Visit to Westfield and NYC

 

Friday, November 17, 2023 - We're headed to Meg & Maddy's for Thanksgiving so we decided to make a few stops on our way east.  We spent a few days with Ann & Erich, and then a few days with Mom.  On Friday we drove the 6 and a half hours from Mom's to Westfield.  And we stayed overnight in downtown Westfield at the Westfield Inn. 

We got to Westfield in the afternoon, and had fun walking around downtown, to see what had changed since we were last here.

It looks like Fall in Westfield

The Westfield train station looks the same

There is a new brewery in town.  We had a few beers and watched rush hour traffic in the circle

Lions Roar Brewery

It was a quick walk from the brewery back to the Inn

And then across the street to 16 Prospect where we met up with our old neighbors, Mary & David for dinner and catching up.

Saturday November 18, 2023 - Saturday morning we did a few laps around downtown for some exercise and then drove to our old neighborhood to see what's new there.  We met our friends Dave & Patti for lunch (and I forgot to get a picture)!  Finally we dropped off our car at Maddy's parents' house in Basking Ridge and Jon took us to the train station so we didn't have to deal with our car in the city while Meg's neighborhood gets ready for the upcoming Macy's Day parade.

rainbow crosswalk and rainbow buildings

I've never seen a solar charging station bench (and right in front of the Westfield Christmas tree)

The Westfield Inn

822 Village Green-our old house looks a little different

We did a few laps around Tamaques Park for old time sake

Pretty fall day in the Park

NJ Transit!

And we made it to Meg & Maddy's!  Meg & Maddy are in London until Wednesday night, so we're going to pretend we're New Yorkers and hang out in their apartment for the next 5 days!

Sunday November 19, 2023 - Before our trip I spent time trying to find some places in NYC that we haven't visited before.  First on my list was Roosevelt Island.  It's 2.5 miles to the Roosevelt tram from Meg's apartment, so we decided to walk through the park since it was such a beautiful day.  We packed a lunch and found a bench along the promenade to eat with a view.  

Kevin made himself at home using Meg & Maddy's workstation

The front hall of their apartment building is beautiful!

We walked the .4 miles to Tal Bagels on Broadway and north of 92nd.  They supposedly have the best bagels in NYC.

I'm going to have to try a muffin one day.  Love the trays above the counter

Nice walk!

And the bagel was still warm when we got home...yum!

We walked along Central Park

Nice benches in front of a huge boulder

Through the park

The towers of the Dakota on the right

Cool little arbor

The fall colors are pretty nice

Women's Right Pioneers Memorial

Shakespeare looking pensively off into the distance. 

Lots of new skinny skyscrapers

the Wollman ice skating rink is open

The Plaza

I liked the "WE DIG NY" sign on the back of the work truck

Bloomingdales

We made it to the Roosevelt Island tram.  We weren't sure what it would cost, but it's just like a subway fare ($2.90) and easy to use, with a tap of your credit card as you go through the turnstile

Views from the tram

View of RI through the Queensboro Bridge.  We've ridden our bikes across that bridge quite a few times during the 5 Boro Bike Tour that we used to do every year.

 

The Tram headed back to Manhattan

We walked along the RI promenade, with great views of the city

The Chrysler Building peaking through the skyline

A closer view of the Chrysler Bldg

Lunch with a view

The remains of the Smallpox Hospital which was designed by James Renwick.  It was the first hospital to house smallpox patients in the country

Roosevelt Island was used for hospitals and jails in the 1800's and early 1900's.  It was also called Welfare Island

The UN Building

We walked through Roosevelt 4 Freedoms park to the end of the island

The UN Building

Brooklyn Bridge in the distance

View down the East River from the end of Roosevelt Island

The tram just barely visible on the other side of the Queensboro Bridge

We're headed back to Manhattan

Tram shadow

Next we took the subway down to the Buddhist Art Museum, the Rubin

Beautiful temple artwork

We took the subway back to Meg's neighborhood on the upper west side, for wings and football at a bar around the corner from the apartment (Bodega 88). Pretty flowers everywhere.  We walked over 8 miles today, I think we're going to sleep well tonight.

Monday November 20, 2023 - We've got another busy sightseeing day today.  We headed to Meg's subway stop, 2 blocks away and headed down to Times Square.  From there we walked down to 37th and finally visited the fabric store Mood (that they use on Project Runway).  It was not far to Hudson Yards and a walk on the Highline, a quick visit with our old Westfield neighbor and then Little Island and Chelsea Market.  Next we hit the book store the Strand and then ended the day at McSorley's Tavern for a few beers.

Meg's subway station.  The tilework all over the subway system is really pretty

We're at Mood!  We were the only tourists there, everyone else looked like they actually belonged there.

We didn't recognize anyone and Swatch the dog was nowhere to be found

Kev is running up the infamous steps

I'm having trouble picking out which wool knits I want to work with!

multiple aisles filled with buttons and fasteners

A quick peak at the Empire State Building

The highline

Great day for a walk on the Highline

The Edge 

A close up of the Edge.  A sightseeing platform with a glass floor for views of the city.  

The Vessel is no longer open to climb

A quick catch up with our friend Jon

It was a close walk to the newest Hudson River park called Little Island.  

There are two bridges used to get onto the Island.  It has an open air stage, walking paths and great views of lower Manhattan

The island is built out of 132 pot shaped structures (called tulips) that extend into the riverbed.  It covers about 3 acres.

The World Trade Center in the background

We stopped in Chelsea Market for a milkshake, it was a bit too crowded

The bookstore the Strand had a cute Christmas tree made out of books

McSorley's Old Ale House, the oldest pub in the US (established in 1854)

If you ask for a beer the bartender says we don't have beer only pale ale and porter.  When you order they give you two glasses.  Kev liked that

There was sawdust on the floor and people shared tables

We were texting with Meg and told her we were at McSorley's.  She said to order the cheese and onions.  It was a half a sleeve of saltines, a bunch of slices of cheddar cheese and raw onion sliced, all for $4.00, we enjoyed it!

Selfie in front of McSorleys then an NYU subway stop home.  We figured Elaine knew the stop well.  We only walked 7 miles today!

Tuesday November 21, 2023 - Today was a more low key day.  The last two days we got so much of my sightseeing done that I needed to find more things to do.  We had lunch at home then decided to check out the NY Historical Society which was only a few blocks from Meg's.  I read they have new space for their Tiffany Lamp display that was donated by Egon Neustadt.  He collected Tiffany lamps after finding his first piece in Greenwich village for $12.50, after they had gone out of favor.  Tiffany glass was in business for only a short time 1895-1920. 

The Womens' vote stained glass in the stairwell of the NY Historical Society

They made different patterns on the lamps but I especially liked the flowers.  I think this was a rose design

I especially liked the daffodils, since Nana was such a daffodil gardener

Tiffany did some geometric lamps

Peony lamp

This is the template used by the women who cut the glass.  Each piece is numbered

and the watercolor used to design the lamp

more daffodils

Another exhibit at the Historical Society had all sorts of New York relics.  This exhibit was items from 9/11.  I was especially interested in the piece hanging that was a blind from the wreckage.   

It was raining when we left the museum, but luckily it was a quick walk home and we stopped at Billy's for a small cheesecake to split and a pizza from Meg & Maddy's favorite pizza place, Marinara, which was really good pizza!

The Adventure Hiking Trail

 

Monday Oct 16, 2023 - Kevin decided he wanted to do a backpacking trip so he started walking on the treadmill each day with a 30 pound pack on his back.  After a week of that he saw a window in the weather and decided to hike the Adventure Hiking Trail that runs through Harrison-Crawford State Forest and O'Bannon Woods in southern Indiana, outside of Louisville KY.  We booked a campsite for Monday through Thursday and I thought I'd camp in Tiny while he was hiking.  We got there Monday afternoon (it was a 2.5 hr drive from Indy) and on the way into the campground we dropped off a gallon of water where the trail crosses Cold Friday Road.  The trail is known for its lack of drinkable water so we thought we'd drop off a cache for day 2 so he didn't need to carry so much. 

He's getting ready for the trail

packing and getting his food together

Here's where he cached some water for day 2

Kev's got a hat clip for his GoPro, so he can take video of his hike

Dinner in the RV the night before leaving for the hike

Tuesday Oct 17, 2023 - The AHT is 25 miles long, so Kevin was planning to do around 8 miles each day and hike it in 3 days.  He started hiking first thing Tuesday morning and was going to be crossing a road outside of O'Bannon woods in early afternoon.  So I rode my bike from the campground to the road crossing and hung out with him while he cooked some ramen for lunch.  He ended up hiking a little over 10 miles by the end of the day and set up camp about a mile and a half from the Cold Friday Rd crossing where we had cached water.

This trail is in the campground and connects with the AHT

There he goes....

I met up with Kevin at lunch time where the trail crosses Rt 462

See ya in 2 days!

On my bike ride back to the campground I stopped at the the fire tower and climbed to the top

It was a beautiful fall view

I'm always nervous climbing to the top of fire towers.  They never seem all that safe and they have lots of warnings saying you could die by falling from them.  I was happy I made it to the top and then back down safely!

Kev's first campsite about a mile from Cold Friday Road

My campsite in the campground

View from my window

Wednesday Oct 18, 2023 - Kev planned to hike 8 or so miles today, and passed a few of the AHT shelters as he hiked.  He had lunch at the Indian Creek Shelter and hiked 10 total miles today and stopped at the Lloyd's shelter with a beautiful view of the Ohio River.  I hiked to the Nature Center from the campground and enjoyed the small village they have there.  The Nature Center has one of the few Hay Presses still in operation in the US and they have oxen that are the muscle for the machine when they run it.  It would be fun to come back and see it in action sometime.

Indian Creek Shelter - Kev was happy for a picnic table to rest at

 

I took the Tulip Valley trail to the Nature Center and stopped at the Bird Viewing Blind

Really cute bench 

and another couple more

The hay press was used until the early 1900's when cars became popular and horses were used less for transportation, so less hay was needed.  The hay press was a way to press hay into bales making it easier to transport.  The hay was forked into the box, a weight was dropped onto it and then an ox, attached to the press walked around it raising a press from the bottom, further pressing the hay.

the hay press goes all the way to the ceiling

The light shining through the barn reminds me of my Popop's barn

The bridge at the Nature Center for the other half of the Tulip Valley loop,back to the campground

Kev stopped at the Homestead Overnight Shelter for a break

Lloyd's shelter with the view of the Ohio River.  Kevin set up his tent inside of the shelter since there was a chance of rain in the night.

View from the RV of the very empty campground

Thursday Oct 19, 2023 - Kevin had only 5 miles to hike on Thursday morning and he made it back to the campground around 10:30.  He loved the hike and wants to do it again, with maybe shorter hiking days, so I'll come with him.

Yay Kev!