Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Vacation Part III: New York, New York
N&A: Next stop, New York City. We took the bus from DC, arrived at the Port Authority, then schlepped our luggage seven blocks to Penn Station, where we could pick it up the next day before heading out on the train. We spent the afternoon dodging rain showers, but we managed to check out the progress on the World Trade Center site and stop in at St. Paul's. We also took a peek at the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park. In the evening we caught up with Ann in Brooklyn. The next morning, we checked out Central Park and then hopped on the train to Vermont.
N: I was fascinated by the heat and noise coming out of these subway vents, even though there wasn't much to see. Actually, there were trees growing to just below the surface in a couple of these, but not too many trees anywhere else in this part of town.
A&N: Sampling New York cheesecake. Good stuff.
A: Central Park is great! Noah loved the huge rocks, and I liked this playground. This was the only place we really saw any other kids in Manhattan (Brooklyn was a different story).
Monday, August 27, 2012
Vacation Part II -- DC
N&A: After a couple of days at Steve and Peggy's, we rented a car and drove 8 hours (split into 2 segments with an overnight on the road) to our nation's capital, where we visited Janet, Bill, and Mandolyn.
A: Hanging with Mandolyn
N: Riding the metro together. We are on our way to the National Air & Space museum, since I am a big fan of propeller planes these days. We had just read a book about the Wright brothers, so it was cool to see their flyer.
N&A: We felt lovey after eating some of the best Middle Eastern food we've ever tasted. Food trucks are big in DC -- there must have been 15 or 20 of them parked by these office buildings selling everything from Indian food to Asian tacos to crepes.
N&A: Obligatory mall shot
N&A: The highlight of the day was the Lego exhibit at the building museum. Grown-ups like to play with Legos too, and they make some impressive creations.
N&A: And even more fun than looking at Legos is building with them.
N&A: We also tried our hand with a couple of other building materials:
N&A: And then we ate Texas barbecue. Love that mac' n' cheese.
Vacation Part 1: Ashville, NC
N&A: Mama is a total blog slacker and hasn't posted since May. The only way to catch up at this point is to cut our losses and start with photos from our recent "Tour del Est". And hope that she'll get her act together and post regularly from here on in.
This was a great trip with 7 different modes of transportation: airplane, car, metro/subway, bus, train, canoe, and foot (just the 7 blocks from Port Authority to Penn Station). We visited many friends we hadn't seen in a long time, enjoyed new places and new-to-us but special to Mama and Papa places, ate lots of good food, and kept relatively well entertained and/or slept during long travel segments.
First stop Ashville, North Carolina, where we visited Steve and Peggy. If there is one word for Ashville it is "creative". This place is hopping with art, music, food, and beer (we enjoyed the first three, while Papa enjoyed all four). We (Noah, Mama, and Papa) also loved visiting Steve and Peggy at their former home in Sitka, Alaska -- they are 2 for 2 with great places to visit, but we can see how this one suits them best.
N: Steve and Peggy's place is an old car dealership that has been converted into condos with high ceilings and great views of the city and surroundings (yes, they used to park cars up there). I enjoyed punching in the door code and being the elevator operator. Lots of old industrial buildings near the river have been transformed into a "River Arts District", where I got to see glassblowers in action -- I was very impressed by the 2000 degree furnace.
This was a great trip with 7 different modes of transportation: airplane, car, metro/subway, bus, train, canoe, and foot (just the 7 blocks from Port Authority to Penn Station). We visited many friends we hadn't seen in a long time, enjoyed new places and new-to-us but special to Mama and Papa places, ate lots of good food, and kept relatively well entertained and/or slept during long travel segments.
First stop Ashville, North Carolina, where we visited Steve and Peggy. If there is one word for Ashville it is "creative". This place is hopping with art, music, food, and beer (we enjoyed the first three, while Papa enjoyed all four). We (Noah, Mama, and Papa) also loved visiting Steve and Peggy at their former home in Sitka, Alaska -- they are 2 for 2 with great places to visit, but we can see how this one suits them best.
A: I enjoyed meeting this and many other "wau-waus" at the farmer's market, where, by the way, we also got authentic German pretzels.
N: I loved getting to spend time with Steve and Peggy -- Peggy and I painted together, and Steve played this game with me.
N: Steve and Peggy's place is an old car dealership that has been converted into condos with high ceilings and great views of the city and surroundings (yes, they used to park cars up there). I enjoyed punching in the door code and being the elevator operator. Lots of old industrial buildings near the river have been transformed into a "River Arts District", where I got to see glassblowers in action -- I was very impressed by the 2000 degree furnace.
