CanadaQu'Appelle Village50°24’44” N 104°36’4” W 17 agosto 2024, Canada ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Stati UnitiKoreatown40°45’14” N 73°59’42” W
13 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
Day 6. Last full day in New York. What do we do??
First thing, there was this little shop a block from our hotel that was tempting us every day. A place called "Shakes and Crepes". It looked like a fun place with some seating that looked out into the street. And it had a little something for everyone. So that was our breakfast. I guess when you have people sitting, facing the street so people can walk by and see what you are eating... you will want your food to look amazing. And IT DID!!!. All of it was like presented like it was up for an award. The food was delicious too so we were really happy with the choice.
Now, on to what we wanted to do. There were 2 main things we wanted. THe first is to take the JP Morgan Library and Museum. It was supposed to have some of the most amazing stuff in it. And the second was the New York Public Library.
So our first stop was over to see what JP can put together. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. There are far too many things to mention here. We just took picture after picture. He had a Gutenburg Bible, and original hand written scores from people like Bach (and hundreds of other composers that weren't on display), and they had hand written notes for operas and ballets, it was just one wonderous thing after another. We spent way longer in there than we thought we would and we have a lot of pictures. It was super cool. We even spent waaaay to long in the store... that is how much we liked it.
After the JP Morgan Library, we walked down to the Flat Iron building. We had tried to get there before but we got stopped at the Macy store and by the time we got out of that store it was dark and we didn't want to continue to walk around New York in the dark. But this time we were committed.
But when we finally got to the flat iron building, it too was covered in scaffolding so we really couldn't take it fully in. We stopped and got drinks at a nearby 7-11, and then Dylan had something he wanted to get from the Lego store nearby. But on the way to the Lego store we stumbled across the "Portal to Dublin". We knew it was hear but we just kept forgetting about it. New York and Dublin have set up a live feed between their 2 cities. So you look into the portal and you can see people in Dublin looking back. You can hold up signs and wave and they wave back. It was really cool. If only we knew anyone in Dublin we could have made arrangements to show up at the same time. That would have been the cherry on top of the cake that is on top of the new york cheesecake.
After the flat iron building it was back on the subway to the New York Public Library. Another building that has SOOOO much cool stuff in it. They have a treasures room that also has a Guttenburg bible and some original Shakespear stuff, and George Washingtons hand written speach... just amazing thing after amazing thing. We also spent way to much time looking at and reading everything in the treasure room. And then we spent way to much time again in the shop.
Then we tried to make our way up to the Rose room which is the long room with the wooden desks that you see in all the movies. But that room is only available to view when on a tour or if you are there doing research. And we had just missed the final tour of the day so we didn't end up getting to see the room which was a bit of a disappointment. But hey... we had seen so much there were no regrets here.
On my bucket list was to eat a Pastrami sandwich at Katz Delicatessen. It is the same Delicatessen that is in "When Harry Met Sally" (yes... that scene) but they are just as well known for their amazing sandwiches. And they did not disappoint. We took the subway down to the area and walked another 15 minutes to get there. It was packed and just like you see in the movies. It was such a unique experience just ording the food and even how you pay for it. So neat. And the food was to die for. So good. I ended up with w Rueben with Pastrami on Rye. I could barely fit it in my mouth. Caden had his own sandwich but the other kids split a sandwich. So afterwards they were still a bit hungry.
So after we left the delicatessen, Jenny wanted to go see Greenich Village one last time. So we headed over there and we stopped at Bleeker Street Pizza for a slice of pizza for those that were still a bit hungry.
Then we spent some time just walking around. We walked through Washington Square Park again. We went to Caffe Reggio which is a cafe that got the first every capuccino machine in the country. Plus they also have abench that actually belonged to the Medici family from Florence.
We walked past Cafe Wha? which is a place where many artists got their start (including Bob Dylan. I think Cafe Wha? is even featured in the new Bob Dylan moving coming out right away), and finally we walked down a street called "Commerce Street" which is just a really neat, quant street in the heart of Greenich Village. This is Jenny's favourite part of the city so it was great just to walk around it a bit more before we call it a day.
And that was it. Nothing left that we wanted to see or do. So we caught the subway back to our area, stopped at one last Souvenier Store to pick up the last couple of gifts for people, and then we got back to our hotel. Now we are packed up and almost ready to get going tomorrow. What an amazing time. We are all exhausted, a little bit sick, but happy with the trip. We have no idea where we are going tomorrow. We will play it by ear and see how far we feel like driving. But as of now, New York is done. Thanks for the great time. We will remember it forever.
Final Stats:
Step Counter For the Day : 22,830Leggi altro
Stati UnitiKoreatown40°45’15” N 73°59’42” W
12 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
Today was a hotly debated day. What do we do? The children were divided. I will spare you most of the details of the heated discussions, but in the end we decided that we wanted to do a bit more of the park and we wanted to do the Natural History Museum (from Night At the Museum).
So we took the subway up to the edge of the park and meandered a bit through the park until we got up to around the level of the Museum. We tried to take in the Carousel but it was all closed up. We did Bathesda Fountain again as today it was sunny and bright and when we were there it was cloudy and Rainy. We also stopped at the "Triplets" bridge and took a picture. It has some kind of lore with Magic the Gathering I think... who knows. I am not that nerdy. But the bridge was named Triplets.... and I have triplets.... so... WE HAVE TO TAKE A PICTURE!!!
We got to the museum before it opened so we walked south a couple of blocks to a Bagel place called Bagel Popups. Now... if you have never had New York Bagels... YOU HAVE TO!!! They are nothing like Regina Bagels. They were awesome. And you get this cream cheese with it (we got Lemon Butter and some Blueberry thing) and it was TO DIE FOR!! All the kids are already asking to go for Bagels again. And... you don't cut your bagel in half and spread the cream cheese on it. You just rip it and dip it. We watched others do it... and... there was even a sign about it in the bagel place.. so we know that is the right way to do it.
We were enjoying our bagel so much we almost missed our scheduled start time to get into the Museum. But they let us in anyway and we began our 3 hour adventure!! ;)
The museum is amazing. I will give it that. But you really can't see everything. But you kind of want to. So I would say we were there longer then we wanted but there was just so much to see. We did manage to find Dum Dum from the movie. That was cool. And their Dinosaur area is really cool. The whole place is cool. So if you get a chance.. check it out.
After we left we wanted to have another New York experience by eating from a hot dog vendor. We picked one that looked "reputable" and gave it a try (by reputable, I mean they had posted prices. A lot of the carts don't post their prices so in the end the guy will charge you whatever he wants. So you never know. You have to ask in advance before they make your food or you could get into trouble )
The food was... OK. The hotdogs were supposed to be Nathan's Hot Dogs which are good. But for the price, they really aren't worth it. But we grabbed our dogs (and some of us had New York Cheese Steaks which were no where as good as Phili Cheese Steaks) and we walking into the park a little ways and ate the food. It was pretty underwhelming.. but hey.. another bucket list item done.
Then we jumped on the subway over to Rockefeller center where we had our first Celebrity sighting. Getting out of a porchse outside of the Jimmy Fallon theatre was none other than Tariq. If I wasn't show chicken I would have called out and gotten a picture. He did stop and pose with someone else which is where we got our photo (which of course I didn't include because of the stupid 10 picture limit) but trust me... we have one.
So after the sighting we continued on because we were needing to go to the Lego store. This Lego store was something else. There was even a lineup to get in!!! Crazy. I got us some hot pretzels as we waited in line but the lined move pretty quick so we didn't really get a chance to eat them until after the store... and by then they were pretty hard. So I think everyone tried a bit but nobody ate much. Again... pretty underwhelming but another New York experience off the check it list.
Then we went back to the hotel for our daily break. One of the things Evan really wanted to do was to go to the Stardust diner for supper. It is a place where the wait staff sings songs while they wait on you. The reviews weren't great and we were tired.. but once again, we rallied and decided... "you only live once and we are in New York... so... let's do it". We were once again preparing ourselves for a long wait to get in. StarDust is only a few blocks from Times Square so there is normally a lot of people around. And when we did finally get there, there was a few people in line, but when the lady came down the line to see how many were in our group...we told her 6 and they just so happened to have a 6 person table open up so we were plucked out of line and we were sat pretty much right away.
My first impression of the StarDust was that it was pretty loud and it seemed a bit chaotic. Some guy was singing when we walked in. And he sounded amazing. And when we sat down, they just had staff after staff take their turns on the mic. Our own waitress was delivering drinks while she did her song. EVERY SINGLE SINGER WAS AMAZING!!! It was like getting real broadway music stars to sing to you while you eat. We were so impressed. They did such a good job. And the food was amazing. We all loved our meals. None of the things said on the reviews were accurate to our experience. We didn't want to go. It was so much fun and we were so glad we ended up going. You see... it pays to say yes.
Every wait staff person there has dreams of being on Broadway (that is pretty much the requirement to work there) so they did pass a bucket around to raise a little extra money for these people to do what they need to do to make it. And.. they announced that our own waitress was in a pilot episode of a new show that just got picked up so we may even see her on TV sometime in the future.
So it was a perfect supper and the kids were geeking out the entire night.
After supper we took a stroll over to Bryant Park. They were doing "Free Movie Night in the Park" so we wanted to see how many people were showing up. And the park was absolutely packed. So I guess free movie night is a hit.
So since we couldn't stay for the movie, we wandered a bit more. Made a stop at Macy's to do some shopping. Dylan and Evan got some hats. Then we headed over to Madison Square Gardens, got ourselves some Gelato, and then we headed back to our hotel to end off the day.
Only one more full day left before we start heading home. Still need to figure out what we want to try and fit in tomorrow. What would you make sure you do on your last day.
We shall see. Talk to you tomorrow.
Final Stats:
Step Counter For the Day : 26,743Leggi altro
Stati UnitiKoreatown40°45’14” N 73°59’41” W
11 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
The first thing on the agenda for today is to take in the one observation deck. The one we choose to do was "The Summit". It had more things to do then the other ones and it was supposed to offer up some really good views of both the Empire States building and the Chrysler building. And it did not dissapoint.
We arrived at 1 Vanderbilt a little bit early so we decided to take a walk through Grand Central Station. It is literally next door. So we took in the building and the main terminal with the ceiling of astrological signs and the famous clock in the middle. It is really cool to be in there and think about all the times you saw that exact scene in movies or flash mobs.
When it was time we headed over to the Summit. It is a really cool experience. You get a band on your wrist that everything is tied to. When you first arrive they show you a short 1 -2 minute video of the "making of the building" type information. Then you go over and put on these slippers that cover your shoes. You need those for later. Then you go over to these weird camera type things, you scan your wristband and then it takes a picture of your face. It uses that picture to put your face into the clouds. It was pretty cool seeing all the faces in the clouds until you come to your kids and EVERY ONE IS MAKING A FACE!!! I guess I can't say much because I was making a face to. But COME ON!!! SOMEONE HAS TO HAVE SOME CLASS HERE.
Then you jump on the elevator up to the 91st floor.
The first floor is all mirrors. Mirrors on the roof and floor and walls. It gives you a pretty crazy effect. They warn you well ahead of time don't wear anything that could be too "revealing" and you can see why. I am just glad I wasn't wearing the skirt I had planned to wear this day (this is Justin by the way. WHAT?!?! I LIKE IT BREEZY!!)
The views are everything they tell you they are. Amazing. We got lots of photos. Jenny waas very happy with the view of the Chrysler Building.
The observation deck is actually 3 floors. Besides the room of mirrors and lights, there was another room full of silver balls that you can bat around. The kids had a lot of fun in there. Then there was a section that had a glass floor. They take your picture for you and then time you so you don't spend too much time on there. A group our size got 45 seconds where most other smaller groups only got 30. HA!!! SUCKERS!! Having tonnes of kids has finally paid off.
So in our 45 seconds we could take a couple more shots and then it is off to the next room.
As you enter the next room, you scan your wrist bands and it tells the AI overlords you are entering the room. In that room it is like you are flying through the clouds and since it knows you are in the room, it queues up your faces in the clouds. Again... it isn't hard to tell which ones are our family.
The final floor is the roof top terrace where you get to be outside. After a few more photos, our deck time came to an end so we went back down the elevator and hit the streets looking for food.
I was craving some sushi and some of the other kids said they would love to get some noodles so we ended up at Sushi Co. It had a little of everything for everyone and everyone seemed happy with their meal.
Then we jumped on the subway and headed all the way up to Times Square so we could try and get some matinee tickets for a broadway show. We were expecting there to be a long line and we were stealing ourselves to just wait it out but there was like nobody in line. So we just walked up and picked our show. We had heard some really good things about Water For Elephants and that show also stars a Regina boy so we went with it. This was just after 2pm with the Matinee starting at 3. So we just ended up going straight over to the theatre and getting settled in our seats.
It was a much older theatre than the one the Great Gatsby was in. It had some old charm to it but the seats were a bit squishy and it was FREEZING cold. We were at the back of the Orchestra which was alright. We looked later on and they were $180 tickets that we got for $89. So that isn't too bad. There was nobody for 2 rows in front of us so we were even able to move forward a couple of rows at intermission.
The show was amazing even if our Regina boy wasn't in this show and the main guy (Grant Gustin) also wasn't performing. But the girl was the main lead and all the rest of the crew seemed like the main cast. They almost needed to be though as there was so much acrobatic stunts and crazy things that I would think you would need the main people to do them. Anywho, it was a great show. The replacement actors did amazing too. We loved it.
Then we headed back to the hotel for a little bit of a siesta. We didn't want our day to end though so we rustled ourselves back up and caught the subway up to the upper west side to take a walk around Lincoln Center. Since we have so many performers in the family, we figured it would be inspiring.
And Lincoln Centre is right next to Julliard so it was cool to see the school, even if it was only from the outside. We relaxed for a bit on the roof of a building that sloped down to the ground and it had grass growing on it. It made the kids feel a little like they were back in Regina just laying on the ground and looking up at the sky. I think it might have made them just a little homesick.
Afterwards we decided to try and do one more thing. We walked back down to just south of the park to take a look at Carnagie Hall. But when we got there, the entire exterior was covered in a wrap and scaffolding as they do some renovations on the place. So that was a bit dissapointed. But Caden was looking at the upcoming acts and got really excited about some guy who was directing some orchestra as they play some song. Oh... and there was some Piano player playing with them. I guess it was a big deal. Who knows. But that wasn't until October anyway so he then got sad he couldn't go. Fickle emotions on that kid.
By then it was dark so we jumped on the subway and headed back to the hotel for the night. I wish I could share more pictures as the 10 picture limit is just not enough but you will just have to take our word that the views were amazing. And come over some time and see the rest of them. That is all for now.
Final Stats:
Step Counter For the Day : 19,195Leggi altro
Stati UnitiKoreatown40°45’14” N 73°59’42” W
10 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
On Day 3 we decided to take our new fangled metro passess for a test drive. The first order of the day is to hop on the subway and head out to Brooklyn. We were going to walk the Brooklyn Bridge back into Manhatten but first we needed to get some food.
So we stopped at a lovely little cafe for some cinnamon buns. Then we headed down into Brooklyn park for some great views of the Manhatten skylines. Then we headed off to try and find the entrance to the bridge for walkers. It is not that easy to find and it took us a little while. But we managed. By then the bridge was busier than we would have liked but that didn't take away from the amazing views.
After we got off the end of the bridge we walked south to the South Street Sea Port. We stopped at yet another book store so the kids could do even more book shopping, then we went along the waters edge, picked up a smoothy, and then walked over to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. It is free to ride the Ferry out to Staten Island and back and the path takes you right past the Statue of Liberty so it was worth it.
We just wanted to get to Staten Island and then hop on the ferry to come back, but we were feeling a bit rushed to catch the next ferry so we decided to wait it out, and take the next one which was set to run in 30 minutes anyway, and then we would have better luck getting a better position on the boat to get the best view of both the Statue and the Skyline as we rode the boat back to Manhatten.
While we waited we were treated to some nice singing by some girl who also posts things on youtube. Then we were on the boat in the spot we wanted as we made our way back to Manhatten. The views were spectacular. And did I mention it is free?
After we got back to Manhatten we took the subway uptown to get some lunch from a lovely little place called Crif Dogs that Jen found on the internet. They offered really unique hot dogs at a very unique setting at a very reasonable price. Along the way, Caden started following some other woman who he thought was his Mom. We were wondering how long it would take him to figure it out. He eventually did and we had a pretty good laugh about it.
After lunch we did some more walking. We stopped at another bookshop called Strand which is famous for being large and cheap. Then we decided to head back to the hotel to refresh a bit before our evening activities.
On the way we stopped at a games store that Dylan had been begging us to go to called "Complete Strategist". He didn't end up getting anything but he wants to go back. We shall see.
Then we were back in the hotel to relax. We had picked up some sandwich making stuff from a target nearby so we just ate some buns and potatoe salad and then got refuelled for the evening.
Next, we got dressed up because it was "Lindsay Stirling at Radio City Music Hall" night. We made the walk to Radio City, took our pictures of the Marquee, and stepped inside that iconic building for the first time. It was amazing. It had a real "old school, golden years" charm to it. It was the way going to the show should be. Beautiful.
The opening act was Walk Off The Earth who is a Canadian band that is known for using all kinds of different instruments. They were amazing. I thought they did an excellent job. They sounded great. The show was fast paced. Lots of fun stuff going on. But the best was when their kids came on for a couple of songs to perform with the band. The lead singer was some 7 year old boy with really long hair and he loved to rock out. It was AWESOME!!! They sure did Canada Proud.
Then it was Lindsay Stirlings time. And she was amazing as well. I would say her show is a bit more "girly" but there was so much stuff. She slowed things down and sped them up. She had 2 guys in here band that could really rock out. She had 5 other dancers that did a lot. It was an awesome show. But the cherry on top was when Gloria Gaynor came out and sang "I Will Survive" with Lindsay and the girls singer from Walk Off The Earth. I thought I was videoing the whole time but it wasn't until it was almost completely done when I realized it didn't turn on. But we all agreed it was so surreal to hear Gloria sing her iconic song live at Radio City. The concert could not have ended in a better way.
Afterwards we were buzzing. So we went outside, took some more photos and then walked down through Times Square again to go home.
I am confident in saying it won't be a night we will forget for a long long time. I am not sure where we go from here... we will just see what the day has in store for us tomorrow.
Final Stats:
Step Counter For the Day : 28,415Leggi altro
Stati UnitiKoreatown40°45’14” N 73°59’42” W
9 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
For today, we were still battling the rain a little bit but we got really lucky. Hurricane Debbie was supposed to hit New York but it went more inland so we didn't get much here in New York. So while we had moments of rain, it never got bad. But it was still hot so it was pretty muggy which made walking around fun.
We started the day off by walking over to the Vessel, New York's newest weird sculpture art thingy. It is still closed to the public but we got to check it out and take some pictures. Then we hopped on the start of the High Line, an old above ground railway line that has been converted into a walking path with plants and art. It takes you above the city which was nice to get out of the traffic a bit.
We got off the High Line at the Chelsea Market to have some lunch at a place called Friedmans. Everyone loved their meals but then it was time to get going again.
We wandered through Chesely and Greenwich Village. We stopped and took pictures outside the apartment building they used for Friends, we took some pictures outside the Firehouse they use for Ghostbusters, we stopped at a great little bookstore called "The Mysterious Bookshop", and eventually made our way down to the World Trade Center area. We visited the Oculus (a new mall/train station that looks like a bit white bug) and then we spent some time at the 911 memorial. Jen and I had a few moments as we remembered being there before the attacks and seeing it again up close was touching.
Then it was off for more exploring. We went over to see St. Patricks Cathedral and found the grave of Alexander Hamilton and his wife Eliza. Then it was over to see the Charging Bull near wall street. The lineups to take a picture right with the bull was CRAZY long so we just snapped a picture from the side and then we were off again.
We walked through Wall Street and checked out the NYSE, then on to a place called Joe's Pizza where tonnes of celebrities have gone for some pie. We each got a slice, packed it in a box and walked to the nearest park to chow down.
Then we were off again to walk by a couple of courthouses that were used at the beginning of Law and Order, and some big murder scene from the God Father that the kids were excited about. That took us around to 5 points which is a famous intersection of 5 different streets/areas although it is mostly ChinaTown now.
We walked through ChinaTown all the way to Little Italy where we stopped at Ferrara's for some Italian Desserts. They were famouse for their Canoli's so Jenny and I had to try that. The other kids all picked their favourite desserts and we again headed to the nearest park to sit, relax, and eat our yummies.
Now we are looking to head back to our hotel... but again... every couple of streets there is something new. So we ended up walking up to Washington Square Park which is famouse for being the park at NYU. But by then it was starting to rain a bit harder so we finally bit the bullet and got ourselves some Metro Cards.
For whatever reason, the kids' debit cards don't work in the States so we had to get each of them their own Metro Card for the week while Jen and I can just scan our Credit Cards. It works the same and is more convenient than getting a metro card.
So we rode the subway back to our hotel and then we settled in for the night. Another big day of walking but hopefully we don't walk so much in the coming days as we have the metro cards now and we want to use them.
But you know us.... we are always just one street away ;)
Final Stats:
Step Counter For the Day : 26,547Leggi altro
Stati UnitiKoreatown40°45’15” N 73°59’42” W
8 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ 🌧 22 °C
When we looked at our plan for the day, we knew it was going to be a fair bit of walking. And boy.. was that an understatement.
For our first full day in New York, the plan was to walk up to the park, do some of the sites there, then walk over and do the Met, and then... see where the day takes us. That was partly right.
We started off with a stop at Dunkin's Donuts. None of us had been there, so we wanted to try it out. We got breakfast egg bagels and just ate them outside the store. That was the fuel we needed to get our day started. So we head up the street on our way to the park.
But, when you are walking around New York, you are always "just 1 street" away from everything. So as we were walking up to the park, we saw the sign for Radio City Music Hall, so we diverted over a bit. But that took us by NBC Studios and Rockefeller Center, so we had to take pictures of where the skating rink goes, 30 Rock, etc.
So after some wandering around there we were off again to the park. But then St. Patricks Cathedral. So we walked by to take a couple of pictures but the doors were opens. So... we HAD to go in. After that diversion we were off again to the Park but Jen saw a picture of Colin Farrel so she had to stop for a picture.
And THEN... we were off to the park. We hit a lot of highlights. We saw where the rink is set up (which is used for Pickle Ball Courts in the summer), we went to Bathesda Fountain, saw the boathouse, the pond, until finally we ended up at the Met.
For whatever reason I couldn't buy tickets online so we had to stand in line and get tickets. That normally is terrible buit it really worked out for us this time. When we told the ticket lady we wanted 2 adults and 4 students, she suggested we should instead become a member which would be cheaper and the kids could get in free as guests. And... that would also give us 30% off at the store (which would come in handy later on).
So in the end it was cheaper for us so I guess we can put up with the inconvenience of standing in line... this time.
We spent a couple of hours walking around and checking out their huge collection. Some of the hightlights were... Washington Crossing the Deleware and Vincent van Gogh's self portrait with a straw hat. And later on we made use of that discount in the store ;)
After the Met we walked across to the other side of the park and ate lunch at the Shake Shack. Then we walked over to Strawberry Fields where the "Imagine" memorial was set up in honour of John Legend being shot outside the Dakota.
Then we made our way back down Broadway and 8th Avenue all the way back to the hotel to get ready to go out to "The Great Gatsby" later on that night.
We decided to keep the walking going, in the rain, all the way up to the theatre. The show was really really great and afterwards we walked through Time Square again at night in the lights, just to take it all in. It was a great first day. Tomorrow, we head in the opposite direction, to Lower Manhattan.
See ya tomorrow.
Final Stats:
Step Counter For the Day : 33,032Leggi altro
Stati UnitiKoreatown40°45’14” N 73°59’41” W
7 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
Today was the day we drive to New York. But first.... there was some Philli to do ;)
We booked our Independence Hall tour for 1:20 pm so we had lots of time. So we managed a little bit of sleep in time before we headed down for breakfast. The breakfast at the hotel was a bit more advanced so that means there was a lot of people wanting breakfast. It was quite the line up but we did manage to get some breakfast before they shut it down.
After breakfast and packing up, we checked out of the hotel, put all our stuff in the van, and then went on a walk down through Philly. We walked down to the park by Independence Hall and took in seeing the Liberty Bell up close. After that, we wandered around the old downtown and saw the sights. We visited Elfreth's Alley (the longest continually habituated street in the USA), we visited the gravesite of Benjamin Franklin (and a few others who had signed the declaration of independance), and we had lunch at the Market before jumping in the van and heading down to Independance Hall to make our tour. We weren't sure about parking but we had a strong belief in ourselves.
It turns out we probably shouldn't have. There was no parking at all. We drove around in a desperation until we finally pulled into a parking garage near the hall that was "valet". We just accepted the risk and the cost and dropped the van off as we ran down the street to try and make our appointment. We ended up behind the building which wasn't the right place so we we then had to run all the way around the front... and we still made it on time.
We had our tour of the court house and the room where they signed the declaration, and then we grabbed the van and hit the road to New York.
It was slightly raining which was fun but it obscured the majesty of the city as we drove in. I got to check something off my bucket list as I got to drive my van from the south end of Manhattan all the way up through Hell's Kitchen to our hotel. And I never hit anyone.
We checked in to the hotel and I parked the van in a parking garage across the street. It is going to cost us an arm and half a leg but it is really the only option we had.
The first night we just headed out for a walk. We stopped for supper at Chic-Fil-A (we had never been), we caught glimpses of the empire state building, and then we walked all the way up 7th avenue right to Times Square and just walked around it a bit. The smell of Pot is overpowering and the crowds were crazy. Just what we wanted. After a short period of time we headed back to our hotel for our first night. Our hotel is right next to a police station so are a little nervous about sirens but the family rooms here are supposed to be pretty quiet.
Our hotel has a room with 2 queen beds and then another room with a bunk bed and a sofa bed. So everyone gets their own bed for this week.
Tomorrow will be a lot of walking as we head up to the park and take in the Met. It should be a great day.
Final Stats:
Step Counter For the Day : 21,092Leggi altro
Stati UnitiReading Terminal Market39°57’14” N 75°9’35” W
6 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ 🌧 23 °C
Today was another long driving day. Just over 7 hours so we weren't expecting to do much. But in the end, even with all the driving, we ended up with more than 16,540 steps and lots of fun memories.
We drove into Philly during rush hour which was a grand adventure on it's own. The first stop had to be the Rocky Stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We got all our photo ops (some at the top, some at the bottom with the Rocky statue, and some running up the stairs) so we can for sure say... we did it!!!
Before we headed to our hotel, we decided to make a quick stop at the "Love" sign, another iconic Philly landmark. But... when you type in "Love SIgn in Phili", what they don't tell you is... there are 2. One is at the University and the other is in "Love Park". Not knowing this ourselves we asked google and then trustfully followed it's instructions which lead us to the Love sign at the university. It ended up being a happy/lucky accident. We got to take some pictures at the love sign and then we really enjoyed walking through the buildings that make up the university in the heart of downtown Phili. The buildings and ambiance were so cool. Very colonial looking feeling to the buildings. It was really great to see another university and how they really embraced that theme. We were so happy we were able to wander around there and get that experience.
But then we had to find the real Love statue. We again asked Google to take us to the right Love statue so more driving around downtime Phili for me until we found the park. We managed to find a spot on the street to park and we walked over to the park and got our photo op. Then we wandered around a bit before we figured it was time to head back to the van and find our hotel.
The hotel doesn't have parking but there is a parking garage near by. So we parked in what we figured was the closest to our hotel, gathered up our stuff and went to check in. Only... we couldn't find the entrance. After a little confusion, we did get it sorted but it did cause a few tense moments.
The room was lovely but we really needed some supper. So... what do you get for supper on your first night in Phili?? Why, Phili Cheese steaks of course. We walked over to a nearby shop that ended up making the best cheesesteaks and pizza, but nowhere to sit. So we decided to wander over to a "nearby" park and eat. But when we got there, the park was closed down because of a Chinese festival. So we walked a bunch more blocks down to Washington Park (which was the park for Independance Hall).
We sat on some benches and ate our cheese steaks, and then we walked the many many blocks through downtown Phili back to our hotel. We never felt scared, lots of people around.
So Phili started off great and we hadn't even seen the liberty bell yet. That would have to come tomorrow.
So to bed with thoughts of bells and of course New York floating through our heads. Wednesday was going to be a good day.
More tomorrow.
Final Stats:
Step Counter For the Day : 16,540Leggi altro
Stati UnitiWillow41°24’10” N 81°39’9” W
5 agosto 2024, Stati Uniti ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
For those who may not remember the tv theme song for the Drew Carey show, it was called "Cleveland Rocks". Our kids know that now because we played it about 36 times today. We really wanted it to sink in ;)
Today was around 4 hours of driving to make it here by 1:30 which was the entry time for our tickets to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So.. in true Mooney fashion, we were up at 6:30, on the road by 7:30 and we got to the building 1.5 hours early.
So we parked, walked around a bit, and then went to see if they would let us in early 😁
They were kind enough to agree which saved us killing time for another hour.
So we spent the next few hours geeking out about all the pictures, outfits, instruments, handwritten songs, and all the cool stories recorded in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was super cool. And to top it all off, there was a special exhibit on the 6th floor dedicated entirely to Jon Bon Jovi, Jen's favorite!!
Everyone enjoyed the Hall and they each had their favorite moments. If you get a chance to go, do it.
Afterward, we drove to a nearby beach so the kids could put their feet in Lake Erie. 4 Down.... 1 to go.
Then we went on a bit of a driving tour. We drove by Severance Hall which is the Hall dedicated to the Orchestra (I bet you can't guess who wanted to see that). That drive took us through the most beautiful park. Then we cruised around some of the other cool buildings in the university circle until we finally drove the 15 or so minutes to our hotel.
After a quick refresher we headed out to Red Robin for some supper, and then we drove around to a few magic/game stores so my kids could maintain their geek membership cards.
Then it was back to the hotel to shower off the stinky lake water and relax a bit before bed. We don't need to head out as Ealy tomorrow so we will let them sleep in until 6:45 as a bit of a treat.
Tomorrow it is off to Philadelphia. Got to stretch a bit before we run the Rocky Stairs.
That is it for now. More tomorrow.Leggi altro
Gratis
