#45 New York City

New York City

I loved NYC this time around and look forward to other opportunities to continue to explore. It's the beauty of living so close; Nikita will be happy to tell you exactly how close it is.


St. John the Divine. They have a St. Francis service at this church where the parishioners can bring their pets to receive a blessing. One of our tour guides was telling her that she had been invited to this service, but that they ask for a $100 donation to attend this particular service. "Now, my dog doesn't have a job," she said, "so I just spray him with some water and tell him to stay out of the street."


Morningside Church


Apollo Theater in Harlem


Times Square

Fashion District

Macy*s flagship store


Empire State Building


Flatiron Building


The Dakota


Brownstones

#44 The Smithsonian and Beyond

The Smithsonian and Beyond

Unfortunately, the three days we scheduled in DC were part of a record breaking heat wave so the weather was absolutely miserable. It was so hot and humid that it just sucked the life right out of us. Luckily museums are air-conditioned, even if you have sweat out a gallon and your feet really hurt.




National Museum of American History




It's Archie Bunker's chair, but I love that the beer is "Best Quality"


When Macklyn saw the display with the First Ladies wardrobes she exclaimed, "Oh, DRESSES!". I think we know what she likes to look at.


If I click my heels together three times will my cousins stay forever?


For Gage


Museum of Natural History



I'm including the Holocaust Museum as part of the ...And Beyond. I didn't take any pictures there, but it was an incredibly powerful place. We were lucky to get tickets for the 5:00 tour so we were a little bit rushed - I could've spent all day there.

Historic Downtown New York - Revisited (#27)

This time around in New York Cort and I did the tourist thing and bought a bus tour package. I felt like it was a great way to really see a lot of the city and its landmarks in such a limited amount of time. I think it actually worked really well, and now I have a better understanding of where things are in relation to each other and which ones I would like to go back and see more of. For your travel reference, we used Gray Line and did the 48 Hour All Loops Pass.










When I went to NYC in May with T3 we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. There was no cheesecake waiting on the other side. Just a crochet-covered bike...I think KiLee has a picture of that one.

Independence Historic National Park - Revisited (#26)

During my other visits to Independence National Park I've only really seen Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. This time around I didn't want to walk back to Love Park with the rest of the group, so I stayed and looked around at some of the other buildings in the Park.


Carpenter's Hall - Home of the first Continental Congress


Row houses - there was a plaque (read in Neil's honor) that said that while all row homes look like exact duplicated up and down a block resident's showed their individuality by using different window and door architecture.

Bishop White House, 1786


Bishop White House, 1786


William McIlvaine House, 1793






Todd House. After Mrs. Dolley Todd was widowed she married James Madison and eventually became First Lady. Now I've visited two of her homes - I saw Montpelier last fall.

Gettysburg - Revisited (#23)

This time around I convinced Cort to hire a actual guide for our tour and it was totally worth it. I learned so much more and have such a clearer picture of what actually happened here than ever before. It was amazing! It was also great to have Gager with us all day. I hope he learned a lot and had a lot of fun. He was definitely a good sport when we made him pretend to be a dead soldier to recreate a famous battlefield picture.


Rubbing the nose for good luck.


Pickett's Charge is taking over Gage's shirt.


Bullet marked building in downtown Gettysburg. I think it's important to note that the fighting took place IN the town on the first day and while men ran through the streets firing weapons, there was only one civilian casualty.


Soldier Down! In Devil's Den.


Cannonballed barn.

Monticello - Revisited (#21)

I know, I know, this is the 3rd time I've visited Monticello and the 2nd time within a year, but I really, really love it there. I convinced the visiting family members that it was a must see and hopefully they agree. I will say the super heat/humidity we were facing definitely dimmed the experience for me. It was too hot to stroll around the grounds and really participate in a lot of the activities they have and the various gardens, buildings, etc. there are to see.


Mouse hole on the 3rd floor


2nd floor looking across the balcony over the great hall


Open window


Learning to write with quill and ink

#43 The Barnes Foundation

The Barnes Foundation

The Barnes Foundation is currently looking to move to Center City from tiny little mainline Merion Station. I thought I should see it in the original setting described by the 1000 Places book. The second floor gallery is already closed, and the first floor gallery is jam-packed with stuff. One thing I didn't care for was that there were no information placards next to any of the art. Just a small plaque with the artist's name fixed to the frame. Even without the placards they have an amazing collections. Tons of Cezanne, van Gogh, Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir, and, my personal favorite, Seurat.

Seurat painted primarily in pointillism which is a method that uses tiny dots of individual color to create the picture. His most famous work (and my very favorite painting ever) is A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, it hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago and was made famous in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
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The Barnes Foundation has a small study of that painting, plus a couple of additional Seurat's. Among them was


My new favorite. I loved that I was able to stand close enough to see every single dot, and far enough away that it all blended together. I probably stood if front of that painting long enough to make security nervous, but it blew me away.

Both these photos were taken by others. The Barnes Foundation doesn't allow photographs inside the gallery.

The Barnes Foundation also has an arboretum. When I left the house I thought about how unfortunate the weather was: wet, raining, miserable; but by the time I actually went outside to wander the grounds the rain had basically stopped and left everything dripping and glistening. An added benefit was that no one else was out there looking around. I got some pictures that I'm really happy with.