Springtime in New York!

This year during Spring Break, we all went to New York City!  Greg travelled with his high school marching band while Steve, Elise and I travelled together. 

Here are a few of the highlights from our trip.

First stop:  Rockefeller Plaza

Steve and Elise in the perfect spot to observe the ice skaters below on a beautiful 85 degree spring day.

And who do you think greeted us here?

The Easter Bunny!!

And this is 30 Rock!

There is an observation deck here at the top of 30 Rock that rivals the one at the Empire State Building.  Greg and his group went up for a look at the city later this evening.

Just a block or so away, we got a look at St. Patrick's Cathedral.  This is amazing to see!  We stepped just inside the doorway to see inside and it was beautiful - no pics though as it is a place of worship in daily use.

After a good bit of walking, we arrived in Central Park where we found plenty of hansom cabs!

The park is filled with the beautiful and . . .  the curious!

Steve really enjoyed Central Park!

From Central Park, we worked our way over to Lincoln Center.  While waiting on the MHS Marching Band to arrive, we took in the area and enjoyed a nice lunch at a sidewalk cafe.

Finally, the band arrives and puts on a great show in front of the fountain at Lincoln Center Plaza!

Greg entering the Plaza

Everyone had a great time performing here!  After the performance, the band toured Lincoln Center.

After dinner, there was only one place to go for the evening . . . .

TIMES SQUARE!    

This place is a visual treat!

I seems that every retailer advertises in Times Square and some buildings become living billboards!

We were in town on opening night of the new Addams Family musical.  No tickets available.  Unfortuneatley, the reviews next day were dissappointing.

The M&M's World shop had a really fun 'billboard' that changed constantly.

You just never know what you will come across in Times Square!  Wax museums, giant toy stores and lots of opportunities to purchase chocolate!

Finally ready to call it a night, we return to our hotel as we take one last view of Rockefeller Center.

Our second day in the city was filled with tours on double decker style tour buses.  We were able to hop on and off the buses all over Manhattan. 

The older buildings of NYC are so beautiful!

The famous Grid Iron Building

A new monument in the financial district honors 9-11.

The famous bull of Wall Street.

The Battery Park area is beautiful!

These magnificent buildings seem to come at us one after another as we travel along on the double decker!

Click on this picture to enlarge and you can see the private terraces with gardens!

The tour bus took us to Harlem where we passed the Apollo Theatre.  The Apollo is much smaller from the outside than I would have expected.  Our tour guide noted that the theatre is still in operation and very nice inside.

Back along the periphery of Central Park, we pass the Guggenheim Museum.

We really were up high on that bus!

We were seeing the park on one side of the bus and these beautiful buildings on the other!

Remember Leona Helmsley?

This is my favorite view of Central Park!

For our last day in NYC, Steve took Elise and I on a walking tour of the 5th Avenue shops.

Of Course our first stop was Macy's at Herald Square

We are about to enter the store where they are holding the annual Spring Flower Show.

Inside the store it is like a beautiful park with flowers and pocket books!

The entire first floor of Macy's is filled with fresh flowers.

The building is really old and the early wooden escalators are still in operation.  They work just as smoothly as the newer metal models although I would not want to step on this tread while wearing a spike heeled shoe!

When you exit the store, you land in Herald Square!

We loved walking through NYC!  Especially 5th Ave!