Re-entry to the workforce for me (after 30ish years)! This has been interesting, hard, but good. It is still a situation in flux. But a huge change for me, which has taken away much of my 'free time' and thus, my blog has lain dormant.
A totally quiet and empty 'nest' as our hound has recently joined the departed. Petey grew suddenly old and ill in April and we needed to usher him into doggie after-life, whatever that may be. My hope is he is awaiting us in heavenly mansions.... unlikely, but one hopes. ;) (Good thing I'm working, or that would have been harder than it was, and it was plenty grievous!)
And a short Trip!
Our youngest son is remaining in his 'College Town' for summer to work and continue course work, so we made a plan to go and visit him so it wouldn't be a full year till we see him again. We flew across the country to Newark NJ and then took the train across to the 'big apple', little island of Manhattan. We had only been there briefly, when we checked out the University. So we gave ourselves a whopping 5 days this time. Ha ha!
The train from NJ deposited us right at the World Trade Center, next to, and in the shadow of the new, gleaming, still under construction Freedom Tower (one of 4 buildings that are being built to replace the terrorist attacked Twin Towers. I love that chutzpah... you take down 2, we'll put up 4! Another interesting fact is that the Freedom tower is exactly 1776 feet high. Cool, huh?) Our son, Jess's financial district apartment is a just short walk from the tip of Manhattan and the 9-11 memorial. It was early evening, but we are so far north that it doesn't get dark until well after 8 pm... some scattered clouds signal coming rain storms. It was a dramatic entry into this historic and significant slice of land! We dropped our bags at the apartment and set off on foot to find a local restaurant... It began to rain and we wound up at a wharf, and mostly closed establishments... eventually we found a sea-food place, above which is a shopping center and upon going up there we found a lively Cuban Nouveau restaurant that turned out to be simply fabulous. Amazing food! Well worth the hunt. http://www.cabanarestaurant.com/ (Cabana seaport location) On a sunny day/night there would be incredible views... for us it was raining. ;)
The next day was our first official full day in New York City and Jess had a morning class to catch, so we followed behind at a slight delay, took the subway to Penn Station in mid-town where we'd later meet him. We wound up having breakfast at a nice little cafeteria called 'The Stage Door', across the street was Madison Square Garden/Penn Station and on the other side of the street the HUGE James Farley Post Office, a greek revival structure built in 1912. It was pouring rain. Here are a few pictures from our first morning...
From our little table inside 'The Stage Door' the subway stairs, and
across the street Madison Square Garden, and the bldg. on right, the
huge main Post office for Manhattan (more on this below, & clicking on pictures enlarges them)
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| This huge structure has a fascinating history, and will soon become Moynihan Station, and no longer be a post office. :( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Farley_Post_Office |
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| Madison Square Garden |
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| Inside the huge lobby of the Post office |
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| There is a rotunda at each end of the post office lobby with museum and historic artifacts. |
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| Looking from the rotunda into the Lobby. You can get a sense of the high ceiling and architectural details. Next up an afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum. |
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