit the ball off the end of the bat, sending a soft liner to the pitcher.

You can watch the video highlights HERE (again, big file, Internet Explorer preferred).

A frustrating way to enter spring break, but it's a long season.