New York - The Big Apple (New York City Tour)

Friday, 12 August 2011

Up as early as we could, and in Time Square by about 9am..  That's not bad!  Ok, now the clock is ticking.  On the way into the city, Tom received a phone message that his bag had been located!  This was a huge relief to him and so he set off to retrieve it from the 'Lost and Found' in Brooklyn.  Tom is so very good with directions and so off he went by himself..

Meanwhile, we decided to go ahead and join the Downtown hop-on hop-off Bus Tour.  This really is the way to go, especially when we don't know New York!  Each bus has a tour guide, who knows everything there is to know about the city!  The tour was really informative and super relaxing! It took us through the Fashion district, SoHo and NoHo, the area where celebrities live, past Little Italy and Chinatown, passed the business district and Ground Zero, the ferry stop and back up to Time Square.  You see apartment complexes and all sorts of detail you would miss entirely if you drove yourself for a look!  The round trip took about 2 hours, and turned out to be perfect timing as Tom made it back to Time Square, bag in hand, just before us!

Downtown 'hop-on, hop-off' bus tour.



Nice of you to join us on the bus, Tom!

 From here, we had some lunch then hopped back on the bus to get to the Empire State Building.  It's an awesome sight from ground level, soaring high into the sky. 
 

The Empire State Building from the pavement, the top not visible from the ground..

Once inside, we soon realised that alot of other people had the same idea, and suddenly we are back to waiting in lines again!  We cleared security and then there was about a half hour wait going from area to area.  On the way, we stopped off and went on the 'Skyride'.  This was a virtual skyride tour of New York and surrounds.  It was included in our City Pass but otherwise cost $42.00 which I think was way overpriced.  It gave us a bit of motion sickness! Anyway, back to the lines, up one elevator, then change to another to get to the top!  Once there however, it was well worth the wait.  The views are very grand in all directions.  We had a hand held radio 'thingy', which was a narrated guide to the sights which was really helpful to pinpoint landmarks.  This is a huge city!!

Looking north toward upper Manhatten. You can just see some of Central Park, middle left of the photo..

On the viewing deck of the Empire State Building - I can't help think of 'Sleepless in Seattle!'

The Downtown Business district of Lower Manhatten, with the Hudson River on the right.  The tallest building now, with the crane on the top, is the new World Trade Center under construction filling the space where the Twin Towers once stood.  About 70 of 102 floors are finished

After seeing the Empire State building, we hopped back on the next bus and continued a short distance before hopping off again to shop at the famous Macy's store.  Here we split up, the men buying suits, and us girls to the make-up, beauty department!!  Sarah had a full eyebrow treatment, and I had a facial and make-up done!  This was sooo very nice! What a treat!  When we were finished, we met the boys in the mens department, and Tom had settled on two suits, of which he bought one!  So the missionary shopping has begun! 

Macy's in Midtown. 

 After this fun interlude, we saw a comedy show with local comedians eating dinner as we watched.  This went for an hour and half, with some being very funny and others having to work hard to get a laugh from the audience.  Good though! It was very much a New York experience.

From here, we went to Madame Toussand's Wax Museum (thanks to the City Pass!)  This is very impressive and we enjoyed recognising the many celebrities, rich and famous in wax.  We had fun posing with some of them, in particular the President of the United States! This finished with a 4-D movie of Happy Feet! 

Just a casual afternoon with the First Family!!!



Thomas R. Bennallack for President?



Oh! Edward!

Princess Diana always had a soft spot with me! (she was pretty tall..)

Tom, joining the baseball team..

Deckhand Sarah with Jonny Depp

As we headed for the subway station, there went screaming past us about 15+ police cars with their sirens blaring.  I don't really think anything was going on, but it looked intimidating.  Then as we headed down into the subway, standing in full battle gear including big guns (real guns!), were four policemen who looked like soldiers dressed in black, much like our swat team.  Again, very intimidating, but apparently they were only 'on patrol'.  Unfortunately, my camera had died by this point  so I couldn't take a pic, I'm such a tourist but we had never seen anything like it.  One of them talked with us, as we were staring at them! And then on they moved 'to patrol!'  Well, we ARE in New York!!  We missed our train, then later realised we could have caught the one that came along, so it was quite late by the time we got back to the apartment..  One thing is for sure, in New York, you do a lot of walking!!

New York - The Big Apple (Time Square, Chinatown & Broadway)

Thursday, 11 August 2011

Our basement apartment, upper Manhatten



138th Street, Harlem, NYC!

 

Wow! Waking up in the 'Big Apple' !! Here we are in a basement apartment of a typical terraced house in Harlem,Upper Manhatten.  However, in the night, Tom realised he has left his 'manbag' a lovely leather shoulder bag on the shuttle bus.  Both Rick & Tom were busy making calls to try and track it down.  It's a terrible feeling when you lose something valuable to you.  Hopefully it will turn up in  'lost and found'.

Terrence had given us instructions on how to find the subway and local shopping etc, so we ventured out to find our way to Times Square.  This is where we would pick up our City Pass and Hop-on Hop-off Bus tickets.  We have 48 hours from the time we activate them to do as much as we can in the city!!  We figured the bus tour would be the easiest way to see it!  We had to ask some gentlemen on the way the direction of the subway station, and they were really helpful.  It was really close, perhaps a five minute walk to 135th Street!  At this point, Sarah in particular was feeling very 'white', especially with her very blonde hair!  It was fine though, we found people very friendly!

The subway is a phenomenon!  It is a really easy and quick way to get in and out of the city.  It was pretty hot though underground.  In TV shows and movies, I had always wondered what the steam was that shot out of the roads, well, now I realise, it's the heat coming out of the subway system.

We easily  found Time Square, stop 42!! It's incredible how many people there are.  The city was so crowded!  We found Madame Toussand's where the office for the City Pass and Bus Tours were and realised, we do need an early start.  By this time it's about 10am, so we decided to start that tomorrow and for today, to spend some time just looking around and enjoying what we could see without any time pressure.  So, we spent the rest of the morning walking around Time Square absorbing the sight and sounds of the city.  New York City is really loud!  I guess all noise is echoed off the buildings, but there are so many sirens screaming and horns honking!!  Time Square itself is a real hub of activity.  There is shopping, restaurants, theatres, museums and of course, Broadway is just adjacent.  We all are aware of course of the yellow taxis, but to actually see them, wow! There are mostly yellow cabs on the road.  I would not like to attempt to drive here!  I think you would need to be very aggressive as a driver!

Sarah & Tom in Time Square, New York!

After lunch at Macca's on Time Square (I have never seen a more packed Macca's), we lined up for some Broadway tickets.  Rick was there earlier than needed, and just as well as we were near the front of the line which soon grew to an amazing length!!  There are many shows discounted, but we were lucky enough to get tickets all together for Daniel Radcliff's comedy show "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" for 7.00pm.

From here, we jumped back on the subway and went Downtown to find Chinatown.  We had heard this was a must to see, especially the street vendors.  We spent most of the afternoon here and had fun watching Tom in particular barganing with street vendors over price!  It's interesting to see the undercover knock-off products for sale - handbags, jewellery and perfume especially!  Sarah bought herself a silver chain necklace for half the price and Tom wangled some deals on a couple of belts, purfume for Sarah and aftershave!

Rick & Tom figuring out the best ticket buy!

Sarah happy to be here, wow! the NY subway!

In Chinatown, Tom negotiating the price on some suit belts..

Sarah, happy to pose for me in Chinatown, outside a smelly fish market actually!! (Sporting her new necklace!)

Finally, late afternoon we stopped at this Noodle Restaurant and had this delicious meal, then headed back to Broadway to see our show!!

What an experience to see a show on Broadway, New York!  It was truely wonderful.  The show was funny, cleverly chorographed and very well done!  Daniel Radcliff (Harry Potter) was superb, despite dropping his lovely English accent for a very authentic American one!! We were so glad we got to see this.

A Broadway Show in New York - that's the ticket!!

Home late on the subway, stopping for street gelati on the way.  What a full, long day.  Once we got back to 135th street, the walk back to the apartment took us past St Mark's Church, which in the middle of the night, was pretty busy.  Our aim at this point is to have an early start in the morning, to get going on the Bus Tour..

At night, the city fills up with an even greater crowd!

New York - The Big Apple! (Jersey Shore)

Wednesday, 10 August 2011

After a huge breakfast, we left Liberty House in Palmyra and started out for the journey back to New York via Jersey Shore!  It's a fairly easy drive thanks to the freeway system, and very pretty.  I am so impressed with upstate New York, it's just beautiful!

We arrived at Jersey Shore late in the afternoon, but still needed to negotiate our way to our lodgings in Manhatten, so could only stay at the beach for about an hour. We were able to walk the famous boardwalk aptly named being all wooden. It was incredibly long with lots of shops and sideshows.

Sarah & Tom on the Jersey Shore Boardwalk

The actual beach front was interesting, it was fenced off completely with entrance booths.  It cost $5.00 to swim on the beach, monitored with a band attached to your person somewhere!  After spending some time in a particular shop, and seeing the sights on the boardwalk, Tom went for a quick dip skipping the $5!  While he was swimming, an announcement clearly declared there was 'no more swimming for this day' and to please vacate the water!  We couldn't believe it, not only did it cost to go on the beach, it also closed at 5pm!!  Crazy place!  It was time for us to go anyway..

Daily Beach Fees: $5.00, under 12 ALWAYS Free!!

Beach pay station & fence.  This is a novelty to us!!

Ok, I like Oreos, but fried??

The Shore Store, famous due to the TV Show..

Ok. Tom tells me Fried Pickles are actually quite nice dipped into some Ranch Sauce..

I had to capture this pickle bin! The Americans love their pickles! They are garnishes on dishes, in burgers, sandwhiches.. etc etc!! I have never seen them so freely enjoyed!!

It took over an hour to drive to the Newark Airport, New Jersey to return the car.  By this time, it was dusk and the evening lights of New York City were visible, the excitement is building, but it's also daunting, as we still have to negotiate the unknown city! 

Clearing out and returning our lovely Chevy!!

We caught a Shuttle back to Newark Airport, so we could get another over to Manhatten and then find the subway to take us up to 138th Street.  We learned we would have to take two trains.  The long day of travel already, and the cost of public transport, we were easily convinced the way to go in a strange city was to take a shuttle bus.  Done! 

On the 'Air Bus' to find a shuttle van at Newark Airport.

A first glimps of New York City as dusk falls at Newark Airport

We only had to wait about half an hour for a shuttle to be available to take us up to 138th Street, and really having no idea how far away that actually was.  As it turned out, it was a fair way up Manhatten Island, nearly at the Bronx!  So finally, we arrived well after 10pm, very glad we paid for a ride!

On board a shuttle van, this tunnel under the sea connects New Jersey and Manhatten..

Terrence, the owner of the basement apartment met us and gave us the low down of the area.  It's in a very 'black' area which at first I felt a bit indimidated.  But Terrence himself is an ex-cop and assured us how 'safe' the area was.  As the next few days unfolded, he was absolutely right, it was a great place to stay and very easy to get to as we learned how the subway worked.
Well, we are finally here - "New York City, where dreams are made of!!!"

New York - Palmyra

Tuesday, 9 August 2011

The morning was overcast and drizzly.  But undaunted, off we went to explore the township of Palmyra, New York.  This town is of significant historical interest to those who belong to our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It was in this town in the early 1800's that the Smith family settled, carving out a meager existence on a large plot of farmland just outside the township.  It was here that the restoration of the gospel occured.  Where young Joseph Smith prayed in a grove of trees for an answer as to what church to join, as there was so much contention in the area on the subject of religion. He was answered, by an unmistakable vision of the Father and his Son, that the the true church in it's fullness, no longer existed on the earth.  It was near this place that he recieved the gold plates from Moroni, an ancient record of the people who previously inhabited the Americas. It is also a record of Christ's visit to these people on the American continent after his resurrection.  This record was eventually translated to become the Book of Mormon and was first published in this town.  Once the Book of Mormon was published, in due course, the Priesthood was restored, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organised in this dispensation in 1830.  I love the history of our church.  I love the things that happened here.  The sacrifice and hardships those early saints went through so the gospel could once more be established in its fullness on the earth.  I love the truths I hear.  I know these things happened and they are indeed true.  The Book of Mormon is a wonderful source of personal strenght and happiness in my life.



I divert!  Our tour began first at the Grandin Printing Office.  Here we heard how the transcript was typeset, then the process through to binding in lambskin.  A lengthy process for a large order for the day, of 500 copies.  The original cost for each book was $1.75 but later reduced to $1.25.  This was still an expensive book, equivalent to a couple of days wages.

The original Print Office was just one strata. Quite a small shop.
 It now is twice the size to encompass the Visitor Center.

Next, we found Martin Harris' farm.  He was a wealthy friend of Joseph Smith Snr; and it was his resources that enabled the Book of Mormon to be published.  At one point, Martin also acted as a scribe in the translation of the plates.

The Martin Harris Farm.  Very tidy and neat, also very fine for 1830 in a frontier town..

We found Alvin Smith's gravesite.  Joseph was deeply grieved when his older brother Alvin died suddenly at 25yrs. At the time, Alvin was engaged to be married.

The Palmyra cemetery. 
Alvin's grave is on the far left, the only visible headstone,
but in a very pretty resting place..

We visited the Hill Cumorah.  This is the site where the Gold Plates had been deposited and then entrusted to Joseph by the angel Moroni to care and translate the record.

The Hill Cumorah Visitors Centre, with the Christus clearly visible from the highway, especially at night..

Tom & Me in front of the statue of Moroni on the crest of Hill Comorah

Tom & Sarah on the Hill Comorah

We passed the Palmyra Temple on the way to the Smith Farm.  As is standard, the Temple is in a beautiful position.  It is the same plan as the Adelaide Temple, but this one has stain glass windows depicting the First Vision. 

We found the Smith farm.  It's a large holding encompassing the original log cabin they lived in, the house Alvin started to build which they also lived in, the farm dwellings and the Sacred Grove.  I think this was my favourite of all the places we saw over the summer.  We were able to wander around the Sacred Grove on our own for as long as we wanted.  Just a wonderful experience.  It really is a sacred place.  It felt like I was in the Temple..

There was only one other family and us on this tour.  We were lucky, two weeks before the area was swamped with people visiting for the Hill Cumorah Pageant..

The main room in the log cabin.  There is a room upstairs for sleeping and another coming off this room used by the parents and as a parlour.
 An additional room was added on when the last child was born.

Today, the Temple is visible from the Smith Farm.  A very beautiful spot.

The Smith Family Home, that Alvin commenced for his parents comfort.

The Sacred Grove, a most reverent, special place..

..a place of meditation, prayer.  The place where Joseph first prayed..  My favourite place. 

 Finally, we drove out to Fayette, New York to the Peter Whitmer farm.  Here, there is a massive chapel and Visitors Center in the midde of nowhere, surrounded by large cornfields, and this little log cabin.  The log cabin is where the church was officially organised with six members on April 6th, 1830. This again, was a great experience.  While here, we met a family also travelling who were from Utah.  It just so happens they are moving to New Zealand at the end of the year!  We spent a great time talking with them and as it got too dark and mozzies were being pesky, we exchanged contact details.  Hopefully we will hear from them again! 

The chapel and visitors center at the Whitmer Farm.

The log cabin where the church was first organised in 1830.

This was a wonderful day.  The spirit of this area is very strong, and it's so beautiful!  When I think of all that the Prophet Joseph Smith went through, he was very blessed to have had to spent some of these trials in mortality in such a beautiful part of the world.

The Palmyra Temple, so beautiful lit up at night..

Bed and Breakfast, a FULL three course breakfast!!!

That evening, we stayed on the main street of Palmyra in Liberty House.  An original building in Palmyra.  In town there was  a fair, so the others had a look at it, while I stayed behind and had a quiet read.  Solitude.  You can really appreciate quiet moments!  Apparently, the fair was a 'typical' country fair, just as you imagine it to be.  They had a great time!