New York and Beyond...

Well, Brandon (my 14 year old son) and I have made it through our second trip this summer. Earlier in June we visited Florida finally, and had a wonderful time, Jordan was not able to go on the Florida trip. This time, our trip took us to the East Coast up through New England. Unfortunately, I don’t have many pictures from this trip, but everything just happened so fast. We began our journey in Livingston, last Saturday, and worked our way to Asheville, NC for the first day. Sleep quite a bit, and then took a tour of Vanderbilt Forrest. Jordan's has family in the area, so we got the extended tour. Very nice area, which I did not know is home to Andie MacDowell. She has a very nice house in the neighborhood. And of course, this neighborhood is like any other, there were tasteful houses, and tacky houses.
Also, for a great place to eat, Hannah Flannigan’s downtown Asheville, great Irish place.

From there, the guys pulled an all nighter up through NC, Virginia, Maryland, Rhode, Island to Philly. I got in the back seat and took a sleep while they played the radio as loud as it would go, and played geography trivia going all the highway. Once we arrived in Philly we were so close to New York by then, we just decided to go on. I was fresh and awake in the morning, so I took over driving and let Jordan and Brandon crash for our last leg up the coast. Did you know it only takes exactly one hour to drive through Rhode Island??? That is a very interesting fact about the state.

We arrived in Manhattan on Monday mid-morning. Absolutely incredible area. Driving was a total nightmare. Jordan was supposed to be driving at this point, but somehow, I got stuck with it. We finally found a garage that would allow us to park for 2 hours, just long enough to give us time to find a hotel. (Why I did not book something before we went, don’t ask.) Many times we just like to play it by ear and see what we find, which is all part of the big adventure.

We visited several hotels between 96th and 94th, and it seemed that everything was going to be booked. Who knew it was the week of the All-Star game in New York. Finally, after much hunting we found a hotel on 94th with rooms. It was advertised as a hostel, and we thought we might get a good deal, but it was actually more like a hotel with shared bathrooms. But all and all, it was very nice, and at this point, we were running out of options. So, for $170 dollars a night, we got it. Not to mention, there was a parking garage right across the street, and I sure didn’t need to be driving in New York. They were wonderful to take care of our car, and it was convenient if we needed anything, we just walked across the small side street.

Manhattan area of New York was wonderful. It doesn’t take long to get your bearings on where you are going. We were on 94th, Broadway was two blocks up, and of course, that is the famous “Broadway” of New York. We were way out of the main hub of the city, more like living in an actually neighborhood.

We found some very interesting places, such as Riverside Park, which over looks the Hudson River, and where my future apartment is that I have already picked out. (I am sure I can’t afford it, but at least I know where it is now.)

On the other side, passed Amsterdam, you have Morningside Park, were the sun rises every morning. It was such a beautiful park. Amazingly, this park overlooks big bad Harlem, which was an incredible mix of culture, nothing really scary there, day or night. One of the most incredible moments on this trip was the night of the All-Star Game, we were standing in Morningside Park looking at the Goodyear Blimp over the stadium off in the distance, and we are not exactly sure what happened at that moment in the game, but you could actually hear the city cheering, from bars, apartments, street corners, it was amazing. It was so memorable.

We strolled the ever famous Central Park in New York. That place is huge...many joggers, bikers, mom's with babies, under the tree shaded sky. A haven in a busy and fast moving city.

Brandon was able to visit Columbia University while we were there, and I do believe he has found his college. Of all the colleges that we visited on our trip, Columbia has been the winner by far.

Skipping ahead of course we rode the subway, went to Time Square, which was much smaller in person than it looks on TV. We ate at Tom Restaurant, which is famous from the Seinfeld show hangs out. Good food, nice people, good prices, and just a good place.
Everyday was so packed, it is impossible to describe everything we did, but I can tell you New York is a great city. And if you ever find yourself walking 10 miles a day like we did, In and Out Nail Salon on 103rd and Broadway will take care of you just fine, ask for Annie, she is my new best friend in Manhattan.

From Manhattan, we cruised up to Boston to visit some of Jordan's friends from the Peace Corp, and look around Harvard. Harvard is a nice school, not as big as you would think, but they do have a fabulous bookstore. I found The Dark Star Safari for $8 in the basement, regularly about $20.

Boston was a nice city, the old Boston has a lot of character, and we walked downtown by the Boston Harbor and ended up eating at a wonderful little Italian Restaurant, owed by Italians. It is a very nice place to hang out and relax for an evening with friends. I don’t, however, remember the name.

We came very close to going to Vermont Friday with Jenna and Andrew, but decided against it. Jordan's sister, Lula, is moving today to Charlotte, and Brandon and Jordan were supposed to help load furniture, so, we thought it best to head back home.

Friday, we headed out. Back down our path to home. But not before swinging by Newark to give the city one last look across the Harbor. So very beautiful.

Stopping on the edge of New Jersey to sleep, and then moving on down. Passing through DC, we saw the Washington Monument, the Nation’s Capital, and the Potomac River. After that, it was a fairly uneventful ride home. Just cruising through state after state until we hit the Tennessee border at Bristol, and then just on back to Livingston.

Very wonderful trip…

Next, Europe…

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