New York
 September 15 - 18, 2010

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My boss Barbara and I were sent to Syosset, NY for company business one Thursday so I decided to stay on for Friday to tour the Big Apple.  I know it is impossible to see a city like that in one day, but I gave it a good shot!  Plus, Barbara and I went in Wednesday night to get a sneak preview, which was nice. It was a good trip.
 
   

        

 Wednesday night Barbara and I took the train
into town.  We walked through Times Square
and part of Central Park and had a very nice
Thai dinner. 
   
   
As soon as I got to the city on Thursday, I tried to join a bicycle tour of Central Park.  Unfortunately, I was the only one interested in touring at that time.  (Turns out everyone else must watch the weather!)  Instead of the tour I rented a bike and took off on my own personal tour of the park.  Above is the Bethesda Fountain on the left and some of the statues in the park on the right.  It was a lovely, cool afternoon and I enjoyed riding and walking around the park.  

 
 

  

 The park is 2 miles long and 1/5 mile wide (I think.)
I was at the northwest corner of the park when the
sky turned dark and the thunder started.  The bike
shop was a few blocks southwest of the park so I
was at least two miles from "the barn" at that point.

I started booking it to get out of the park and had just
made it to the exit when the sky opened up and poured
big fat rain drops.  I got under some scaffolding with 
some other folks and just watched the storm for about
20 minutes.  It was a neat storm. At the time I thought,
"This is almost like an Oklahoma thunderstorm."
Little did I know that I was right - it was so much like
one of our storms it even produced a tornado!  

At left is the New York Post headline about it.  I have
to admit that I didn't even know there had been any
tornado or damage until I started getting "Are you OK?"
calls on Friday.  


On Thursday night, I was thrilled to find out that a Calvary Chapel was nearby.  I was able to 
attend a wonderful service at Harvest Christian Fellowship and met some very nice people there.  
My first stop on Friday morning was the Rockefeller Center.
This is a model of the complex I saw on my way to the top.		 Here I am on the 68th floor with Central Park behind me.
    

    

 The Empire State building on a
lovely, but slightly foggy, morning. 
 
   
Next I took a bus tour of downtown Manhattan.  The Flatiron building 
is on the left, and St. Patrick's Cathedral on the right above. 		  This is looking up the Empire State building, trying (but failing)
to capture the woozy feeling it gives you to be right underneath it.
   
   
   
This Mennonite group had a wonderful ministry, singing hymns in Battery Park. My first look at the Statue of Liberty
   

  In case you ever wondered what's 
  below a city street...
   
   
The graveyard at St. Paul's Chapel. One of the tombstones in the graveyard.
   
St. Paul's Chapel served as a base for the 9/11 rescuers.  Today it is filled with
memorabilia, including this sign which I thought was wonderful to see. 		 Ground zero looks like a construction sight these days.
 
   
 I spent a LOT of time in Chinatown because I got lost and had to walk across the 
 whole thing twice. 		 This made me smile.  Even in Chinatown, you need your red beans & rice.
  
   
The reason I walked across Chinatown twice was that I was trying to 
find Little Italy and the San Genarro feast. It paid off, since I had walked
so far I felt I could indulge in a nice Italian meal and even a canolli!		 Now I'm back on the tour bus, this shows how unwise it would
be to stand up in the bus.
 
   

  

 This was particularly moving, pictures 
of the New York Fire Department rescuers
who lost their lives on 9/11/01.

The highlight of my trip was to be a sunset sail on a schooner ship around New York harbor.
Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication of some sort.  I was told it was cancelled but later found out it actually wasn't.
So, I missed it.  I still don't like to talk about it.  

My "second runner up" activity was a long walk along the shore to the Staten Island Ferry.
I rode it across and back as the sun set and still managed to enjoy the evening, even without my schooner sail. 
    
   

 City views at sunset
 
 

 
   

This was the sister ferry to the one I was on.
  On the way back, Lady Liberty's torch was shining.
   
Final views of the city.  I had to leave the hotel at 3:30am to catch my 6am flight home.
Overall, it was a nice overview of New York.  

 
   
   
   
   
 

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