The U.S. Open (Tennis)

 On Saturday we took the trip on the 7 Train up to Flushing Meadow to see the beginning of the U.S. Open.  On this day we were able to get in for free before the matches begin.  The matches begin on Monday.  The cheapest ticket for any of the matches is $70 (this will keep the riff raff out).

 Practice sessions were occurring for the women.  We asked around but couldn't get definitive answers as to who these people were.  They are from all over the world.  Nevertheless, we saw some powerful swings, volleys and serves.

 This is the trophy.

Citifield, where the Mets play, is situated at the same location.  They use the same parking lots.

Motown & Les Miz

Our trip comes to an end and we are now attempting to see everything we want to see.  Ed really wanted to see Motown.  Basically, this is a little story about how Motown started with the introduction of Barry Gordy, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, etc.  The audience was mainly Seniors but some people brought their kids.  A lot of singing along.

I had never seen Les Miz and so we went.  It is amazing to me how many fantastically talented people there are in the world.  All the voices were superb.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, etc

 This is the lily pond at the garden.  It's a very nice botanic garden however, once again it's in a pretty sketchy neighborhood which was once a fabulous neighborhood.  These kinds of neighborhoods will eventually make a comeback but where will the people go? 

 Waterfall in the Japanese garden.

 This is a very nice museum on 5th Avenue around 100th Street.  We went here to see the exhibition on Guastavino tile which is the tile used in the Oyster Bar in Grand Central.  It's in subway stations and other public buildings.

 There was also a grafitti exhibit.  What was once a crime has not become art!

Walker & Julia come to visit, Part II

 This is Bernadette Peters leaving Barney's.  Ed ran into her and asked if he could have a picture.  She said yes!

After Aladdin we went to the High Line.  Walker was amazed at how much it have grown up (with mature trees) since he had last seen it four years ago. 

 We decided to have dinner in Little Italy in a restaurant recommended by a guy Walker works with.  It was good.

 Julia had spotted a balloon guy before dinner and we found him again.  This is what he made for her.  It is called a "crown."

 On their final day, Sunday, we decided to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.  The bridge wasn't so bad, it was walking through Brooklyn Bridge Park to get to the bus and killed me at least.

Here are Walker & Julia on the carousel in the Park. 

Dropping them off at the airport.  The "crown" made it all the way to Atlanta!

Walker & Julia come to visit, Part I

After we picked them up at the airport we dropped off their suitcases and took the subway to Manhattan where we rode the Staten Island Ferry, visited the 9/11 Memorial and had dinner at Robert de Nero's restaurant in Soho, The Tribeca Grill.  This is a very beautiful restaurant, and huge!!!  I suggest, however, that you get the hamburger, as the food was somewhat iffy.

Here is Julia in our neighborhood park where I walk the dogs every morning.  They have great parks here.

We took Julia to the Zoo in Central Park which is quite lame.  There are no big animals there; no lions, or tigers, or bears, and it's very crowded.  So we decided to have lunch at Tavern on the Green where Walker proposed to Christy.  They have since redone it many times.  It's very beautiful now.  However, the food is quite wierd????  But beautiful and expensive.

After Tavern on the Green we took Julia to FAO Schwartz to see what she would think.  She was allowed to choose one thing and she chose to build a pony.  She named the pony "Shutterfly."

The next day our goal was to get Walker & Julia cheap tickets to Aladdin and we did it!  We won the lottery so they were able to see the show with $30 tickets.  Julia (and Walker) absolutely loved it.

Friends come to visit

Doug and Sandy, our good friends, he was our best man, came to visit for a few days.  Here we are heading toward the Staten Island Ferry terminal.  Sandy kept trying to pet the security dogs (which is frowned upon!)  

This is a shot of the next ferry bay which I include to show the beautiful architectural details.  It's a ferry bay but it's got the same decoration as the main hall at Ellis Island. 

 Another ferry going the other way.

Here we are checking our pictures! 

This is where we had dinner.  Daniel Boulud has 6 restaurants in NYC.  This one is close to Lincoln Center.  It was quite exquisite. 

 Ed and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art while Doug and Sandy went to see The Book of Mormon on Broadway.  This is a sculpture by a contemporary Chinese artist.  We loved it.

We had a drink at the top of the Marriott in the theater district to see the view at the revolving restaurant.

Kinky Boots, The Rockaways, Rockefeller Center, Central Park

So you know we always try for the lottery and once again we won!  Kinky Boots won everything a year ago and I must say that the guy who played the transvestite lead was fabulous.  I think he must have been the guy who won the Tony a year ago.

Here is the crew waiting to see who will win the Lottery.

We had read in the NY Times that the beach at the Rockaways was where there are art colonies, etc. so we took a ride out there on the subway.  It takes about an hour to get there.

The beach goes on for miles and there are maybe 8 subway stops along the way.  I believe it would be possible to have a great condo out there but there is no infrastructure that we could see except for another crappy beachtown frequented by beggers and bums.  Maybe they want it that way to hide what's really there.  What do I know?  But it's definitely hidden.

This is the Jeff Koons' flower sculpture in Rockefeller Center erected over the Prometheus statue.  This is the Summer of Jeff Koons.  They have devoted the entire Whitney Museum to him.  Look it up; what can I tell you.

This is in the window of the Legos store which is right on the plaza.  Lots of legos.

Can you imagine they are in the process of cleaning St. Patrick's.  The spires are finished.  What a difference!

 Ed wanted a picture of this motorcycle in a dress shop window.

 A shot of the boat basin in Central Park.

This is the famous Bow Bridge designed by Vaux, Olmstead's partner.