It really was the best!

Dave and I spent a weekend in New York City at the end of June. My favorite trips there have involved relaxing around different parts of the city, taking lots of photos, and good food. That's what this trip was all about. Lucky me, Dave likes the same (well, checking out different parts of the city and good food... I don't know if he likes so much me with my camera, especially when he has to be on the other side of it sometimes).


We flew in early Saturday morning, took a bus into the city, and started walking.

An easy starting point in midtown is the NY Public Library. We stopped here to people watch and generally take in the bustle of the city.


We walked and I took pictures. I love this car!!

He was really patient when I wanted to stop and take pictures. And take more pictures. And more. This is in Columbus Circle.

We went into Central Park from the southwest corner and checked out some areas I don't always see, including this sweet bridge. I love the textures!

We walked on and saw a few baseball games in progress. This batter is about to hit a home run (inside the park)!


One of the things I love about the city is the markets, fairs, and events. This time there was some kind of adventure fair in the middle of Central Park. There was a chalk artist drawing on the sidewalk.


These next two guys were showing off on a trampoline. Sweet background elements, hey? :)

I had quite a few of these guys on their snowboards, and when I saw this one on my computer I couldn't not post it.


This next one's for Liz. She and I have been to NY together five (?) times and every time we go to this (the Bethesda Fountain) because she's determined to see it with water in it. The first two times we were there together was winter so it made sense that it didn't have water. After that, though, we went in the spring and summer. There really should've been water. Now every time I see it with water, I have to take a picture for her.


The adventure fair was going on up here, too. We could've kayaked around "The Lake" but it was really hot and we didn't feel like waiting in line. It was more fun to get in the shade and watch all of the activity.


We started venturing back to the city (and out of the park) and saw this guy making his living. The girls were laughing, so it must've been a good guarantee. :)
Later that day we went up to the Empire State Building and those photos are on another post.

We woke up the next morning and made our way downtown to Battery Park to get on a ferry to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.


Check out this bridge. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connects south Brooklyn and Staten Island. I biked across this bridge at the end of the 42-mile bike tour I did with my nanny friends when I lived in Connecticut.



Lady Liberty! I learned a lot more about her this past school year. I got some dvds from the History Channel of a show they produced, "America: The Story of Us" and the episode about the Industrial Revolution tells the story of the Statue of Liberty's journey to completion once it was shipped to the United States. I highly recommend the series. (Not just for history buffs, either. All of my students enjoyed the episodes and they even voted to watch an episode on a free day when they had other options.)


After our ferry trip, we ventured around lower Manhattan. Here's the progress of the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero. I was amazed at how high it has gotten since last summer. I didn't have my wide angle lens and I couldn't get far enough away to show the whole thing.


After that we headed to the South Street Seaport for lunch. We dined on a second floor patio with this as our view:



Later that day we walked around midtown some more. We found this fountain and Dave decided to take the camera.



After I got the camera back I was experimenting with some settings and got this shot. It was hot out so I don't blame him for trying to cool off. :) Right after I took the photo, the bird fluttered away. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a better, clearer shot of him sitting on the edge.

I must've put my camera away for the rest of the weekend.

Oh, what a fun time!