July 15, 2011 - New York

I just got home from a 3 day trip to New York City.  Mary Jo and I went to visit Alex and Noah since they recently moved there for Noah's job.  We flew out of Detroit on Friday morning and arrived at their apartment before 10:00.

We visited for a while but then went out to explore the city.  Alex was a wonderful tour guide!  We first went and walked around 5th Avenue.  There were lots of shops to explore like Bloomingdales and FAO Schwarz.  We tried out the "Big" piano that the movie "Big" made famous and debated paying $4,000 for an ugly coat but decided against it.

Then we were off  to Central Park.  Central Park was very pretty and peaceful.  It's a huge park with lots to see and do.  We rented a row boat and had fun going around one of the ponds in the park.
 

We were then on our way to Times Square.  Times Square is your sterotypical busy New York area.  Tons of busy shops and lots of people.  We went to the visitors center and saw the ball that gets dropped on New Year's Eve.  We also each made a wish on a piece of confetti that will explode from the ball this New Year's Eve. 

We also saw Rockafeller Center.  We visited during the day and also came back at night to see the city from the Top of the Rock.  You can buy tickets and go to the roof of the Rockafeller Center to see the whole city.  In the first picture you can see the Empire State Building.  It was lit up in red, white and blue for the 4th of July. 

Phew, that was only the end of day one in New York!