20170730 - PA all the way to NYC

20170730 - Up and had bfast at the hotel then more time on the road in PA. We stopped in Shartlesville to see Roadside America to see the huge building full of a model train display. It was awesome and the boys loved looking at all the different scenes and cool stuff they did with this. Definitely worth a stop.

On to the Peeps Factory in Bethlehem, they were closed but you could still smell the sugar in the air. We drove through a Burger King for lunch and kept on moving. Next stop was the Crayola Experience. We didn't take the tour but went through the huge gift shop and saw a wall of crayons.

That was the last stop for a while as we got in to traffic the closer we got to NYC. We drove through some pretty rough neighborhoods to get to the hotel in Newark NJ. We got settled in and then headed down to the lobby, through the tube and to the NJ PATH station to catch our first train to NYC. We made it to the World Trade Center Train Station which was AMAZING.

We came up through the bottom of the new World Trade Center and through a line that wrapped around the building  of people waiting to pay $50 a pop to go to the top. We went outside and walked around the 911 memorial fountains and talked to the boys about it. Pretty amazing and moving to be standing there. We then headed back down to the subways and made our way to Times Square.

The boys thought it was pretty awesome and we saw all the sights we see on TV. There were street artists making cool paintings, performers dancing and playing music and every language on the globe around us. What a cool place. We went into the M&M store and got a couple bags full of all the different M&Ms from the 3 floors of chocolate. We stopped in the Disney store, and got a snack from a street vendor. We took a hike and found a nice little place to eat and sit for a bit and then walked past Macy's and the Empire Sate Building. Back on the subway and the boys found the perfect seats. We made it back to the hotel and crashed.

20111220 - Night in NYC

20111220 - Up and met the guys for breakfast.  Then into the site for all day meetings.  It was a really cool factory and they had tons of high tech body replacement parts.  We had really good meetings and I learned a lot.  We got out a bit early and Rick and I went to the hotel in Newark.  We checked in and then ventured out.  We took the trains and subway into NYC and came out at the World Trade Center Memorial.  We arranged tickets from the hotel and joined the line of people to get in through HEAVY security.  It was AMAZING.  the pools are very dramatic lined with the names of those that died in the attacks.  There were several of the steel columns burned and bent encased in glass to see and it was all very sobering and overwhelming.

We walked around the pools for a bit and then headed back down into the subway.  We came back up right in Times Square!  What a magnificent site.  The languages being spoken the pictures flashing and people all around just amazed and happy to be there is so very cool.  The New Years Eve Ball was all lit up and ready to do its job in a few days.  (Clink to see a 360 view of Times Square)

On we walked to Rockefeller Plaza.  You have NEVER seen a Christmas tree until you have seen this one.  Come to think of it I am not sure there was really a tree there; there were so many lights you couldn't even see the green part.  But it is magnificent. There people ice skating and light shows on the sides of the buildings.  I hadn't been there since Lori and Gma&paW I were all up there for my cousin Mark and Beatrice's wedding.

From here we took a stroll down 5th Avenue looking in the shop windows, catching a glimpse of the Chrysler building and made our way to the Empire State Building.  We were going to go up but we decided to save that for when we had the wives with us.  Back on the subways and trains to the hotel and a very late dinner.

081123 - CENTRAL PARK

081123 - Up and spent some time w/ the fam as they got ready for church. Gave everyone a kiss & big hug then off to the airport... They transferred my flight off American to Delta, which is good, that means I don't have to take a bus from Laguardia to JFK, I am flying straight to JFK, first class even!