Busy Weekend! Baseball + Memorial Day

(Thanks to Troy for the great picture!)

Well, what an absolutely gorgeous weekend we had here in Maine!! The sun was out the entire time and we wore ourselves out going from here to there and back!

Kevin flew home from St. Louis, Missouri on Friday evening. He was there for 'Sixth Sigma' training (he gets to go back for another week in June), so we were glad to have him home. Saturday was just a lazy day. Sunday was church and then off to the Portland Seadogs Baseball game. The Seadogs are the 'farm team' for the Boston Red Sox and they are GOOD! This was Chelsie and Alex's first time at such an event and they did quite well.

Yesterday was Memorial Day here and we went to our first American parade! We had fun watching the military planes fly overhead - tipping their wings to say 'Hello'. We were with friends who have a brother that's a firefighter - he was marching in the parade. So we became part of the official cheering section as he marched by. :) And to finish off the afternoon, a BBQ! Yummy! Kev and I got to go out on a 'date' last night too. Always good to just hang out with your best friend!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

More New York

Wow! It's hard to believe that we've been back from New York for two weeks!! As I said in my last blog, "I'll write more tomorrow", you all know me well enough... :)

This is Times Square!!!






There is no shortage of lights during the day or at night! So much to see that you could just stand there for some time and TRY to take it all in.

Friday night was a trip to Broadway!!! We saw 'HAIRSPRAY'!! So well done...I had to keep telling myself that I was at a BROADWAY show!!! AHHH! I would definitely go again! The energy that those performers exude each night! Wow!




Saturday, Mom and I hopped on the Gray Line tour again to get down towards the World Trade Center Site.


This is the view from the World Financial Center across the street from the WTC towers site. This building was damaged quite extensively on September 11, 2001 but was restored as part of the tribute to all that happened that day. Quite sobering to stand there and see the enormity of the site itself, and the tributes at the church on the other side of the site. I remember 9/11 well, watching from the safety of our living room in greater Vancouver and actually saying to Kevin, "Is this real?", "Is this really happening?" Seeing the site itself has given me new perspective. Never will I be able to fully comprehend what happened but as we walked around New York, I found myself asking "where did these people run to or hide?", "how would you know which way to go?" Such tragedy and devastation but yet miracles happened that day too.


The United Nations (appropriate after the previous picture)

And just to keep the peace between our two nations, we SHOPPED on Saturday!!! Oh yeah baby!


Dinner in Times Square at Charlie'O's Bar & Restaurant & Bar :) (No, that's NOT a type-o.) I even had a Times Square Blues! Yummy!!

Sunday, we got on the Subway train to Harlem to go to church. The first church we tried, we did not have a reservation - I'm NOT kidding! so we went back to another church where we were welcomed openly. We rode the subway back down to Central Park, had a small picnic lunch and then walked through about half of the park. It was a beautiful sunny day. We came across this...

Significant to those of us from British Columbia because it's a Dogwood - the provincial flower of B.C. in the middle of New York. Beautiful, huh?
The following is the Jacquie Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in the middle of Central Park.

The one thing that impressed me about being in Central Park was that you could NOT here anything other than the birds, breeze and tranquility that existed there. For a city without much greenery anywhere else, this was an oasis in the middle of it.

Monday was another day of walking and trying to see everything we could cram into the few hours we had left. Grand Central Station was on the list.


The New York Public Library was on the way, so we stopped in there too. And Macy's :) and Papyrus - a paper store and, and, and, you get the picture.

So that's it in a nutshell.

There is so much to see and do, that I'm sure the next time I go, I'll have different adventures to report. And yes, I would go again. :)

We Went, We Saw, We Conquered...My Feet Hurt!

Well, we did it! :) New York is an AMAZING city! and we 'covered' a good portion of it.

Mom (Gwen) and I flew into JFK in the afternoon May 1 and got our stuff to the hotel. We figured we better take advantage of the clear skies that we had as it was supposed to rain ALL weekend in NYC! So we went up the Empire State Building and did the tour up there. We could see for about 15 miles into the distance (on a sunny day, you can see 80 miles!) and took lots of pictures from the bird's eye vantage point. COLD!!!! though with the winds whipping around you constantly. We came down and found a great Mexican restaurant for dinner then continued on exploring.

I forgot to tell you that our drive from the airport into the city was about 1 1/2 hours and we had to 'stop' for fuel. Never before AND hopefully, NEVER AGAIN will I be IN a running vehicle, in a garage gas station, while the fuel is being pumped!!!! I was sitting there praying the entire time thinking "I came all this way only to have it all end right here!!!!" but that's the New York way.



I complained in the title that my feet hurt. Oh MAN! Did we walk! We forgot to take a pedometer with us but we figured we walked at least 4-5 miles/day. Probably more! Truth be told. :)

Friday was a city tour on Gray Lines (yes I know, we have to stick with 'family'). Anyone going to almost any big city should invest in one of these tours. We got on in Times Square and rode it all the way around and then we knew where we wanted to get off later that day or the next. Plus, the tour guides have LOTS of info and can give you tips on the best places to see whatever you want. Included in our tour was a 'water taxi' out to the Statue of Liberty. :) And here are the THREE lovely ladies: :)


I'll continue tomorrow with more stories of our adventure.

New York! Here We Come!!!

Well, we are off to the Big Apple today!! :) Can't wait to see all the sights and just 'experience' the city that never sleeps.
Don't worry - I'll take lots of pictures too.

Have a great weekend in whatever corner of the world you are!