Thanksgiving in NYC

 Wednesday, November 24, 2021- We left my Mom's early Wednesday morning for NYC and had a beautiful drive across PA.  We had decided to drive to Basking Ridge so we could leave our car at the Booth's.  Parking during the week is tough in Manhattan and we weren't sure what the parking situation would be like due to the Macy's Day Parade.  Maddy dropped us at the train station and once in NYC we took the subway to Meg's apartment.  Meg was able to get off work a little early so we met her for the Balloon inflation which goes on from 12-6:00 the day before the parade.  At 75th St we found Meg and piled in with the masses of people to wind our way to the balloon inflation (6 blocks of back and forth).  We had to show ID and vaccine cards and then they checked bags and wanded us before we could enter the  queue.  It took about an hour to make it to the Natural History Museum where the inflation was taking place.  I've wanted to go to the inflation for years, so I was very very happy to finally get there!!  

PA sunrise

waiting for the subway

Lots of people for the balloon inflation

we found Meg!

almost there...

lots of NYPD

Ronald McDonald's leg

Astronaut Snoopy

Baby Yoda

Relaxing at Meg's apartment

Thursday, November 25, 2021-We got up early and headed down the street to see what we could see of the parade.  All the floats were lined up on Central Park West and we were able to walk up and down the sidewalk and see quite a few of the floats.  As we walked south around 75th St it got so crowded on the sidewalk that we had to turn back.  We decided that seeing the balloons the night before and the floats the day of was kind of like seeing the parade and we headed back to the apartment to get ready for  our Thanksgiving dinner.

early morning walk along Central Park West

The singing Christmas tree did lots of practicing while we were there.

Santa's float (the last one of the parade) was lined up at the end of Meg's block

The last float of the parade

Meg's block

119 West 85th St

A pumpkin pie and a mini apple (for me) with Meg's penguin creation

good looking Thanksgiving dinner

football and turkey!

A walk in Central Park to get ready for pie

cute bench built into the fence

The Dakota in the distance

We took a break in front of the Natural History Museum

Friday, November 26, 2021-We took the subway/train back to Basking Ridge to have a day with the Booth's.  We went Christmas tree shopping, learned to play Paddle and had a nice time hanging out with Maddy's family.  Around 7:00 we drove back to the city and after one lap around Meg's block found a parking spot on the street!  Since it's the weekend, the car doesn't have to be moved until we leave Sunday afternoon.

On the walk to the subway station, down the street from Meg's, we passed the building used in the TV show "Only Murders in the Building".  Had to get a quick selfie (along with the people across the street also getting a selfie)

Meg and Maddy's tree

The Booth's tree

staying hydrated for the Paddle tournament

Meg and Maddy playing Sally and Jon for the championship

Paddle Pros

Saturday, November 27, 2021- Today was a sightseeing day.  I've been wanting to see the new train station, so we took the Subway to Penn and walked across the street to the Moynihan Train Hall.  Then we walked to Macy's to see the windows, hit the shops at Bryant Park, stopped at a few bars to warm up and then headed to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.  Maddy came back to the city, so we headed home to get ready for dinner, which was at a great little Indian Restaurant about 10 blocks north of their apartment.  It was such a great weekend!  I was so happy to get to get to hang with Meg, while getting some much needed NYC time in!  Oh, and it's a really good weekend when you get a GOOD bagel, 3 days in a row, for breakfast!!  Already looking forward to our next visit!

The old post office that has been turned into the new Moynihan Amtrak/LI RR train station

Above the columns it says "Neither snow nor rain nor heat not gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

Interior of the train hall

Macy's and the Empire State Building

Saks in the background

Shopping at the Bryant Park shops

The unlit Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center

Quick trip to Charleston

Monday, November 1, 2021 - In July of 2020 we had a trip planned to Oregon that we had to cancel due to the pandemic. The airline tickets were going to expire at the end of 2021 if we didn’t use them, so we (I) decided we would go to Charleston for a few days. We also had Marriott stays that were going to expire if not used, so the trip was basically free!  Our fight was at 6:00 (which was pretty painful) but it got us to Charleston at 10:30, so we had a full day of sightseeing.  It was 70 degrees and sunny so we decided to walk the city. 

Sunrise over Philadelphia

First stop - City Market 

City market, inside. It was about 5 blocks long, lots of local artists

The Pineapple fountain.  Guess we'll have to come back, since the fountain wasn't on.

Rainbow row, beautifully painted row houses.

Joggling board-it’s a rocking bench!

Nathaniel Russell House tour

Beautiful gardens everywhere!  We found this in the Nathaniel Russell garden

Front door of Nathaniel Russell house. This house has been restored to the the mid 1800s. We really enjoyed the hour long self guided audio tour.  It was a great day walking around Charleston...we walked 9.5 miles!

Tuesday November 2, 2021 - Today was going to be 75 degrees and sunny, so we decided we should spend the day outside.  We headed straight for the harbor and did a 90 minute boat tour.  We then did a pub crawl and found some great outdoor bars.

Ravenel Bridge in the background

Fort Sumter in the distance

Aircraft carrier USS Yorktown

Port of Call Brew Hall 

Rooftop bar - Vendue

Charleston Crab House rooftop for dinner.  Kev can't get enough crabcakes.  Had them yesterday, as well, at Aw Shucks.

Wednesday, Nov 3, 2021 - Today was a COLD 65, after yesterday's sunny 75!  We had a few museums we wanted to visit: a tour of Aiken-Rhett house, Post office museum and Slave Mart Museum.   We did a late lunch at Poogan's Porch, for some classic southern food and lots more walking!

Our walk to the Aiken-Rhett house.  We did another self-guided audio tour here.  This house had been preserved (not restored like Monday's house we toured).  This house was used by the family from the mid-1800s until the 1970s.  So many things had been done to the house over the years.  I don't think I've ever toured a house that's been preserved, but it was quite interesting to see the process of it all.  They also had a lot of info about the slave quarters.  We also visited the Slave Mart Museum, but didn't take any pictures of it.  It was a rather small museum but had so much info about slaves in Charleston.

View from the slave quarters at Aiken-Rhett house

Several rooms in the slave quarters did not have outside windows, only internal windows to the hallway.

Courtyard of Aiken-Rhett house

Charleston is full of houses with beautiful porches.

Mirror mirror....

Fried green tomatoes and she crab soup at Poogan's Porch.  YUM

Small post office museum 

Ironworks are found everywhere in Charleston.  This was inside the Charleston post office

Love the cobblestone streets!!

A beer on the Marriott rooftop...Kev's tired after another 9 mile day of walking