Philly/NYC Trip, Day 4

Saturday morning in NYC was relaxed, involving sleeping in and then a run along the Hudson River. The winds were down and the sun was shining, so even though it was cold out, it felt pretty comfortable while running. By the time we were ready to go out on the town, it was midday and we were ready to get some brunch. Only a short walk away was Edward's, where we had brunch last year. Since there was an additional member of our party this morning who hadn't had an Edward's brunch experience, it provided a good excuse to go back and enjoy more Chillaquilles.

Once fed, it was back to the condo to welcome a couple other friends to the fold. They settled in and got a quick tour of the condo before we left for touristing. Since it was nice out, we wandered South along the Hudson and made our way to the ground zero to see the construction progress. There is a long way to go, but it's nice to see buildings actually starting to rise. From our pit stop at the World Financial Center, we continued south toward Battery Park to get a view of Lady Liberty.

Ground Zero A symphony practicing at the World Financial Center

The Statue of Liberty

Our next goal was to check out a snow-covered Central Park. Unfortunately, the subway we grabbed terminated at Times Square. Since it's an interesting destination, we decided to return to the surface and hike the rest of the way to the park. A lot of weaving was needed to navigate the crowds and there were also a variety of photo-stops along, but we eventually made it to the park.

Times Square

Of course, the park itself is huge and our feet were sore, the temperature was dropping as was our energy. After a brief walk through the SW corner of the park (and a brief snowball fight), we were ready to return to the condo for some pre-dinner rest.

Based on some recommendations from our cousin we headed to the Meatpacking district in the evening, after a good break at the condo, and grabbed food at a casual burger bar. The waitress recommended a nearby pub as a follow-up. We ended the night by checking out a speakeasy that was back down in TriBeCa area before calling it a night.

Sunday morning meant time to go home...a long road for Susan and I. We packed up and grabbed the bus to Philly, loaded the car, and hit the road for the 9 hour drive back to Cincinnati. Another successful trip was completed. Now to dive head-first back into the real world.

Philly/NYC Trip, Day 3

Friday was moving day for this trip, so sight-seeing time was limited.  After sleeping in and taking our time to get going in the morning, Susan and I headed to our destination for the day, The Philadelphia Museum of Art.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking describing our time there. 

The Philadelphia Museum of Art

 
Ancient Asian Art

This museum has ancient buildings (this one from China) that was deconstructed in China and reconstructed here.  This one is a ceremonial teahouse called Sunkaraku.

If you look close, you can see a painting of the Great Wall of China on the middle one

More ancient Asian art

 
Onto the European section.  This is the portal from the Abbey Church of Saint-Laurent with a Medieval Cloister in the background.

A view of the city from the museum

 
Horse and Man Armor Boathouse Row from the museum

Ben Franklin and a European room

And now to the contemporary (aka really weird) art.  Here’s “The Evil Eye.”

This was a mirror in the shape of the Caribbean Sea set up as a table.  It was called Michelangelo Pistoletto:  Cittadellarte.

 
The wife and I by the Caribbean Sea mirror table thing

Water Lilies by Claude Monet

Pissarro

Little Dancer (left); Special exhibit called Michelangelo Pistoletto:  From One to Many, 1956-1974.

The wife was having fun inserting herself in the art

Me in jail

Now off to our next destination:  taking the Bolt Bus to NYC

We got into NYC and it was around 9pm by the time we were settled.  Susan, Henry, and I grabbed dinner at an Italian place near where we are staying before heading into Greenwich Village to check out a couple bars, including accidentally making our way into a gay dive bar.  We called it a night early (for a NY night) and prepared to take on the city on Saturday.

Philly/NYC Trip, Days 1 & 2

I’ve neglected the blog for long enough. I have a backlog of goals/training/racing topics I want to put out there, but am starting with baby steps. The wife and I are amidst another extended weekend vacation, so hopefully documenting our trip will get me back in the rhythm of posting. The current mini-vacation that is underway is split between Philadelphia and NYC. Apparently a trip to NYC is becoming our January tradition.

To get the trip started on the right foot, we left Cincy (by car) midday on Tuesday and drove straight through the snowstorm that hit the Midwest/northeast. There were some tense hours on the road after the sun went down, but after ~12 hours we arrived at our destination. Wednesday was actually the business end of this trip. The wife had an interview throughout the day and I worked from the house of the friend we are staying with, a college roommate of mine. So, other than heading out to dinner at a casual pub on UPenn’s campus, there wasn’t much in the way of sight-seeing. For that reason, I’ll consider the actual vacation as starting on Thursday.  To thank our friend for housing us, the wife made him a cake with the liberty bell on it.

Liberty Bell Cake

Thursday AM started as many of my days do, with a workout. I was hoping to get some time on a spin bike at a local gym since I won’t get any “cycling” time in otherwise. However, I was dismayed to find that gyms in the area charge $15-20 for a single day pass. I did actually bite the bullet and pay $15 for one gym, but they ended up not having the equipment I like. Either way, I got something done so it wasn’t a total waste. I arrived back at the house around the time Susan was stirring from sleep and my friend (Henry) was returning from his class. We got ourselves ready, and off to the train we went.

First order of business was lunch. Susan wanted her first cheesesteak experience and Henry wanted to take us to his favorite place for them. We rode to the Old City area and grabbed lunch at Campo’s. I had the BBQ cheesesteak as was recommended and Susan went with the old-fashioned original done up right with Cheese Whiz.

Our cheesesteak stop

  Susan enjoying her first bite of a Philadelphia Cheesesteak

After filling our stomachs it was time to fill our minds with knowledge. We walked to the Visitors center in the midst of the historical district and wandered through there. Then, we crossed the street into the Liberty Bell center. We were quick to notice that the crowds in January the few days after a snowstorm are substantially smaller than the norm. In fact, everywhere we went was basically empty. This was great as it gave us a chance to really interact with the park rangers and to take plenty of good pictures. Oh yeah, and all the activities in the area were free during Jan & Feb. Bonus!

We had the bell to ourselves

The Liberty Bell led us straight to the entrance of Independence Hall, where we were able to take a guided tour of the first 2 floors (usually only the first floor is shown when crowds are bigger). After the tour, we wandered the grounds around Independence Hall, checking out original drafts of the Declaration of Independence and seeing where the original Congress met (and finding out why they were called the upper and lower houses).

Our tour guide telling us about the courtroom in Independence Hall

Replica of the Declaration of Independence

The second floor of Independence Hall

House of Representatives room
(on the lower floor of the Congress Building)

Senate room (on the upper floor of the Congress building)

Once our brains were well fed, it was time to wander toward downtown Philadelphia. We took the scenic route, through Chinatown and with a stop at the Reading Terminal Market, an indoor farmer’s market essentially. Wandering the stalls of delicious foods led to an ice cream pit stop before continuing on to City Hall. At Susan’s interviews we were told to check out the view from the City Hall tower, so we went to see what it was all about. For $5 per person, we were able to ride up a tiny elevator (only 5 people could fit) to an observation deck at the base of the William Penn statue. The view was much more spectacular than I had expected, being unobstructed in most directions. Apparently the crowds for the view don’t get too large, even in peak season, so it’s something I’d highly recommend checking out.

Chinatown gate

Entrance to Reading Terminal Market

Some of the items available for purchase

A shot of the market

 

City Hall

View from the top of the City Hall tower

Mr. Penn at the top of the tower

Standing in the tower observation area

Bridge to New Jersey

Highly recommended 

It was getting to be mid-afternoon at this point, and our legs were wearing down on us, so we started our return trip by catching the train back to Penn’s campus, where Henry gave us a tour of the campus as we worked our way back to the house. A couple hours later, we went back out to a local pub with a wide selection of craft beers for dinner before returning to call it a night early. We were worn out by the first day of sight-seeing, so were tucked into bed by 10:30.

A historical building on Penn’s campus

A few shots from around campus