Sunny Sunday

Chrysler Building

Sunday morning we awoke to sunny skies and again headed back into midtown. We departed at Grand Central Station and it was beautiful! It’s so funny how you get out and it’s a regular dirty old subway but then you go up into Grand Central and its gorgeous.

Grand Central Ceiling

Grand Central Clock

We walked up to St. Patrick’s Cathedral to take in a Mass. I was disappointed because the entire outside of the Cathedral is covered in scaffolding and most of the inside is pretty much a construction site. The alter is pretty much untouched though so it was still a nice service.

After Mass we headed over to see the Intrepid aircraft carrier. It was absolutely massive! We didn’t go on it because it was expensive but it was still neat to check out. 

 

We headed up to Columbus Circle to enter into Central Park. We grabbed lunch at the Ballfields Café (which was expensive and not very good) and then wandered through the park. Ma was very happy to have grass under her feet again. We saw the Dairy, Strawberry Fields, the Bethesda Fountain and the Belevedere Castle. Every time I’ve been in Central Park I’ve never been to the same place twice so I liked seeing what else it has to offer, especially the Castle which had great views of the city. 

Strawberry Fields

Belvedere Castle

Skyline

Then it was time to head to Harlem and step into the Hamilton Grange National Memorial. We arrived just in time for a tour. The Grange was the only home ever owned by Hamilton and it remained in his family for 30 years after his death. The two-story frame Federal style house was completed in 1802, just two years before Hamilton's death resulting from his duel with Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804. What I found interesting was that the house had actually been moved twice, most recently in 2009. The current park location was judged a more appropriate setting for display that would permit restoration of features lost in the 1889 move. The new location also kept the house in the neighborhood and on land that was within the boundary of Hamilton's original 32-acre estate. The tour honestly wasn’t that great (poor guide and company) but I always love to check out a historical home.

Hamilton Grange

Next up was the General Grant National Memorial which is massive! I really didn’t know what to expect but it was gorgeous. Apparently it is the largest mausoleum in North America. The only thing it includes are the tombs of General Grant and his wife. Approximately 90,000 people from around the world donated over $600,000 towards the construction of Grant's Tomb. This was the largest public fundraising effort ever at that time (end of 19^th century).

Grant's Tomb

Grant and his wife

We’d had our fill of the city at that point so we popped back over to LaGuardia where I picked up a rental car to take us out to Long Island. First through we had to go north to stop at Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site. It wasn’t open but you could at least check out the grounds. We then made the trek out to Long Island where we crashed after another long day of walking (and driving!)

St. Paul's Church