Central Park
7:16 PM Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The San Remo building. Home to Bono and Steven Spielberg. It only costs a cool $50 million to buy one of these apartments. It was also used in the movie Ghostbusters.
This memorial is located in The Strawberry Fields portion of Central Park. Named after a Beatles song written by Lennon about an orphanage in his hometown of Liverpool, England.
You might recognize this very famous fountain. It was memorialized in the opening credits of the hit comedy sitcom Friends. The six of them danced in the fountain and kicked water at themselves.
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Jill and I both decided that we wanted to see Grand Central Station. It's an architectural wonder. The ceiling is extremely high and the terminal feels very open... quite a contrast in the condensed spaces of New York City. Grand Central is actually a major hub for all kinds of rail and bus traffic. From there, it's a quick 3 minute ride on the subway to Times Square, one of the marvels on Manhattan.
One very interesting thing about Grand Central was that it was the only place in the city where we saw lots of armed National Guardsman. They were standing side by side with NYPD, guarding this very busy transportation hub.
Where we were standing to take the picture was on a landing that allowed access to a restaurant... yep, right there in Grand Central Terminal!
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My New York Post
7:33 PM Monday, April 28, 2008Every place we visit inevitably has a National Park stop along the way. There are 391 National Park "units" in the country. These are subdivided into many categories such as National Parks, National Monuments, National Seashores, etc. These places are located in every state of the union (and territories) except Delaware. If you get the chance to visit one, please do so and look for opportunities to appreciate it. Many sacrifices have been made on our behalf for us to be able to appreciate this great land of ours. I am grateful to the men and woman who have given service to our country. Many have given their lives (many of these places are monuments to those great ones that have come before) so that we might live today in freedom and liberty.
On the way to Ellis Island, you watch a beautiful Manhattan skyline whiz by. The island of Manhattan is a large pile of shist (yes, that's the correct spelling) stone. It's an extremely solid stone and supports the tall skyscrapers the adorn the island.
What you may or may not know that is that Manhattan island is part of 5 boroughs (counties) that make up New York City. Ready... Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and finally Manhattan Island. All of them are islands except the Bronx, which is connected to the main part of New York State.
As I was walking through the immigration center, I thought about the 20 million people from all over the world that found a home in America. They had to go through quite the ordeal to become a citizen of our country. Quite the contrast to the requirements of today.
Castle Clinton National Monument is the headquarters for the Statue of Liberty Tour. It served as part of the fortifications around New York during the Battle of 1812. Some of the fort remains, but it now the centerpiece of Battery Park - a park at the end of Manhattan Island.
The fort itself is mostly a round structure, but they have done some archaeological digging to expose some of the outer walls. All in all, not my favorite of the sites I've ever seen. The exhibits are weak. Most people walk through here to get onto the ferry to the statue and probably don't even know they are in a National Monument.
My reason for liking this place has nothing to do with the fact that I got my picture taken next to George Washington... The address is 26 Wall Street... and Washington stares proudly at the New York Stock Exchange. Fitting considering that he helped create the biggest and strongest economy in the world. He stands upon one of the richest streets in the world too, right smack dab between the Trump Building and Holy Trinity Church (the o
Theodore Roosevelt's Birth Home
Teddy Roosevelt spent the first 15 years of his life here. It's in the Flatiron District of Midtown Manhattan... named for the iron shaped building at it's center. Roosevelt's house is very small compared to the huge buildings surrounding it. It seems awkward and out of place, which makes it very cool to look at. Unfortunate
U.S. Grant Burial Mausoleum
Truly one of the strangest places I have every been. The place is located in Harlem, right next to Riverside Church. We were there on April 27th... coincidentally, that was Grant's birthday. Hence, the reason the place is decked out in flags everywhere. Grant was the 18th President of the United States. Before that, he was the Commanding General of the United States... the first one to hold that title since George Washington. His administration was known as the most corrupt administration in our history. Not because of him, but because of his cabinet. Oddly, he died a very, very poor man. He spent the last few years of his life battling a very acute case of throat cancer, but was offered 70% of the proceeds of his memoirs. He wrote them diligently and died two weeks before they were printed. His widow received $450,000 for the sale of the two volumes... a gigantic sum of money in 1876. His last donation was to his family - he was finally able to take care of them.
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My Favorite Memories from our Trip
11:49 AM Friday, April 18, 2008I meant to do this earlier, but I haven't had the chance. I wanted to share my favorite memories from our trip. In part the blogosphere has become a huge repository of history and I think this should contribute to it.
Favorite memories of Will:
- Looking under my parent's bed, trying to see the cat
- Watching him walk around in wonder all over the place
Favorite memories of Charlotte:
- The following conversation in Branson in our bed one morning. I have tried to make her comment gramatically correct to how she says it.
Char: "Daddy, you're a boy and Mommy, you're a girl"
Mom: "What makes dad a boy?"
Char: "Um... Daddy.... you have cannie, and lipskick, and bubbles."
Dad and Mom: ((Laughing Hysterically))
Where I work there is a girl that always gives the kids candy and bubbles. And Charlotte always seems to get lipstick from her as well. So, she associates boys with my work. I'm a boy because I go to a place where there is lipstick, candy and bubbles. Oh boy...
Favorite memories of Emily:
- Being excited for her to have the courage to ride Thunderation at Silver Dollar City
- Having her swim more on her own than she ever has before (and jump into the deep end to mom and dad)
Favorite memories of Jill:
- Watching her with my mom - becoming better friends more and more
- Watching her as a mom - always my favorite memories of her (nobody can make Will laugh more than her)
Favorite memories of Papa:
- Dancing at the pool with William
- Driving for 6 hours to Fort Scott, Kansas, just the two of us.
- Making the best ribs I have ever eaten
Favorite memories of Nana:
- Seeing Emily and Charlotte hang out with her in her studio
- Tacos
- Nana being so proud of her grandkids that she wanted to show them off at One City Market
- Charlotte, William and Emily hugs
Of course, we miss my parents and look forward to seeing them really soon!
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Visiting the cows
10:22 AM Tuesday, April 15, 2008 The kids LOVED to go feed the cows. Nana and Papa have 2 cows and they share a field with some neighbors who also have 2 cows. While we were there, Papa went and bought some piglets to eat later this year. It's good for the kids to see the country life and get out of their comfort zone.
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In Branson there was a butterfly exhibit that we went to. They created a rain forest and you were able to walk among the butterflies. It was so fun and really neat to see all of the different colors and kinds. They showed a 3-D movie and Charlotte likes to tell people that the butterfly dies. It talked about the life of a butterfly. Very interesting. The kids really liked this activity, but I think the adults liked it more!
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