Our New York Trip
We did and saw so many things that I am sure to leave out some important information, but hopefully I will hit the good highlights! A note about cab drivers….they were really good when compared to our shuttle drivers.
Day One: Sunday
It was raining a bit that morning and there was a bike race happening that prevented the taxis from picking up in front of our hotel. We walked around until we found some taxis and headed to midtown/Time Square. I had to tell the driver to stop because he drove past our location. I never would have thought I would be giving directions to a New York cabbie! We got our tickets for the hop on hop off double decker bus. Since we were in Time Square we decided to walk around. They were actually filming a movie there. We walked over to Rockefeller Center and saw the set of the Today Show. Then we decided to head up to FAO Schwartz and Central Park. We grabbed a hotdog and a knish from a vendor. Both were ok, not great. In Central Park we caught the HOHO Bus. We were tired and ready for a ride. The uptown loop took us up to Harlem and around the Upper East side. We saw many museums, where John Lennon was shot and lots of great architecture. We went into St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was amazingly beautiful! There was a Mass going on and the place was packed. We switched buses to do the downtown loop and headed toward Little Italy. We saw many spots from one of my favorite shows, Sex and the City. Greenwich village was quaint and I would have liked to do some shopping there. We got off at Macy’s and walked over to the Empire State Building. They were having a parade for Polish Day so 5th Ave was closed. Apparently there are many parades there. The Empire State Building was awesome. The wait was short and we had beautiful clear skies to see the city. There was even a marriage proposal while we were up there. Canal street was our next stop. Camden went down to check out the subway system. He liked it and was able to see the R train that goes up the west side of the island. We had dinner at a nice little restaurant in Little Italy. The pasta was yummy. The boys and I took a taxi back to the hotel because they were exhausted.
Day Two: Monday
We decided to start with the most somber site, Ground Zero. There is a lot of construction going on as the rebuild. The Tribute to WTC 9/11 was quite moving. The impact of that day was well portrayed and tastefully presented. We were all very sad. After that we decided to head to Seaport and get our Water Taxi to see the Statue of Liberty. Camden really enjoyed this. Carsten went along for the ride. He did seem to enjoy being with the family, but he wasn’t overwhelmed with any of the sites. We had a nice lunch and then decided to do the rest of the downtown loop. Traci and Lee had to hop off and catch a cab back to the hotel at Time Square to make it to the airport in time. We finished the Downtown Loop and walked back to our hotel. We stopped at The Stage Door Deli for a true New York Deli sandwich. We went back to our room to rest and eat.
Day Three: Tuesday
We took a shuttle to the Newark Airport to rent a car and drove to Hamburg New York. We arrived safely and had a quite dinner with Traci and Lee and Liza (their dog).
Day Four: Wednesday
This was a restful day. We walked down the road to the barn to see the horses and goats, played in the backyard and hung out. It started to rain in the afternoon. That evening many people came over for dinner including: Lyn and Leah (Lee’s sister-in-law and niece), Virgina and Vinny (Lee’s parents), Pat (Traci’s mom), Henry and Kristine (his fiance). We enjoyed and great BBQ dinner thanks to my super grilling hubby! A little rain never bothered him!
Day Five: Thursday
We had plans to go to the Finger Lakes and visit some wineries out there, however plans changed when Carsten wouldn’t walk on his foot. He made a visit to a local urgent care and got all checked out. It was just a sprain and he needed to rest it. Because most of the morning was gone we decided to go to Pumpkinville and Ellicottville instead. It was nice. The boys each got a very small pumpkin to bring home and then one a little bigger to carve. Then we went out to lunch in Ellicottville. The boys carved the pumpkin and we ate yummy leftovers.
Day Six: Friday
We had a leisurely morning. We played in the back yard and took some family photos. Then we headed to some closer wineries. While Lee, Traci and I tasted wine, Mark and the boys would explore the grounds finding millipedes, apples, ponds, playgrounds and many other fun items. We went to Mayville and had dinner on the Chautauqua Lake.
Day Seven: Saturday
We spent the morning coloring, playing in the yard, collecting acorns, finding leaves and packing up. We took some family photos and Henry and Kristine came over too. We had some chips and dip in the driveway and chatted for a bit. We left for the airport and we were on our way home.
We will add many of the 496 photos taken to our gallery. I will try to get that done in the next week or so.
Dad said,
October 12, 2008 @ 5:54 pm
Wow! You folks had a very full week. One of the things I remember most from my trip there was going by the Ed Sullivan theatre and seeing the guy who owns the Hello Deli that Dave always got to do things. I don’t know if it’s still there but that was interesting.
About the only other thing I did besides simple sightseeing was going up the Empire State Building. The WTC was still standing then but I never got that far south.
I’m really looking forward to the pictures.
GG said,
October 12, 2008 @ 10:48 pm
Must be that Traci met you in the city. I hadn’t heard about that before. It is too bad that Ken wasn’t able to be with you to see all your family.
By the way, when you were in Ellicottville. you were probably falling over some of your relatives. All of Cattaraugus County is full of the Laffertys and Austins. Why on earth did you stay there? It was just a little town when we lived in NY.
Did you see some of those beautiful old homes at Chautauqua Lake? It used to be a very busy place in the summertime, and the elite of society could brag that they had been at “the Chautauqua”.
Heather said,
October 13, 2008 @ 5:32 am
Yes, Traci and Lee met us in NYC and did everything with us up until the time they left to go home. We were in Ellicottville for lunch and we walked around some of the shops. We did stay very long. It is a nice little town. We didn’t run into any relatives that I am aware of!
The Chautauqua Lake area was beautiful!
Gma Tucson said,
October 13, 2008 @ 6:06 am
Glad you guys are all home safely. Ken and I thought about you often during the past week. Can’t wait to see the photos. Love to all.
Robin said,
October 13, 2008 @ 7:42 am
Sounds like you had a great time! I’m looking forward to going back to the NYC some day soon!
carrie reed said,
October 13, 2008 @ 11:50 am
It sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I am glad you got back to town safely. We missed you!
Aunt Donna said,
October 13, 2008 @ 6:40 pm
You guys really saw a lot; what a wonderful trip. From NYC skyscrapers to the barnyard pasture. I know you got to see some fall foliage and hopefully the weather was nice most of the time (with the exception of poor Mark grilling in the rain!) Makes me want to go back.
Glad you made it home safe and sound. Looking forward to pictures.
Aunt Dianna said,
October 14, 2008 @ 7:19 am
Sounds like a wonderful trip with lots of time for sightseeing everything from the Big Apple to the salt of the earth folks. I want to do an east coast trip some fall and follow the colors from Maine south. Glad you’re home safe & sound and that Carsten’s problem was nothing serious!