she wanted to see the “today” show first thing, so i hopped on the train and headed for 50th street.  after a bit of sms-tag, i found my fam.  while the girls stood in line for the show, dan and i found a starbucks.

once her cameo was done, wen listed the things she wanted to do/see; and i now having a good grasp of the subway system, we plotted our course.  our journey started at the top at belvedere castle in central park.  i hadn’t seen central park so this was something i got to add to my list of sights.  walking through the park takes you momentarily out of the city life.  we walked to the top of the castle, took some pics with the buildings peeking over the trees, and saw turtles.  i like turtles.

from the top to the bottom, we headed to lower manhattan to ride the ferry to staten island so we could see statue libby.  this was my second visit to see her.  it was less overcast letting more sun light her up.  we pulled a round tripper and rode back to manhattan to find some pizza.  (it was good pizza, but ray’s was fresher.)

the statue of liberty is in the background between the girls, just next to k2′s head.

next, we walked over to wall street and ran with the bulls.  ok, no bulls, but we walked wall street to brooklyn bridge.  it was still there, right where i left it a few days before.  some clouds had started to cover up the sky and before we got to the bridge, drops of water spinkled us as we started our crossing.  about midway, it cleared up for a while.  more views of libby and empire state building.  on the other side, we caught the train at high street.

next destination was ground zero.  it had been raining some more.  the humidity wasn’t going to give us a break.  yet we started our walk toward the world trade center…going in the wrong direction.  i might have figure out the trains, but i never did figure out which way to walk when the street names weren’t numbers.  (unless i knew the streets well enough, which i didn’t after just four days.)  after we doubled back to our train station it was just a few blocks to get to the site.  since it was a weekend, however, some of the side streets were blocked off and our visibility of the area wasn’t as good as i had found it on friday.  you could still see a couple of the building rising out from behind the fence.

the sun had started to come out now, but all of us were tired.  the k’s felt it worse and wanted to head back.  it was starting to get later in the afternoon so the decision made to go back to dan’s car.  while looking at the map, we decided to make one more stop at grand central.  we walked (underground) to the station.  it’s just like you see on the televisions.  and after a brief stay, we headed back out at street level to the garage.

whew!  it was quite the day walking around.  i did get to see the first and last stops as something new.  seeing all the other stuff for a second time was actually rather fun.  i enjoyed hanging out with my fam.

>> final evening

i had three separate people tell me junior’s cheesecake was the best evar!  if three people independently tell me that, it must really be.  i had located my theatre for my matinée play and lo and behold!  it was right across from junior’s.  (the one in brooklyn is the original, i believe.  but these guys had the cheesecake too!)  my plan had been to watch play, go to grimaldi’s in brooklyn for pizza, back to this junior’s for dessert, then rockafeller building for view of the city.  but since it was right here and it had been a while since i’d eaten breakfast at this point, why not?  and so i ate cheesecake.  mmm!  extremely creamy.  i was indeed impressed.

walked around a little more.  picked up a copy of the new york post and read it for a while.  see what i did there?  i bought an actual newspaper!  paper!  to all my newspaper people out there, you’re welcome.

ok, time for play.  lend me a tenor was definitely the best choice.  i considered wicked, but the seating choices when i was purchasing tickets weren’t the best.  i did get great seats for this performance though.  anthony lapaglia, tony shalhoub, and justin barthaentertained!  all the characters were cast very well, actually.  and for his first play, stanley tucci came out strong.  it was slapstick, layers of misunderstanding, and singing delivered like clockwork.   too bad this show closes in august.

after this since i’d already had my cheesecake, i was ready for some pizza.  the sky has been overcast since i had left the hotel.  i jumped on the train and headed for brooklyn again.  when i stepped out of the station, it started to rain, slowly at first, and then it picked up.  i ended up waiting for a few moments under an awning and asked for more specific directions to grimaldi’s.  after the water let up, i walked up to a line which didn’t seem to be moving.  i heard a local girl walking up the street telling her friend the people wait in line two hours for pizza there.  two hours?!  rain might start up again, i was already wet on the outside from the first shower and was already sweating on the inside from the humidity.  i decided two hours of dripping even more not worth it.

i walked around looking for another pizza place in brooklyn.  i came across a fire station and asked the locals for a good spot.  after a bit of asking among themselves, they recommended lombardi’s in little italy.  back on a train.  found lombardi’s but they only take cash.  didn’t have enough on me for dinner, so after an hour of trying to figure out my pin to my credit card online, i finally gave up.  i was running out of time to make it rockafeller.

i got there in time to see the sun set from the top of the rock, as the event is billed.  my empire state building experience was hazy compared to what i was able to enjoy here.

after spending some time high above, it was time to find a missing dinner below.  when i reached the bottom, i asked one of the guards where a good place for pizza was.  she directed me to ray’s in times square for fresh pies.  i found it.  i had three slices.  three honking big new york slices.  and i was very full.  and i decided that i was going to walk back to the hotel since i was so full.  and so i did.  twenty-five blocks uptown past central park, past lincoln center, past a good part of the city.  took me a while, not sure how long, but i was ready for bed when i got there.

good night, new york.

>> day 5

first up is the statue of liberty.  i had checked online the evening before for tickets to go up in the statue, but they were sold out.  apparently, you have to get those a month in advance (as do you tickets to late night with jimmy fallon).  but the ferry ride to staten island was free and takes you by the lady libby twice.  so, i took the boat.  it was cloudy morning casting a shadow on libby, but a few moments when the sun broke through gave me shots like this one.

the next time i visit, i want to make it to liberty island.  this time, however, it worked out well.  i had to make it back to town to find spaz (aka ryan) and have some lunch.  i got off at the wrong stop and ended up walking more than i wanted.  this turned out for the best as i hadn’t made plans to find park avenue and madison avenue.  my trek took me right through that part of town.  after a bit of searching, i hooked up with spaz and and some sushi.  it was a good catch up lunch.  in fact, i don’t think i’ve been to lunch with spaz before when he was still in knoxtropolis working for scripps.

my next stop was to visit ground zero.  this area is under a lot of security, and i wasn’t able to see as much as i would have liked.  diagrams and mock photos showed what the future of the site was to look like.  you could see the construction so far of the two new towers.  i found the memorial mural.  the changes to the block are significant.  the buildings in that part of town are very picturesque.

i didn’t stay too long there because i needed to head back to clean up to meet rebecca at lincoln center.  she was kind enough to grab some tickets to that evening’s concert of the new york philharmonic playing their summer classic.  (we ate some sushi before.  yeah, more sushi.  more good stuff.)

rebecca works there so she has access to the tickets–what a deal that is!  before the concert, she showed me around the plaza of lincoln center.  i saw a little of fordham university’s campus and heard some salsa tunes for a midsummer’s swing.

the concert was incredible.  it was one of the highlights of this trip.  the box seats we had gave us a good view of alexendar gavrylyuk’s fingers as he flew across the keys.  he performed amazingly.  the conductor bramwell tovey entertained beyond his conducting.  rebecca told me his interaction with the audience was worth the evening.  she was right.

we finished up with some pinkberry yogurt not far from lincoln center.  it was all-in-all a grand evening.

>> day 4

my first stop was the empire state building.  the morning was overcast so visibility wasn’t as good as it could be.  but i got to the top and took some pictures from the 86th floor and then journeyed to the 102nd floor to see more.

i spent over an hour up on top of the world.  then i realized i was hungry.  i ate in the restaurant at the bottom of the building.  bacon on my burger.  good stuff.  while there, i found spaz (aka ryan) and made next day lunch plans with him.

ok, next stop:  brooklyn bridge.  subway again.  i am starting to get the hang of this transit stuff.  i made it to the bridge after a little wandering around to find the walkway entrance.  the walk across the top was one of my favorite walks.  the sun was hot, but the breeze made things feel better.

after casually walking around up here and enjoying the afternoon and taking a bunch of photos, i headed back to grab a shower and meet haley and her crew again for their cultural dinner.  the restaurant was awash in the east village.  the cuisine was ethiopian.  lindsey (lindsay? lyndsee?) and i did our duty and cleaned off one of the platters at our table.  it was good food.  and a few of us headed over for a load-your-own-pay-by-the-ounce/pound yogurt place.  phileo’s was the name of it.  again, good stuff.  and the evenings were better as they were cooler.

oh, and i had to taxi over to the east village since i had screwed up on the direction entry point again and realized i wasn’t going to  make it on time if i tried to train it.

>> day 3

i snapped a bunch of photos experimenting with very fast and very slow shutter speeds.  i posted a few of what i came up with, including a few of my niece, on flickr.   i also messed around with a polarizing filter to help cut down on the glare from the sun.  this was quite educational.  rotating the filter changed the light and color of the image.  although i’ve used this filter before, i’ve not played around with it to this extent.  (see “how to use a polarizing filter.”)

after we finished (aw) snapping our photos, our trek back took us close to benton’s bacon in madisonville.  did we stop by?  are you kidding?  i contained my excitement as we walked into the modest storefront.  once you step through their portal, the wonderful smell of smoked goodness fills your senses.  although visually there’s not much to see, the aroma tells a different story.  when i was asked i could be helped, i immediately told the fellow, “i need bacon!”

“how much?”

hmm, what a question?  i really hadn’t considered a limited amount.  but i knew i wanted a slab.  i asked rationally, “how much is it?”

he told me the price per pound.  i pondered for a moment and knew he needed an answer.  so i uttered, “twenty pounds.”  unphased, the benton’s butcher turned and walked toward the back.  in a moment, he returned carrying a slab and a half.  he loaded it on the scale and told me it was close to twenty pounds.  i told him that was fine.

benton’s bacon redefines how i rate the taste of bacon.  my senses have been re-calibrated to  a high level of quality.  everything else pales in comparison.  i don’t think i can eat regular bacon again.

i had noticed highland memorial cemetery had some full, colorful trees while driving down sutherland one afternoon.  last year’s jackpot of vibrant trees had been in a cemetery off western avenue.  and like last year, i was not disappointed when i started driving the graveyard.  i found plenty of oranges, yellows, reds, and all the colors in between a combination of any two of those choices.  i took as many as i could before the sun set.

if i had taken the time, i could have set up my tripod and tried my hand at some hdr pictures.  i might make the attempt before it’s too late.  i love fall in this area.  there is no place better!

full moon, originally uploaded by mocktech.

this is the first time i’ve ever gotten to photograph the moon like this. it was a lot of fun to get these shots. i had some help from my friend aleece who had learned how to do this the night before.

this was taken with 300mm lens. now, i think i would like to photograph the moon with a 500mm lens.