The Big Bright Light Show - Rochester Hills, MI

Big Bright Light Show 2012

I have been meaning to make it out to “The Big Bright Light Show” for a few years and finally got there this year! Per the downtown Rochester website, there were more than 1.5 million points of glimmering holiday lights decked out on the buildings along Main Street. In 2012, the light show ran from Nov. 26 through Jan. 6, 2013, from 6:00 pm to midnight.

Big Bright Light Show 2012 - Window Display

I met up with a previous co-worker for this little outing. We grabbed a bit to eat at Chomp. They have menus at the counter for you to look at then you place your order at the counter. They give you a number to sit on the table and they bring the food out to you. They specialize in gourmet sandwiches. I tried the "poppy", which was grilled chicken breast, roasted red peppers, mozzarella, basil, sun-dried tomato pesto on grilled ciabatta. It was good!

Royal Park Hotel

The light show was really nice. Many of the store fronts had displays. I am not sure that I would go every year, but it was a nice evening to be out-and-about. Oh, I almost forgot, if you decide to head down to check out the lights next year, be sure to check out the Royal Park Hotel. They had a really cool gingerbread house in the lobby and it smelled soooooo yummy!

Road Trip to Viriginia! (Day 5-6)

October 15, 2012 (Monday)

Yorktown National Battlefield

The plan for the day was to visit Yorktown. We headed to the Yorktown National Battlefield (part of Colonial National Historical Park) first. Yorktown Battlefield (1781) was where General George Washington oversaw American and French troops besiege General Cornwallis’s British army. Cornwallis surrendered, which pretty much ended the war and gave America independence.

There is a $10 fee to enter the park (valid for 7 days and good at Jamestown National Park Site, free if under 15 or have a National Parks Pass), payable at the visitor center. The visitor center shows a short 15 minute informational video and there is a small display area with some hands on stuff for kids. From the visitor center, we walked over to the Yorktown Settlement area, it is a mix of homes. There is a Victory Monument in the settlement area. Yorktown was a hot spot for tobacco trade prior to the war and had a peak population of around 2000 residents.

There are two auto tours of the battlefields. We only had time to do one of the loops – the Battlefield Tour Road. If you stop at all the stops it will take about an hour. Along the tour you will see earthworks, rebounds, the place where the treaty was signed, and a cemetery. The second auto tour is called the Encampment Tour Road, which apparently takes only about 30 minutes to get through.

Along the battlefield and in the village, there are buildings open to the public, refer to the schedule at the visitor center. Park rangers also offer walking tours and battlefield tours. Nothing was open or offered in a time that worked for us.

Yorktown Victory Center

Our next stop was the Yorktown Victory Center, part of the ticket package we paid for the previous day.  This site is composed of both indoor and outdoor activities. Outdoors there is a Continental Army encampment set up as well as a re-created 1780’s farm. Artillery demonstrations are provided in the encampment area.  Indoors there is an 18 minute film. There are a lot of gallery exhibits. Allow approximately two hours at the site.

Out of the two above mentioned sites, it is really a toss up to which one was preferred.  If time were a factor I suppose I would pick the Battlefield site. It started to rain in the afternoon so we pretty much just hung out for the remainder of the day.

October 16, 2012 (Tuesday)

We headed out early to return home. It was quite weird…all along we had expected a twelve hour drive home, but then our GPS system told us it would only be 10.5 hours! We got stuck in some DC traffic so that added 30 minutes to our return time.

Road Trip to Virginia! (Day 4)

October 14, 2012 (Sunday)

Richmond Capitol Building

After a hot breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the Capitol in downtown Richmond. The building dates back to 1788 and is the oldest legislature continuously operating in the Western Hemisphere. The capitol was designed by Thomas Jefferson and is the first public building in the New World that is Monumental Classical style.  The building is very grand with very nice gardens.  This capitol is a bit unlike most others that we have visited – the capitol building is actually open during the weekends enabling visitors to see the inside. Unfortunately for us, our timeline put us at the site a few hours before tours were offered.

We attempted to go to the Richmond National Battlefield Park, but an event made it too hard to get to the visitor center at the Tredegar Iron Works. There is also some other National Park sites in the Richmond area, that we will be planning to see on another visit.

Historic Jamestowne

Our next destination was Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. It is a bit confusing when you arrive – there are two different parks, one run by the state and the other is a National Historical Park. There is a $10 fee to enter the Historic Jamestowne - National Historical Park site (left when facing the split in the road) (valid for 7 days and good at Yorktown National Battlefield Site, free if under 15 or have a National Parks Pass), payable at the visitor center.

Historic Jamestowne was quite fascinating! Definitely plan to take the tour. The 45 minute guided tour is presented in a way that keeps you very interested. There is also an archaeology walking tour, which is only offered Monday-Friday.  The visitor center has a large museum area and a 15 minute film that provides you with information about the site. There is a building on-site that displays artifacts that have been recovered from the archaeology digs. Down the road from the visitor center, there is a glass blowing exhibit where you can see people create objects from glass. There is also a Glasshouse Gift Shop at the location. Kids would probably be interested in the glass works and maybe a little interested in hearing about Pocahontas.

Jamestown Settlement - Ship

 The Jamestown Settlement site, state owned site, was interesting also. The fees at this site, for 2012, are $15.50 for adults and $7.25 ages 6-12. There are also other ticket packages available. We decided to do the Combination ticket, which was $20 for entry into both Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center (for ages 6-12 the combo ticket is $10). There is a 24 minute film in the museum and then there are a bunch of galleries that share the events and environment of the 17^th century.

Outside of the museum is a re-created Powhatan Indian Village, replicas of the Jamestown Settlement Ships (Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery), and a re-created fort. The outdoor activities are all hands on – games and costumes for kids. There are also Kids’ Museum Guides, to keep kids busy indoors.

The road driving to the parks have scenic pullouts that are very nice. We saw bald eagles to two different areas.

Scenic Pullout

We stopped in Colonial Williamsburg to check out the sites. It was after 5pm thus it was not very busy. Tickets are pricy ($40 minimum) and there are many options. We did not have time to spend an entire day there so we did not buy any tickets. You are free to walk about the area for free, but you need the ticket to get into the buildings.

We stayed at a place called Greensprings Plantation in Williamsburg. It was really nice! There is a full kitchen, tennis courts, indoor pool, and much more.

Road Trip to Virginia! (Day 3)

October 13, 2012 (Saturday)

Shenandoah NP - Hiking

We headed back to Shenandoah after breakfast at the hotel. We stopped by the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center to get some recommendations on hikes and waterfalls to visit.  All along the 105-mile Skyline Drive there are scenic pull-outs. We stopped at a lot of them throughout our trip. Our first hike for the day was the Stony Man trail (near mile post 42). The trail was 1.6 miles and fairly easy.  There was a nice rocky overlook at about the halfway point of the loop.

We continued driving and stopped to hike the Rose River Loop Trail (near mile post 49). The trail was four miles long and a bit more challenging. Along the Rose River Trail, there is a stream and waterfall. The waterfall was a disappointment, but the hike along the stream was nice. We were able to branch off the trail and checked out Dark Hollow Falls, which only added a short distance to the hike. The Dark Hollow Falls was not very impressive during our visit.

Shenandoah NP - "Big Meadows"

We visited the Byrd Visitor Center at Mile Post 51. The visitor center was very busy in the early afternoon and we had to wait for a parking space to become available. The Byrd Visitor Center had a nice display set up and they also show a video. Across from this location is an area that is called “Big Meadows”. It is basically just a big field with some trees at random. People were out there running around.

Monticello

Initially, we planned to drive the entire 105 miles of Skyline Drive, but we decided to hop off at mile post 65 (Swift Run Gap) so we could head to Charlottesville and visit Monticello. Ticket prices for the house tour and grounds a bit steep $24/adult (during the season we visited) and $8 for ages 6-11.  The guided House Tour allows you to view the homes on the first floor and lasts about 35 minutes. Prior to visiting, the house there is a 20 minute film that describes the importance of the home to Jefferson’s life and work. There is also an exhibit gallery that is quite nice.  Kid friendly activities are available at this site. Personally, if I decided to go again I think that I would skip the ticket for the home tour and just walk around the grounds and look at the other displays.

Our goal for the night was to make it to Richmond, mostly because hotel rates at Charlottesville were really high. We ended up staying at Comfort Suites in Glen Allen. The hotel room was large and clean. Our only issue was that the refrigerator was making really annoying noise, we had to unplug it for the night. When we checked out, we mentioned it and some other people said they had the same problem. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory – yum!

Road Trip to Virginia! (Day 1-2)

October 11, 2012 (Thursday)

This adventure takes us to Williamsburg, Virginia. We headed out after work, with hotel reservations at the Comfort Inn in Mars, PA. Our room was large, had decent décor, quite clean, and the sheets and towels were both really soft. The bathroom had been updated but was extremely small and the wallpaper was in poor condition. The ceilings were kind of gross also – water damaged.

October 12, 2012 (Friday)

Friendship Hill NHS

After the free complimentary hot breakfast, we headed to Friendship Hill National Historic Site in Point Marion, PA. The site is free to visit. The home belonged to an interesting man named Albert Gallatin. Gallatin is mostly remembered as Secretary of Treasury under Jefferson and Madison. He was able to reduce the national debt, purchase the Louisiana Territory, and fund the Lewis & Clark exploration. There is a short video at the visitor center and if you are lucky, like we were, you will be able to go on a guided tour of the home. The guide did a great job at giving us the history of both Gallatin and the home. The guided tour was probably about an hour in length. There really is not a lot to see at the site other than a few rooms in the home. The park has over ten miles of hiking trails, some which provide views of the Monongahela River. During our visit, we enjoyed lovely fall colors.

Friendship Hill NHS - Porch View

Cedar Creek & Bell Grove NHP

Our next stop was Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park, in Middletown, VA. Currently, there is not much to see at this site. A visitor center is under construction and set to open in the next few years. While, we were there no ranger led events were going on. There are partner sites in the area, but they were closing around the time we were there.

Shenandoah NP

The last stop for the day was Shenandoah National Park. Shenandoah was established in 1935 to provide the “traditional western national park experience” to the urban east. The road that runs through the park is called Skyline Drive and it stretches for 105 miles. The speed limit along Skyline Drive is only 35 mph, it takes a few hours to drive the entire length. There are fees at this site, refer to the NPS website for pricing. We headed to the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center (around mile post 5) to pick up a park map and get some information about the hiking trails. We did the hike across from the visitor center; the trail was called Fox Hollow Trail. It was fairly easy and about 1.2 miles in length.

Shenandoah NP

There are many campgrounds and other lodging opportunities available at Shenandoah. Everything at the park was full during our visit. 

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Stephens City, VA for the evening. The room was under $100 and really nice and clean.  For dinner, we walked over to Roma Casual Italian & Greek Dining. The place had good food and a nice atmosphere. I had the Napoli Chicken with garlic pasta and Caesar salad. Mike had the veal Parmesan with pasta and Caesar salad. The rolls that they provided were good also.

Camping Weekend in Holly, MI!

September 28-30, 2012

The new trailer went on its maiden camping voyage!  We spent the weekend camping at Holly State Park.  Everyone else must have had the same idea for a fall camping weekend, the park was nearly full – good thing we reserved a site earlier in the week! The camper set up really easily and we had no issues with anything. We got to try out the heated mattress – setting 6 gets quite warm!

Saturday morning we took a walk around the campground and did one of the hiking trails. The park has a few hiking trails, some are on the campground portion of the site and others are across the road in the day use area of the park. The park is very hilly and chances are that if you do a lot of hiking you will feel it later in the day or the possibly the next. There are also mountain biking trails and a disk golf course (9, 18, and 24 hole routes) offered at the park. The park had a few activities scheduled throughout the weekend – group hikes, nature presentations, etc. Check the website to find out the activities in advance, or they are also posted at the restrooms.

For dinner we went to Homeboy BBQ in Flushing (#3 ranked BBQ place in Michigan 2012). It was a bit of a drive from the campground, but well worth it! My husband and I both had a combo – Brisket and Pulled Pork. The meat and BBQ sauce was excellent! I would have to say that the Brisket was probably the best I have ever had. The sides (many to choose from) were just okay – we tried the coleslaw, red potato salad, green beans and mac & cheese. The place is mostly a carry out place, but there were some tables that you could eat at. They are only open Wednesday – Saturday from 11am-8pm. The staff was very friendly. I can hardly wait to go up north just so we can stop by for more BBQ!

The rest of the trip was not to eventful, just the normal camping activities – hiking, biking, fire…

New RV!

September 22, 2012

2013 Shamrock 23SS by Forest River

My husband and I bought a new camper! After much research and RV viewings we decided on a 2013 Shamrock 23 SS by Forest River. It is a hybrid trailer that can sleep 7. We looked at other types of trailers, but we really wanted to sleep at least four people comfortably. The trailer also has a slide out feature, which provides us with some extra floor space. The trailer has space to store our bicycles when traveling, which is a great perk! Prior to this new trailer we had a 1997 Camplite by Damon Pop-Up which we were fortunate to sell within a couple of days of posting it on Craigslist. The upgrade sure is nice!

2013 Shamrock 23SS by Forest River

Erie Shores Weekend!

September 15-16, 2012

The weekend adventure took us down to the Erie Shores of Ohio. We hopped on the “Jet Express” from Port Clinton, OH. The catamaran took us about 20 minutes to get across to Put-in-Bay. The boats leave about every 30-45 minutes. Parking is charged on an hourly basis, with a $10 maximum daily charge. The Jet Express is by no means cheap, it is $14.99 one-way.  If you show your AAA card, you will save $2 per round-trip ticket. Children under 5 are free, ages 5-12 are $2.50 one-way. There is another “Jet Express” departure point in Sandusky, OH.

Perry's Victory & International Peace Memorial

Perry's Victory & International Peace Memorial

Once arriving at the island, you can decide if you would like to rent a golf cart or bikes. The rental places farther from the boat landing are cheaper. We noticed a $20 price difference! We opted not to rent anything since we mostly just went over to check out Perry’s Victory & International Peace Memorial. The memorial recently re-opened from renovations.  The memorial was established to honor those who fought in the Battle of Lake Erie, during the War of 1812, and to celebrate the long-lasting peace between Britain, Canada and the United States.  The memorial observation deck is open July to October. Upon entering the memorial, you will have to climb 37 steps and then take an elevator to the open air observation deck. There is a $3 fee to ride the elevator; however if you purchased the annual National Park pass it is free. The observation deck provides an excellent view from each side. You can stay on the observation deck for as long as you would like; however, be prepared to wait in line for both going up and coming down. During the weekend park rangers, dressed in period clothing, also offer interpretive talks about the Battle of 1812 outside of the monument hourly from 11am to 5pm. There is also a visitor center building that has some nice displays and a video. We did not spend much time in the visitor center, since we had a 6-year-old, Tommy, with us for the day. Tommy enjoyed the memorial and liked the park ranger in costume, but did grow a bit tired of sitting and listening to the presentation.

Marblehead Lighthouse

After visiting the National Park site, we went in search of lunch. We decided on Hooligans, one because I love Irish food and two it had great trip advisor reviews. The prices seemed reasonable considering we were on an island. The bar décor was enjoyable, but the place was a bit loud (it probably did not help that the Ohio State football game was on). We tried the Irish Nacho’s (Potato Skins layered with Beef Brisket and Hooley Cheese Sauce. Topped with Shredded Lettuce, Roasted Red Peppers, and garnished with Shredded Cheese) – they were AWESOME! I had the Reuben sandwich, which was good. The meat was tender and not fatty in the least. The sandwich also came with chips and a pickle. Mike got the fish n’ chips basket, he enjoyed it a lot. The portion he received was very large.

Put-in-Bay has a big playground for children near the Jet Express loading area, and we spent some time there people watching before, leading back to the main land. Once back, we drove over to the Marblehead Lighthouse. The Marblehead Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse (1821) in continuous operation on the Great Lakes. There are picnic tables and restrooms available on-site. Lighthouse tours are offered, but the hours and days very so be sure to check on-line if you want to go inside. From this site, you can see Cedar Point off in the distance. After the lighthouse, we headed out for ice cream. I was told that we needed to check out Toft’s Dairy for some of the best ice cream around. Toft’s ice cream parlor is in Sandusky, OH and is open from 8am-9pm daily. 8am for ice cream!! That sounds like my kind of place! Toft’s has been around for more than 100 years. The ice cream was good and had many flavors to choose from. Beware – the small size is 4 scoops!

Erie Shore

We stayed overnight with friends in the area and then on our return home from the weekend, we stopped by the somewhat new River Raisin National Battlefield Park in Monroe, MI. The park has a small visitor center, with displays and a short fiber optic map presentation. The site remembers the devastation that occurred in Frenchtown

Mansfield, OH Weekend!

August 10-12, 2012

Charles Mill Lake Park

Off on another weekend camping trip! This time we headed to Mansfield, Ohio. Mansfield is known as “The Haunted Capital of Ohio”. Our reason for the visit was not for the haunted/paranormal activities, but to visit some of the places that were featured in the film “Shawshank Redemption”.

For this trip we camped at Charles Mill Lake Park ($29/night with electric hookup), which is part of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District.  The campground was quite hilly, making finding a level site a challenge. The bathrooms were some of the cleanest campground bathrooms that I have ever seen.  The campground has a lot of offer: boat rentals, fishing, swimming, horseshoes, volleyball, basketball, remote control car track, and play structures for the kids.

Ohio State Reformatory

Saturday morning, we headed to the “Ohio State Reformatory”. The tour was $9/person. You can wonder around much of the building, using the video kiosks for descriptions, or if you would rather, for $5 you can use a hand held audio tour. We spent about 2.5 hours in the reformatory. We arrived soon after they opened and were able to get parking without any issues, but by the time we left the parking area was overflowing with visitors.  The tour would not be good to take small children on, due to lead paint exposure and the many stairs. The interior of the building is pretty run down, with lots of peeling paint and broken windows.

Richland Carrousel Park

After the reformatory, we headed to downtown Mansfield, which is only about 2 miles away from the reformatory. We parked in a large parking lot across from the carrousel. We stopped by the “Bissman Building” for some photos. The “haunted” Bissman Building (1886) is closed to the public, but there are limited paranormal investigations that occur occasionally.

The “Richland Carrousel Park” is hand carved in the style of G.A. Dentzel, of the most revered carvers of the early 1900’s. The carrousel is enclosed and runs year round 11am-5pm. It is $1 per ride or $5 for six rides. There is a small gift shop in the building.

We continued to walk around town a bit and found an excellent chocolate shop called “Squirrel’s Den Chocolate Factory”. I got the “Paradise” chocolate, which had pineapple and coconut inside. It was very yummy! We also stopped by the bakery, but it was pretty much all sold out of everything.

Oak Tree - Shawshank Redemption

The last stop for the day was to check out the Shawshank Redemption “Oak Tree”. It was struck by lightning a few years back, so the dead part is at the reformatory.  There is not anywhere super close by to park, the tree is just standing in the middle of the field, and the lightning strike makes it pretty obvious.  Malabar Farm is very close by, but they charge a fee to enter.

Besides the things we checked out there are many more things to do in the Mansfield area: zip line tours, canoeing/kayaking, biblical wax museum, and gardens to name a few.

Mike's Birthday Travels!

August 4, 2012

"Red Barns Spectacular" Gilmore Car Show

It was an early start for the day as we headed for the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan. It was the “Red Barns Spectacular” Car Show and Swap Meet, my husband was very excited to go. The show was expected to draw around 1,000 cars. Besides the car show, the museum is also included with admission costs ($9/adult). The museum includes six buildings with all sorts of cars including:  Pierce-Arrow, Tucker, and Franklin just to name a few. Currently, there are additional buildings under construction. The facility is open from 9-5 daily and food is available on-site. Per the Michigan Travel Ideas Magazine 2012, the Gilmore Car Museum ranks #1 in the “10 Great Historic Auto Sites” column.

We headed back to Battle Creek for a very late lunch. We decided to check out the #7 ranked BBQ place in Michigan – Hogzilla BBQ Pit! We decided to opt for the lunch buffet ($9.99/person) so we could sample a little bit of everything. The meat was very smoky flavored and very lean. The BBQ sauce was spicy, kind of like the “Texas” type that some other BBQ places have. The mac & cheese was decent (good flavor and texture) – I am not a huge mac & cheese fan. I was disappointed in the corn bread; it was a bit blah and a bit over cooked. The baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad and spaghetti were all good. The owner of the establishment is very friendly and enjoyed talking about his business and the clients that he’s had.

Honolulu House

As we continued our trek home we stopped by Marshall. We had been to Marshall in the past, but it was in the early spring and the fountain downtown was not running. This time we were able to see the fountain in action and we also visited the historical Honolulu House. The Honolulu House tour was $5/adult and they start the tour whenever people show up. Photography is not allowed inside of the home. Our tour lasted probably about an hour. The tour is not really that formatted, so you can ask questions whenever you want. If you want more information on something the guides will share all they know, which could extend the length of your tour. There are many other historical homes in the area around the fountain. There are walking maps available at the Honolulu House.

Our last stop on the way home was Jackson. “The Parlour” is an excellent ice cream shop that has been serving since 1944!  The portions are very large – the banana split has six scoops of ice cream! They also serve food items, but we have only ever gotten the ice cream.

Lansing Area Weekend!

July 27-29, 2012

We decided to take a weekend camping trip to Sleepy Hollow State Park (Laingsburg, MI), since we had a birthday party to go to in the Lansing area. We set up on site 145, which was perfect size for our pop-up trailer. The site was very private, surrounded with vegetation.  The bathrooms were clean. The showers were warm, but nowhere close to being hot.

We did not spend a lot of time at the campground, but there is a kid’s play structure, disk golf, a picnic area, a beach and a hiking trail. Many people fish, boat, and kayak in Lake Ovid.

Peacock Road Tree Farm

The birthday party we went to was for a 1-year old and was held at Peacock Road Tree Farm, which is also in Laingsburg.  The farm has a petting zoo, train rides, and hay rides. The place was nice and very well maintained.

Prior to the party, we headed to downtown Lansing to check out the Michigan Historical Museum. The museum use to be free to get in but now charges $6 or less per visitor. If you have the “Recreation Passport” sticker on your license plate tab you get a discount. The museum is nice and would be a great activity for a rainy day and also for children. You may also want to visit the capitol building, which is a couple of blocks away. During the week, it appeared that you would have to pay for parking, but on the weekend it was free. You will need to check the hours for the museum, it varies.

Lansing Lugnuts 

Saturday evening we got tickets to see the Lansing Lugnuts baseball team. The Lugnuts are a Class “A” minor league team, affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. We headed to Clara’s for dinner. Clara’s is housed in the “Union Depot”, which was built in 1902. There is a historical marker outside of the place, which tells you the history of the building. The building is very pretty. The menu at Clara’s is rather large and the prices are reasonable. I had a Calzone, it was good. It was well cooked and a bit smaller than what some places serve.

We kept our vehicle parked at Clara’s and walked the few blocks to the Lugnuts game. We had $20 clubhouse seating. While seating in that area, pop was $2.50 and you got free refills. Free popcorn was also provided. There were fireworks after the game, which were nice. It was about a 30 minute drive back to the campground.

The next morning we packed up headed home, with memories of an excellent camping weekend!

New York, New York! (Day 6-7)

June 25, 2012

Today Show

Since our trip was coming to an end soon, we decided it was now or never to visit the “Today” show. We hopped on the subway early to get a good spot, however we did not get there nearly early enough (7AM). Lucky for us, it started to rain and that cleared people out. The rain stopped so the TV people did come outside! We ended up getting on television twice – that was exciting! Monday is definitely the day to visit the Today show. It was Spiderman week; they were passing out masks, shirts and posters. It was also Hope Week – a New York Yankees charity. For Hope Week, they passed out hats, shirts, and buttons. Alex Rodriguez and Andy Pettitte were also there, so we got to see them. Some of the USA women’s soccer team also visited the set while we were there.

After the Today Show, we wondered around the Rockefeller Plaza and checked out St. Patrick’s Cathedral. St. Patrick’s opened in 1897 and is a fine example of Neo-Gothic style. Neo-Gothic is an architectural style that was developed in the middle of the 18^th century in which the structures demonstrate a strong vertical emphasis, with sharply pointed arches and finials (decorative ornament). This church was also undergoing renovations.

Alice in Wonderland Sculpture - Central Park

We continued our journey towards Central Park – stopping by Trump Tower for some photos. There are many sculptures near the entrance of the park, and many throughout the park, as well. Some stops that we made included: Alice in Wonderland, Belvedere Castle, and Strawberry Fields. You could easily spend a day wondering around Central Park, we spent only a couple of hours.

Strawberry Fields - Central Park

We walked back towards the Broadway area, since we had heard about a really cool diner called “Ellen’s Stardust Diner”. The wait staff sings throughout the day and everything is in the 50’s style. The menu is huge and the food was good. I ordered the sloppy joe with onion rings and baked beans ($15). Allison had chicken tenders with fries ($15). We discussed going to the Today Show again the following day and decided to make a sign to take. As we headed back to the apartment, we stopped and got supplies for our sign. We also were in search of a Post Office to mail post cards home.

For dinner we walked to Little Italy, passing through Chinatown on the way. We got warned that in Little Italy all of the restaurants would try to pull us in to eat that their place. We had done some prior research (thanks Tripadvisor!), so we chose one of the higher reviewed places “Da Gennaro”. The prices were reasonable, $15-$20, and the food was good. It took a while for them to deliver bread to our table; it pretty much arrived the same time as our meal (I had a pesto dish). After dinner, we stopped by a bakery shop, where Allison got some cannoli – which she claims were nearly the best she’s had. I got chocolate caramel cheesecake at a cafe next door from the bakery – it was not very good.

June 26, 2012

First thing in the morning, earlier than the previous day, we hopped on the subway so we could get a better spot at the Today Show. We arrived a little before 7AM and managed to get a good spot along the fence. Our sign grabbed the attention of a lot of other visitors as well as the camera crew! We basically made a NYC Bucket List, with checkmarks by everything except for “meet Al”. Al did in fact come over to us! We got to shake hands and he talked about our sign on television! Having a good sign seems to be key to making it on the air for more than just a few seconds – that or find out where the hosts will be standing and get in that area. It was much less busy on Tuesday, compared to Monday. There were not any freebie handouts, but they did handout little cards that give you a 10% off purchases at the NBC store.

Central Park from the Top of the Rock

We had a few hours to kill, before we had to catch the taxi to the airport so we went to the “Top of the Rock”. There was no wait to go up first thing in the morning. It was a bit pricy ($25 for adults), but it provided a great overhead view of the city, better than the Empire State Building (which I went up a few years back). We spent probably about 30 minutes to an hour at the top.

Our New York City adventure was about to end…one last ride on the subway…one last view from the apartment. My cousin arranged a car to pick us up and take us to the airport. That worked out very well and I would recommend others to do the same, mostly because who wants to stand around and try to hail a taxi with luggage. We used the Dial 7 service. It cost only $5-$10 more than a standard taxi. Another tip – have the driver take the Brooklyn Bridge - there is not a toll. Our flight home was uneventful.

New York, New York! (Day 5)

June 24, 2012

Hamilton Grange NM

The day started with a run along the waterfront, it was very pretty. Then we hopped on the subway to visit Hamilton Grange National Memorial, in the Harlem area. Hamilton Grange National Memorial is the home of Alexander Hamilton. Chances are that you see Hamilton quite frequently –he is on the $10 bill.  Hamilton was an orphan from the Caribbean that later became George Washington’s right hand man. Hamilton was instrumental in the creation of the new Constitution, and he was also the first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton only lived in the home for two years, before he was fatally wounded in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. At this point in time, it was illegal to duel; however it still seemed to happen quite frequently. Hamilton’s son was killed a dual a few years prior to Hamilton. The park service offers tours of the home. The tour was good and lasted around 30 minutes. There is also a 30 minute film available, but we did not get a chance to watch it. The display boards were interesting. Allow 1-1.5 hours to visit the site, if you do the tour.

General Grant NM

Our next destination was about a 30 minute walk to the south – General Grant National Memorial. There was a 3 minute film at the visitor center, which does not really tell you much about the site, but rather about all the sites in the area. I would advise not to wait around for the film to be shown. There are a lot informational boards in the film area that you can read if you are so inclined.  Ulysses S. Grant (the guy on the $50 bill), was twice elected to president and he established the first national park – Yellowstone. Grant’s Tomb was the largest fundraising event, at the time, raising $600,000 for its construction. The granite and marble structure was completed in 1897 and remains the largest mausoleum in North America. Be sure you check the hours that the monument is open, it is only open every other hour or so.  Thirty minutes would be more than enough time to spend in and around the memorial, allow more time if you wanted to read the display boards at the visitor center.

General Grant NM - ceiling

For lunch, we took a short walk to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Harlem. This BBQ place was better than Blue Smoke, and a bit cheaper. I had the pulled pork sandwich, which came with two sides.

After lunch, we hopped on the subway again and exited in the Times Square area. We had nothing else planned for the day so we decided to go to a Broadway show. We got discount tickets at the TKTS booth. The TKTS booth sells day-of-performance tickets only. We opted to see Mary Poppins. We had mezzanine seats, which cost us $156 for two tickets (claimed to be 40% off). The show was good and of course kids would love it!

While we were in the area we stopped by the Hard Rock Café store to get my husband his beloved zippo. Then it was off to the subway and back to the apartment for a bit of relaxation before heading out to dinner. We had dinner at a place called Sarabeth. I ordered the chicken pot pie ($16), which was very good.

New York, New York! (Day 4)

June 23, 2012

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace NHS

First thing in the morning, we hopped on the subway and headed out to the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site. The park service offers a tour at the site and of course, we took it. The tour was very good! It lasted about an hour and was very informational. Roosevelt lived in the home until the age of 14. The house was demolished in 1916 only to be reconstructed in 1919. The home contains five period rooms, which is furnished with a lot of original artifacts. Allow 1.5 hours if you take the tour and look at the other displays.

Near the Roosevelt Birthplace is the FlatIron Building. Its architectural styles include: Beaux-Arts, Renaissance, and Neo-Renaissance. It was completed in 1902 and was once one of the tallest buildings in the city.

View from Governors Island NM

We headed back to the apartment, grabbing lunch at a Whole Foods store, before our afternoon adventure to Governors Island National Monument.  The Governors Island ferry is near the ferry for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island. The ferry ride was free! There are a couple of guided tour options at the site – we were able to do the National Monument tour, which lasted 45-60 minutes. The Roof to Castle Williams tour fills up fast is has a limited number of people allowed. The island also has a different schedule for the weekend and weekdays, and is only open at the end of May through the end of September. There are two forts on the island – Fort Jay and Castle Williams. Both forts were constructed between 1796 and 1811, as a part of the First and Second American System of Fortification. There is not really too much to see here, but the island provides an excellent view of the NYC skyline. Half the park belongs to the park service and the other half is owned by a trust, which plans to develop the island into a park area. The park was very busy and the ferry line can get long. Allow 1-2 hours to check out the island.

Brooklyn Bridge

After jumping on the ferry and arriving back in Manhattan we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge (1883) is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the US. The bridge was very busy with pedestrian traffic.  Once we got to the other side – Brooklyn - we had pizza at Grimaldi’s. They serve coal brick-oven pizza, where a large runs you about $15. Be prepared to wait outside in order to get a table, we got in after about 20 minutes. After pizza, we headed to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Ice cream was $4 for a single scoop – warning a single scoop is very large! Be sure to check out the pier area surrounding the ice cream place for some great photographs.