Getting By, Dreaming Big

After those wintery photos from Top of the Rock I promised you some nice springtime photos!  How did you feel about being greeted by Mr. Swan?  This past Saturday I met up with my Uncle Tom, Aunt Maggie and cousin Terence out in Hoboken and we went on a bird watching/nature walking adventure in the Meadowlands. 

I must admit when I realized we were in the Meadowlands in New Jersey, I was skeptical.  I mean the Meadowlands do not have the best reputation and I’m from New Jersey.  We visited a couple of different areas but my favorite was Richard W. DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.  I can’t think about Lyndhurst without thinking of Medieval Times – hahaha!

There was definitely a lot of bird watching to be had!  Unfortunately some of the walking paths were closed due to work being done to improve them or repair them, but we were able to walk for a good 45 minutes.  At one point, my uncle and I noticed these fish flapping around at the top of the water.  We looked closer through the binoculars and saw these fish (my uncle thinks they were carp) half in the water, half out of the water pushing their way through the mud.  It was my favorite part aside from just spending the day outside, taking in the sun, and enjoying some quality time with family.

We saw thrushes, ducks, mallards, swans and egrets among other birds.  It really was a gorgeous area.  There also seemed to be an educational center.  This spot would probably be great for families with small kids.  We didn’t explore the entire area so I may have to make a trip back someday to explore some more.  Oh and I forgot to add that we saw an eagle at an earlier park area, that was pretty darn cool!

Here is a picture of my Uncle Tom, Aunt Maggie and ME!   Thanks guys for a wonderful afternoon outside of the city.

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What is your favorite bird?  I’d have to say mine is the egret.  It is such a graceful creature (and it doesn’t hurt that it is one of the few birds that I can recognize right off the bat!)

Oh, Tuesday Travels!  I have to say we haven’t been as good about getting out and about as we usually are but we’ve got some pretty fun stuff planned for the spring, just you wait and see.  A couple of weeks ago I blogged about our amazing tour of Rockefeller Center, well the weekend before we took that tour we had the opportunity to visit “Top of the Rock”.  We did the Empire State Building last Febuary and everyone had always told us we needed to visit Top of the Rock to see the view of the Empire State Building – go figure.  I don’t know why we choose to constantly go way up high in the air during frosty February days, it’s probably because the lines are shorter – ha!

My husband Jon, decided a couple of months back that he wanted to do the “Climb to the Top” to benefit the MS Society.  I trained with him once and my calves were shredded, as in seriously couldn’t walk right for a week, so I said “it’s all you buddy!”  He raised over $500 and trained really hard so that he would have an amazing experience.  The Climb to the Top is a race up 66 flights to the Top of the Rock.  His heat was scheduled to go off at 7:15AM.  Having never been to this type of event I didn’t know how on time they would be and how quickly he would climb 66 flights of stairs, so I got to the Top of the Rock super early (say 6:50AM!)  I wish I had spent more time enjoying the exhibit right when you walked in, since nobody was there, I had the whole place to myself.  However, I was so nervous that I would miss Jon finishing that I rushed through it and took the elevator straight to the top.

Jon finished in 15 minutes and 21 seconds.  I was super proud of him.  The finish line is pretty sparse.  Not many people getting up at 6AM to cheer on their friends and families as they climb to the top, but it was really awesome to be there and cheer people on.  It was also so tranquil looking over NYC as everyone slept or stayed cozy in their homes.  Jon was pretty excited and really enjoyed the experience.  It could become a yearly tradition…perhaps…one year I’ll do it too.

After Jon was finished we took some time enjoying the different views of NYC.  They were pretty spectacular (although they’d be a heck of a lot nicer on a beautiful spring/summer day).  The view of the Empire State Building is pretty sick though.  Next year, if he “Climbs to the Top” again, I’ll have to take my time enjoying the exhibit down below.  It’s pretty remarkable.  The building was built during the great depression.  Of note:  That famous photo you always see of the guys sitting on the beam, that’s from the building of this building!  I never knew that. 

I thought to the Top of the Rock was totally worth it!  I would highly recommend it for great views of NYC, especially a nice unobstructed view of Central Park. 

Upcoming NYC adventures:  a Gangster tour, a Gangster museum, the big red buses (FINALLY!), and maybe a Circle Line Tour, just to name a few.  So stay tuned!

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Do you prefer Top of the Rock or the Empire State Building?  I have a lot of loyalty to the Empire State Building, I mean it’s in my hood and all, but I have to say the Top of the Rock was clean and modern and I really really liked it up there!

PS – Sorry that this post reminds you of the dreary winter NYC weather!  I promise spring photos will be forthcoming:)

A couple of weeks ago on twitter via @NewYorkology (a great website/blog for all things NYC) I learned that there is an architectual/art history tour of Rockefeller Center.  I’m always looking for new experiences in New York so I mentioned it to Jon and we signed up for a one hour tour which we took on March 20th.  Rockefeller Center is somewhere that EVERYONE, resident of NYC or not, has visited.  It was really neat to get a behind the scenes tour describing the history of this iconic NYC locale, the art that is all over Rockefeller Center that I had never noticed until I took this tour, the meaning behind the art and just really exploring this area in a totally different way.

Above is just a sampling of the amazing art that’s just on the buildings in Rockefeller Center if you take the time to slow down and look.  The art around Rockefeller Center is a mix of modern art, art deco and classical greek styled art.  There are murals, mosaics, carvings, sculpture – a little bit of everything.

The sculpture on this building was John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s least favorite. They flanked the North and South entrances to the RCA building.  He disliked them so much that he refused to enter the building through those entrances.  So he worked in the RCA building everyday after Rockefeller Center was completed and never entered through these entrances.  While done in a classical greek style they are supposed to represent television.  I thought it was a stretch, but maybe I just don’t have a good enough imagination.

One thing I didn’t know about Rockefeller Center was that it, like the Empire State Building, was built during the recession.  That famed photograph of the men sitting on the iron beam out over the top of NYC, that was during the building of Top of the Rock!  I never knew that.

One of the most interesting things we learned on the tour had to do with the Atlas sculpture, a sculpture that everyone has walked by countless times.  If you look at Atlas from the front, he seems agressive, his face is set, his arms are out wide holding the weight of the earth and he is lunging towards the street. 

Yet as our tour guide explained, if you look at the sculpture from behind facing St. Patrick’s Cathedral, his head is bowed and he appears to be kneeling in reverence.  It was incredibly impressive to see the difference between looking at the sculpture from one direction vs. the other.

These are just some of the things we learned while on the tour, there is tons more that I didn’t mention.  Our tour guide spoke a lot about the history of each building, who/what they were built for, the history of the Rockefeller’s, how Rockefeller bought up the land and what difficulties he encountered, that it was the first large planned real estate project, what’s changed and what has stayed the same, the art that was removed because of it’s implications, why Rock Center was built the way it was built,etc.   Our tour guide was incredibly informative, and very accessible if that’s the right way to put it.  He didn’t have airs and was very real as he took us around.  I enjoyed looking at the history and art of Rock Center, it made me appreciate this tourist destination in a different way. 

The tour was just one hour long and $15.  It was the perfect amount of time and I didn’t feel that the cost was unreasonable.  You have to reserve the tour through the Marketing Department of Top of the Rock or there might be a way through the website.  I would highly recommend this tour, it was one of our favorite things we’ve done in NYC!

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Have you been to Rockefeller Center?  Do you like going there?

So these past weeks I’ve been saying how I hadn’t done anything fun in NYC for awhile…well…I can’t believe that I totally forgot to blog about the Chelsea Market & Meatpacking District Tour I did back in December with my brother, Tim and his wife, Christine!  This is why I need to write myself notes.  So anyway, way back when Jon and I went to the High Line for the first time, we went to Chelsea Market afterwards and I saw all of these people on tours.  I thought it would be fun, so when I booked the pizza tour I also booked a tour of Chelsea Market.  They were back to back (Saturday and Sunday) so I had to make room in my stomach for a lot of good eats.

Our first stop was….

Eleni’s – don’t all those goodies look yummy!  This is my kind of tour, starting with dessert first.  We enjoyed Eleni’s Everything Cookie her take on her mom’s oatmeal raisin cookies.  They had oats, chocolate, craisins, nuts and all sorts of goodies.  It was delicious (and huge!)  I only ate a part of it to start because I wanted to save room for all of our other eats.  Her cookies are so pretty, perfect for special occasions.  I would definitely recommend them.

Next it was on to Ronnybrook Farm Dairy.

Here we got to sample some chocolate milk.  It was their Chocolate Creamline Milk.  It’s like whole milk (obviously we’re not on this tour for our health folks).  This milk was like drinking a milkshake just not quite as thick.  It could have been my favorite part of the whole tour.  I recently found a single serving at the Whole Foods in Union Square, what a treat!  I would seriously walk to Chelsea Market just to get this chocolate milk. 

Next stop was The Lobster Place.

We were each allowed to enjoy a cup of soup while our tour guide told us more about Chelsea Market and specifically The Lobster Place.  I had the New England Clam Chowder (which might have been the best I’ve ever had, and I lived in New England…it was so yummy!)  My brother had the Lobster Bisque and I believe Christine had the Cajun Crab & Corn Chowder.  Then we were allowed some time to explore The Lobster Place, hit the restroom, etc, while our tour guide set up the next section.

Next on the tour was Buon Italia.  Here we sat and enjoyed some Italian delicacies.  I made myself a sandwich of all the cheeses and meats.  The bread was from Amy’s Bread and was AMAZING!  Don’t get me wrong I LOVE Italian food but usually I’m not really into Antipasta plates which was what this experience reminded me of.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It’s a great little Italian market with a good variety of items.  I actually went back after the tour for some fusili for a future recipe. 

The food whirlwind tour continued with a cheese & jam sampling at Chelsea Market Baskets, followed by biscuits with fruit spread from Sarabeth, followed by a mini gelato at L’arte del gelato.  All very tasty.  While we were tasting all of these yummy treats we learned more about the vendors in Chelsea Market and the history of the market itself.  It used to be the Nabisco factory until they moved out to the burbs.  It was finished the way it is now in 1997 so it’s been open for about 13 years.  It’s a really eclectic fun place to spend sometime inside in NYC. 

After we explored Chelsea Market to it’s fullest we walked around the Meatpacking District for an hour or so.  Our tourguide took us on the High Line, showed us important historical buildings all around that particular area of NYC.  We ended with a little pasta in a wild boar sauce at Macelleria in the meatpacking district.  It was the perfect end to the tour. 

Overall, this was definitely worth the price, all of the food samples you got easily added up to breakfast and lunch!  It was over 3 hours so it was spread out well.  I thought the most interesting part was Chelsea Market, it’s history, and all of it’s fun and yummy vendors.  I thought the part walking through the Meatpacking district was a little long and there wasn’t that much really to talk about.  It was raining when we went as well, so that didn’t help the fact.  I would have been content finishing the tour after 90-120 minutes at Chelsea Market.  I also thought our tour guide was just eh…he spent a lot of time talking about himself, all the volunteering he does at “society & celebrity” type events in NYC and how that has turned into him getting free tickets to things and meeting celebrities etc.  I didn’t really care abou that to be honest!  I wish he had just focused on the tour at hand.  There are a lot of tour guides, so I’d be interested to see others take on this tour. 

A big T.H.A.N.K.S. to Tim and Christine for joining me for a foodie/NYC adventure!  We had so much fun and I am looking forward to enjoying other foodie adventures in NYC!

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Which vendor in Chelsea Market is your favorite?

Hi All, so once again Jon and I haven’t really gotten out to do anything fun and new in NYC and I don’t think it’ll happen this weekend as we have a crazy jam packed weekend ahead.  So I thought I would take this post and share with you some of the travel blogs that I follow on a regular basis.

The US/World

Intelligent Travel Blog – This is National Geographic’s travel blog.  There is a good variety of information on here.  Sometimes it’s just tidbits of information for a specific city or region, sometimes it’s an extensive review on a travel destination, sometimes it’s updated blogs following someone during their travel.  I like that it’s in all different mediums.  The mixture keeps me interested and coming back.  I’ve definitely learned about some great travel destinations through this website, if only there were enough time (and more importantly money) to go to all of them!

My Kugelhopf – This site has the most amazing photos!  The author, Kerrin, is a New Yorker who lives in Switzerland.  She writes about her travels, the food from the areas she visits (most specifically the sweets – YUM) and shares recipes of what she sometimes tries to recreate.  I love reading about her trips and her culinary exploits, but seriously I L.O.V.E. her photos!!!  They are so beautiful.

Spot Cool Stuff: Travel – This website is exactly what it sounds like, it features the unusual that you might stumble upon in your travels.  Unusual places to travel, stay, eat, etc.  I don’t know that I would necessarily go to any of these places, but it’s always interesting to see what they’re stumbling over.

The Lost Girls - This website started when 4 New Yorkers decided to take a trip around the world.  They have since returned from said trip, but now they have people all over who write blogposts about where they are, what they’re doing, how they’re traveling, etc.  It’s fun to read about all these woman having these amazing traveling experiences with friends or on their own.

New York City

Newyorkology – is that even a word?  This site is the 411 on anything and everything going on in NYC.  From the usual New York happenings, to uncovering some of the hidden gems this city has to explore.  They are especially great to follow on twitter because they keep me up to date on everything and anything going on in NYC.  If you live in the city or are just visiting this is a great place to go for any and all information.

Walking Off the Big Apple –  Jon and I love walking around NYC and have done a couple of walking tours of different neighborhoods that we’ve gotten from one of our guide books.  If you are looking for fun and innovative walking tours (think themed after your favorite novels) Walking Off the Big Apple is the place to be reading.  The author, Teri, puts together such fun tours that range in distance and explore all sorts of fun building, spaces and time periods.  I’m hoping that Jon and I can do a couple of these ourselves this year.

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What travel blogs do you read?  I’m always looking for good suggestions!

Lady Liberty

Jon and I haven’t had a chance to get back into the swing of exploring NYC yet in 2010, we really need to get on that.  Hopefully we’ll have  a fun NYC adventure this weekend.  I thought I would take you back to July 26, 2008 and our visit to the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island.  I can’t believe that I didn’t blog about this day when it occurred, because it was amazing!  I hadn’t been to the Statue of Liberty since I was probably 11 (?) so 19 years ago (almost 20…eek…I’m getting old!)  Jon had never been.  We were both excited to go explore these historical New York monuments that hold such significance to this city and its residents past and present.

I read up a lot on how to plan your visit to both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, because those of us that live in NYC have seen that line and we did not want to wait in it.  We reserved our tickets beforehand, which saved us a lot of time.  We also made sure to book our reservations for the first boats at 9AM.  We got there early with our tickets and breezed right through security, no wait!  I highly recommend being extrememly organized when visiting these monuments.  The boat departs from Castle Clinton, a historical “monument” in it’s own right.  It was built to keep out the British during the War of 1812 but has since had many uses.  We spent some time exploring the area before we boarded our boat.

The first part of our day, the boat ride itself, is so fun.  We enjoyed great views not only of Lady Liberty and Ellis Island but of NYC as well.  Once we arrived we quickly rented Audio Guides for our walk around the Island.  It was incredibly interesting to learn about the history of Lady Liberty.  From her trip from France to the USA to America coming together and raising the money needed (sometimes one penny at a time) to pay for the pedestal and erect her onto the pedestal that she currently stands on.  We probably spent a good hour walking around the Island, visiting the different exhibits and of course admiring the Lady herself.  I have to say, I never am not amazed by her beauty.

Ellis Island

Afterwards, we boarded the next boat and headed over to Ellis Island.  Ellis Island is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  It just gives me chills being there, knowing how many peoples hopes and dreams for a “new life” for them and their families came through these corridors hoping to make it on to New York City.  There is just so much to do, see and learn here it is almost overwhelming.  We of course, rented audio guide tours, for our visit. 

The Ceiling of the Waiting/Processing Room

The most amazing part of the museum is the waiting room, hearing stories of how people made it this far only to be turned away for some ailment, how families were seperated and united, just imaging everything that went on in that large hall.  The exhibits throughout the museum are definitely interesting as well.  We explored and explored and explored until we didn’t have anything left in our tanks.  Then we headed outside to the wall of names of all the immigrants who went through Ellis Island.  There were a lot of people with my maiden name and my married name but none of them were relatives.  While my paternal grandparents did emmigrate to the US from Ireland specifically to NYC they did not come through Ellis Island.  It still makes me feel like I have some understanding of what their experience might have been like though.

The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island are NOT to be missed, whether you’re just visiting NYC for a week or a couple of days or whether you’ve lived here your whole life and just never made time.  Go, Go, Go!!!!  You won’t regret the experience.

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Have you been to the Statue of Liberty and/or Ellis Island?