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

Gray Day in NYC: Part 2

After grabbing the bull by the horns, we hurried on down to catch the free ferry to Governors Island. Since it was an island the wind was whipping pretty hard. Due to the poor weather the place was pretty empty though which was nice. 

Governor's Island

Defensive works were raised on the island in 1776 by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, and fired upon British ships before they were taken. From 1783 to 1966, the island was a United States Army post. From 1966 to 1996 the island served as a major United States Coast Guard installation. We took refuge in Castle Williams where we got a guided tour. 

Casemate

The best part was a trip up to the roof where there is an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline. You can also see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (currently closed because of Hurricane Sandy). Fort Jay is also on the island and it was kind of odd because it was in the traditional shape of a fort but the interior was filled with fancy houses. In the 1930’s, the WPA did a complete renovation of the barracks for family housing.

Fort Jay homes

We were pretty wind burned at this point so we hopped back on the ferry to seek refuge among the skyscrapers. We walked by Wall Street, Federal Hall and the New York Stock Exchange. 

NYSE

Our last National Park Site of the day was the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

Tenement from the outside

It started raining pretty hard so as we arrived we noticed a group of people heading inside so we followed. Then a guide started talking and we realized that we had inadvertently joined a tour. We listened to the spiel but as he headed into the tenements he asked for our tickets and we had to confess so he kicked us out.

We were pretty tired, hungry, cold and wet at this point so we sought refuge in a pizza place where we had some delicious NYC style pizza.  Our last stop of the day was at FAO Schwartz because Ma wanted to see the big piano. It costs money to stomp around on it and is filled with children so we just checked out the Barbie section and left. 

Barbie

Big piano

As we were about to step back on the subway I noticed Dylan’s Candy Bar so I popped in, in search of sour candy and I hit the jackpot! I love Warheads and I got a few different varieties as well as the appropriately named “Toxic Waste”. We collapsed in exhaustion at our hotel after walking nearly 30,000 steps in one day!

Gray Day in NYC: Part 1

Flatiron Building

Saturday dawned overcast but we headed out for a day in Lower Manhattan. We departed the subway at Union Square station for the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace but it wasn’t open until 9am so we checked out the Union Square farmers market and Flatiron building in the meantime.

Union Square Park

We were on the Roosevelt’s doorstep as they opened. “Teedy” (as he was called as a child) was born there on October 27, 1858, and lived in the house with his family until 1872 when the neighborhood began to become more commercial, and the family moved uptown.  The original building was demolished in 1916 but the lot was purchased and the house rebuilt into what it is today. 

Roosevelt Birthplace

We watched a short film that chronicled how a skinny, asthmatic kid from NYC went on to become a “Bull Moose” who is most remembered for his conservation efforts. We then took the guided tour of the house. What’s nice about the house is that it was refurbished with many furnishings from the original house by the his widow and two sisters so its quite authentic.

Roosevelt Interior

Our next stop was another National Park Site, the African Burial Ground National Monument. There is a small visitor center and an outdoor site that preserves a site containing the remains of more than 400 Africans buried during the late 17th and 18th centuries.

Since we were in the area we decided to walk through Chinatown and then head out onto the Brooklyn Bridge. It was so windy on the bridge so we didn’t spend very much time out there. 

Brooklyn Bridge

We did get a nice view of the new Freedom Tower. I have been to NYC twice since September 11^th and its nice to see the rebuilding process. 

 

St. Pauls Church has also been renovated to be a memorial to the recovery workers and tells their story which is quite haunting.

After grabbing lunch at the Potbelly Deli to warm up we headed back out to see the Charging Bull. This was the busiest place we were at all day and I had to line myself up to jump in at the right time to get a quick picture. Charge!

Taking the bull by the horns

New York City!

Taking a Memorial Day road trip is an annual tradition I started back in 2007 and I love heading out for a quick three day getaway. I am rapidly running out of parks within driving distance but I still had several sites leftover in NYC that I wanted to check out. Since it’s so cheap to fly to NYC I booked a flight and then I realized Pa will never take Ma to NYC so I asked her to come along. Last time I was in NYC Jess had planned the whole trip and I didn’t have to do much besides follow along. This time though I was in charge and I put Ma through the paces of a typical Kelly Burns roadtrip. Now she knows why this blog is called “Burnin Up the Road”.

Our flight was delayed leaving Rochester but we still made it to NYC with plenty of time to check out the sites at night. After a zippy cab ride, we quickly checked into our hotel and hopped on the subway to check out Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Times Square, the Empire State Building (decked out in red, white and blue), and Madison Square Garden. It was slightly rainy but not very crowded at all (outside of Times Square) and it was nice to see everything lit up.

Happy Memorial Day!

Kicking like a Rockette

Times Square

Rockefeller Plaza