Today was another long day, starting in Ithaca and ending in Lower Manhattan, with the main stop in New Haven, Connecticut to visit Yale University. (Our first time in the state of Connecticut!) The 5-hour drive from Ithaca started off rainy but turned sunny and it was pretty nice, with plenty of interesting scenery, wide rivers, tree-covered mountains, and cute towns. But, it was super-long and pretty tiring.
We timed the drive well and reached New Haven and the Yale campus just in time for the campus tour at 2 pm. We were impressed with the University and the town, a lot more than Cornell/Ithaca. The campus seemed more tight-knit and cohesive, and the architecture was really cool. Reminded us of Hogwarts!
After the tour, we grabbed some food (I only had coffee, and Bay had only eaten some yogurt earlier). The tour guide recommended pizza, something New Haven is apparently known for, but the place he told us to go to wasn’t yet open for the dinner crowd. So we went to Yorkside Pizza, which turned out to be pretty good! Bay’s pizza was yummy, my sausage hoagie was huge (and just a half-order!), and the basket of fries was enough for four people. We were stuffed!
After the late lunch, it was time to hit the road again for a 1.5-hour drive back to Queens to drop off the car. Everything went without a hitch and we were left to find our way to lower Manhattan and our next Airbnb. It was a little bit of a trek to the station from the car rental facility, but luckily it was a single express train and we got to sit down all the way there. Whew!!!
After settling in at our apartment, we went to Muji for a bit of shopping where I bought some notebooks, sticky notes, and snacks. As you can see from the photo below, I used the SoHo stamp at the store to customize my notebook. I think it’s cool!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/50 sec, ISO3200 “SoHo Stamped” New York City, 2018
If you don’t know, Cornell is located in the town of Ithaca which is five hours from New York City by car. Since we had a 3:30 pm tour reserved, that meant we needed to hit the road by about 10 am, which sounds like a relaxing morning, but car rentals from near our Airbnb are expensive so we rented one from La Guardia airport (at the recommendation of our Airbnb host). What that translated into was a 7:30 am checkout from the Airbnb, a Lyft to the airport, then the shuttle bus to the actual rental car depot. Luckily that all went relatively smoothly and we were on the road (after first getting into the wrong car doh!) by 9:30 am. 🚗
The drive was interesting, first leaving Queens and getting a taste of the New York City traffic and soon we crossed the Hudson and were in New Jersey! Woohoo, the second new state of the trip for Bay, and first for me. And in an hour or two, we passed into Pennsylvania, where we made a coffee and breakfast stop in the lovely town of Stroudsburg. A mix of highway and country road driving finally led us to Ithaca and the Cornell campus where we were greeted with more grey skies and rain.
The tour was filled with a lot of general information about campus life, the various schools, and history and trivia, but we weren’t impressed with the campus itself. All the buildings seemed to be placed haphazardly and the architectural style was all over the place. It was really disjointed. Cornell might have the #1 Architecture program in the country (Bay’s desired major is Architecture), but the campus itself was meh.
After the tour, we ventured into the town for a bite to eat and found a taco place named Gorgers. They were actually closing early but we managed to get in and ended up seriously gorging on Sriracha nachos (mine) and a burrito bowl (Bay’s). It was pretty good!
We ended the day at the Rodeway Inn, just outside of town. It was actually very impressive for a budget hotel… the room was huge, bed was king, and there was baseball on the tv! Also, a hot breakfast of eggs, sausage, etc is included.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/2400 sec, ISO400 “Lower Manhattan” New York City, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today was a relatively light activity day, but we still had some great highlights to share. But first, we visited Harlem Shake again, this time for breakfast. I couldn’t resist getting a cheeseburger (breakfast of champions) but Bay ordered a yummy breakfast combo. After that, it was a subway ride downtown to catch a boat cruise.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO200 “Breakfast” Harlem, New York City, 2018
We were originally planning on taking the 1-hour “Lady Liberty” boat tour, but opted to go for the 2+ hour “Sights of New York City” tour from Circle Line Cruises which goes around Manhattan island. The weather was iffy, with storm clouds and rain in the forecast, but we got lucky and there was only one downpour, which we spotted 2 minutes ahead of us so we dipped to the inner part of the observation deck. 🚢
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/850 sec, ISO400 “Best of NYC Boat Tour” New York City, 2018
The tour was filled with a ton of interesting information, including the airline water-landing on the Hudson, explanations of the different docks and buildings all along the shores of Manhattan, New Jersey, Long Island, etc. The views were amazing from the water… it looked like the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan shot straight out of the water. Very cool. It was also pretty awesome to see the Statue of Liberty. 🗽 I felt a bit of patriotism stirring deep inside me… especially thinking of my own family’s immigration history and the current political climate, which is uncertain and upsetting.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/1600 sec, ISO200 “Statue of Liberty” New York Harbor, 2018
After the tour (from which I received a little sunburn), we walked to Times Square and had a look around and did a little window shopping and people-watching.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/90 sec, ISO400 “Signage” Times Square, New York City, 2018
We ate dinner at Cielo at the Mayfair which was literally right next to our other “event” of the day: The Book of Mormon musical at the Eugene O’Neill Theater. This was the first time for both Bay and I too see a musical, and to see it on Broadway was amazing. The Book of Mormon was hilarious and fun 🤣… and the ticket prices weren’t too expensive since it is an older show. Highly recommended! 👍
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/13 sec, ISO800 “Broadway Show” New York City, 2018
After the show, we made our way to the subway station and back to our Airbnb in Harlem. Tomorrow will be another long day (driving up to Ithaca!) so it’s time for some rest. 😴
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/2 sec, ISO200 “The Guggenheim” New York City, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today began with a visit to the famous “Sylvia’s” for some fried chicken. Since it was breakfast time, I got it with a couple eggs, while Bay ordered his chicken with collard greens and mashed potatoes. I’m not a huge fan of the greens but Bay almost finished his whole serving. Impressive! The fried chicken was pretty good, but I definitely prefer Japanese karaage.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/90 sec, ISO3200 “Fried Chicken and Eggs” New York City, 2018
After that, we took the subway to another heavyweight of the New York City museum scene: The American Museum of Natural History. This is such a huge museum (like The Met), with so many things to see that it can be overwhelming. We started with the space movie and learned about dark matter and the expanding universe then moved on to the animal exhibits. Some of those were amazing, especially the big cats. We’re so used to our little housecats that seeing a full-size tiger is stunning!
Next, it was on to the human civilizations, from early man all the way to the present day. And in a complete about-face, we went to prehistoric times and viewed the dinosaur exhibits. Talk about huge creatures! The giant sloth bones were particularly impressive and monster-like.
But just when we thought we had seen some large creatures, we saw the largest of all, the Blue Whale dominating the Ocean Life room.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/20 sec, ISO3200 “Ocean Life” New York City, 2018
This iconic museum is a must-see, but the facilities are definitely showing their age. The lighting in the older sections of the museum is really dim and some of the light bulbs were burnt out in a few of the exhibits. Not good! Still, we’re happy to have visited.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/9, 1/900 sec, ISO400 “Central Park” New York City, 2018
I think we were ready to see some art at that point, so we trekked it across Central Park to the Guggenheim to see the Giacometti exhibit. It was great to see his sculptures, but honestly, there were so many that looked very similar that it was difficult to understand the significance of one work vs another.
When we left the Guggenheim, we were getting hungry so we found a little place called Marinara Pizza and ordered up a few slices. I went with two plain cheese slices, while Bay got a Buffalo chicken slice and a Margherita slice. He wasn’t too fond of his, but I thought mine were great… a real taste of New York City!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/40 sec, ISO1600 “Two Plain Slices” New York City, 2018
We were close to the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum so we decided to check it out before it closed. We were impressed with how cool it was! Lots of really neat retro industrial and product designs were on display, plus some cutting-edge accessibility and mobility designs were shown. Upstairs the exhibits were more interactive, involving all senses (except taste). Bay and I had a lot of fun in the museum, and we recommend it. A bonus was that when we visited, admission was by donation.
A cool thing at this museum is that they give you an electronic “pen” that you use to scan different exhibits that interest you. This saves the information to your own personalized webpage, so you can view the designs later on a computer by typing in the code that is on your admission ticket. Here are my saved exhibits: qxjys. Really convenient!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO400 “Cool Designs” New York City, 2018
We stayed until the museum closed and when we went outside, the rain had started, so we made our way to the subway and back home. Another fun day! I am exhausted, but satisfied. And I am keeping up with my 17-year-old son just fine so far. I actually started running again in preparation for this trip and I think it’s paying off. 😀
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/9, 1/350 sec, ISO400 “The Met” New York City, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today was a super-long day spent visiting a bunch of New York City highlights – actually two museums and three parks.
First off, we checked out of our hotel and walked up to Central Park, grabbed a couple hot dogs and strolled past the Central Park Zoo, checked out the Conservatory Water boat pond, and the Alice in Wonderland statue. Of course Bay didn’t like that statue because they were all sitting atop mushrooms, which he can’t stand. 😄
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/400 sec, ISO400 “Golden” New York City, 2018Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/350 sec, ISO400 “Boat Pond” New York City, 2018
It was cool to walk through the world-famous Central Park, and soon we found ourselves at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After a quick peek into the gift shop and a glance at the map, we went to the Egyptian wing to view the antiquities and the amazing Temple of Dendur. This room is so impressive yet tranquil. I loved it! I remember this room from when I visited New York in the 90s and it was just as stunning today as it was back then.
From there we continued on through the American wing, then across to the Greek and Roman exhibits. They were impressive as well, and just imagining these ancient works of art in their original time and settings was mind-boggling.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/110 sec, ISO400 “Incomplete” New York City, 2018
There is so much to see at the Met, but we had a lot on our agenda so we grabbed a coffee and a sandwich at the cafe and made our way to our next destination.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/125 sec, ISO400 “Those Teeth” New York City, 2018
We arrived at the High Line after a short trek across Central Park, then a quick subway ride. The High Line is an elevated walkway on the western side of the island, and is actually a State Park (our second park of the day for those keeping score). I imagine it would be a wonderful walk on an early autumn evening, but in the middle of a July day, it was kind of too crowded and hot. It was difficult to stop and just kick back. And I couldn’t find a nice way to photograph it. But it was still fun to walk a bit on it.
And it was a nice route to take to get to our next destination, the Whitney Museum.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/25 sec, ISO800 “At the Whitney” New York City, 2018
The museum itself is wonderful, but I wasn’t really into most of the exhibits that were on display, so I guess it was a bit of a wash. The view from the terrace though was fantastic:
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/950 sec, ISO400 “Looking Downtown” New York City, 2018
After leaving the Whitney, we took the subway back to the Roosevelt to pick up our bags, then decided to take an Uber to our Airbnb, which was up in Harlem. The drive up Madison Avenue to 126th was straight, but what a crazy ride… weaving in and out of traffic. Whew!
We settled into the Airbnb and chatted with our host who lived in the apartment above where we were staying and she gave us some good tips for our stay in NYC. But we couldn’t rest for very long because we had tickets to the big game between the Mets and the Yankees. ⚾ Thankfully, it was a quick subway ride from Harlem to the Bronx and soon we were in our seats up in the nosebleed section. Yes, our third park of the day was a ballpark: Yankee Stadium!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/45 sec, ISO800 “At the Ballpark” New York City, 2018
I have to say, New York baseball fans are passionate and loud rooting for their team. And since it was the subway series, there was a lot of banter going back and forth between the Yankees and Mets fans. It was a lot of fun! In the end, the Mets came out on top but a good time was had by all, at least from what we saw. 😀
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/60 sec, ISO400 “Yankee Stadium” New York City, 2018
Before going back to our Airbnb, we decided to get a bite to eat at Harlem Shake, which is a really cool diner with a bit of a Jamaican vibe to it. I ordered the Harlem Jerk, which was a burger with jerk-flavored fries on top. It was delicious! I washed it down with a Harlem lager, and Bay had a shake. A yummy way to end a long day.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO3200 “Harlem Jerk” New York City, 2018Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/90 sec, ISO3200 “Harlem Shake” New York City, 2018
