Revisiting a Childhood Joy

Posted on May 29, 2012 by

My dad grew up in Brooklyn and we lived only 35 miles away from Manhattan, so we often made trips in for him to share some of New York City’s treasures with us.  One of my favorites was the American Museum of Natural History located at Central Park West at 79th Street . I got a chance to visit again last week and explored many of the halls.  For many people this is as close as they will get to travel, to see the way animals and people live around the world, or to see the skeletons of dinsoaurs.

The displays include animal life found around the world, including birds

~~~and insects, mammals-both living and long gone.

and even those found in the oceans.

Dioramas also depicted people living in other cultures, both current and in the past.

~~~~~~~~~~It is a magical place where early imaginations can soar and children of all ages can learn about the world around them. There is also a wonderful planetarium and many special short term exhibits.

Posted in High Value, Family Travel, New York, Website to Explore, Culture, Kid Travel, Museum | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

New York City’s High Line

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

Railroads started building tracks and spreading across the  eastern states in the mid 1830s and by the 1850s there was a massive train yard in Manhattan just east of the Hudson River between 30th and 43rd Streets. The island was criss-crossed with railroad tracks at the ground level and even with a rider on a horse warning pedestrian about approaching trains, accidents happened.

Finally, the industrial spur lines feeding the industries south of the rail yards were raised high above street level.  The High Line continued to provide train service into the 1950s, until many industries left Manhattan and trucking started to replace rail service for those that remained.  The elevated track system sat idle and slowly began to decay

The Hudson Rail Yard was the area under consideration if New York had won the Olympics for Summer 2012, but once that was lost, new concepts for redevelopment began to be considered. The High  Line was  planned for demolition.

Strong advocates pushed for turning the High Line into a linear park and the first of three segments was opened in 2009. The second segment which runs north to 34th Street opened in June 2011. A third section remains to be renovated.

It is a narrow curving park, following the tracks that serviced former industrial buildings. A team of landscapers keep the naturalized plants and flowers in peak health.

Evidence of the tracks remains to remind walkers of the history of the trail.  Seating areas in several areas provide gathering places as well as locations for movies and musical performances.

Formerly a predominantly industrial neighborhood, this area of the West Side also provided lower income housing. Now, however, there has been considerable investment in the area with people like designer Diane Von Furstenburg establishing offices.  New construction of office and residential towers has prompted the City to plan to extend one of the cross-town subway lines and discussion has started about construction of a new north-south subway along the west side once the economy improves.

New York, not only the City That Never Sleeps, but one that continually reinvents itself.

Posted in Travel, Spotlight, Urban, Historic Interest, Green, New York, Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Photo of the Day-shop in New York City

Posted on May 27, 2012 by

Posted in New York, Shopping | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Step Back for Progress

Posted on May 26, 2012 by

The area surrounding Lancaster, Pennsylvania has beautiful rolling farmland with much of the land in small holdings supporting several generations of extended families. The neatness of the farm buildings and maintenance of the fields and pastures becomes even more impressive once the realization that these farms are owned by Amish, Mennonite or other “Plain Folk”, many of whom do not use electricity as part of their religious interpretation to keep themselves separate from the rest of society. These farms are among the most productive in the nation, using horsepower for the most part and also generally using practices we are calling “organic” today. 

The lifestyle is simple with gatherings on Sundays that include recreation after worship. As we drove from our bed & breakfast in Bird in Hand to the restaurant in Ephrata, we passed several groups where young adults were playing volleyball.

Many roads in the area have wide well maintained shoulders for the use of the horse-drawn buggies. We also saw  younger people riding bicycles and scooters.

Posted in Culture, Pennsylvania, People, Travel | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Family Vacation-Times Square

Posted on May 23, 2012 by

onWhen I was young, one of the gauntlets we needed to run when we took the bus to New York City was all the XXX shops in the few blocks between the Port Authority (the bus terminal) and Times Square. The area was cleaned up as part of Mayor Guiliani’s effort duirng his term of mayor (1994-2001) to reduce crime and improve the liveability of the Big Apple.

Now, the impression is NEON!!!

With tickertape flows of news, flashing lights and electronic billboards with continually changing scenes, the area is permeated with a high level of energy. There is something to look at wherever you look.   

I had an hour to walk around Times Square while Graham was in a meeting and discovered so many places families could take their kids on a visit to New York.

A couple of blocks uptown from the center of Times Square is the Hershey Store.  Filled with an amazing selection of all you could ever want in all kinds of packaging both typically marketed and speciality marketed, if you manage to get out of there avoiding a diabetic coma, you are greeting with another neon billboard across Broadway. The M&M Store offers 3 floors of excitement with the Wall of Candy located on the second level.  There, you can chose prepackaged mixes or you can select your color of choice!

 

There are many choices for toys and clothes as well.                                                                        

Walking back towards the area where the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, I was next drawn into the Disney Store.

Friendly staff (this guy had come to New York from San Jose, California in the hopes of a career in theater), many dancing to the loud exciting music, greet you with smiles. The store offers a lot of merchandise of old favorites and new products that I had not seen, but then again, my kids are no longer part of the Disney demographic.  The noise in the store raises the level of excitement and tucked in the back of the store I found the gem that provided a moment of thought, not just reaction to the stimulation.

Us, which has a huge ferris wheel…………. 

and a dinosaur!    

Posted in Family Travel, New York, Shopping, Travel | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Still Breathing…..

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

…..but I am travelling which makes for busy evenings and up and out and about early….and now, sitting at a friend’s computer ready to tease you with a photo at least, there is no slot for my camera’s memory card and my husband already took his camrea (with the computer cable) to the car….so you will just have to be patient. LOL

Back to you soon, I promise

Posted in Travel, United States | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Photo of the Day-WordPress Challenge: HANDS

Posted on May 18, 2012 by

Taking photos at my son’s track meets has taught me a lot about the various events. The handoff in relays can make or break the win.

Posted in Family Travel, Kid Travel, Sports | Tagged , | Leave a comment