Mamma Mia!

Probably my favorite Broadway Show. This was the second time I have seen it and I loved it just as much as the first - so fun!

Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks

On July 4th, we went to the Macy's Fireworks Show on the Hudson River. The Macy's fireworks are usually on the East River, but this year was the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's historic voyage on the Hudson River. The fireworks started at 9pm, but we heard that we should get there early. We left my apartment at about 4:30 so we were in our seats (or had claimed our spot on the highway) by 5:30pm. It was a good thing we got there early as we got a spot with an excellent view. There were 6 barges on the river - from 23rd street to 59th street. We were able to see 4 of the barges from our spot at 40th street.

This was right after we arrived - notice all of the space around us.

This was about 2 hours after we arrived - all of the extra space was gone!

Self portrait.

I think these were NYPD helicopters doing a flyover.

Best fireworks show I have ever seen.

Step In Time

On Friday (July 3rd) we spent the day walking around NYC. We started the day off by going to South Street Seaport to the TKTS booth to get tickets to a Broadway show on Friday night. We were hoping for Mamma Mia!, but no such luck. Our top 2 choices of the shows on the list were Mary Poppins and South Pacific. We decided to get tickets to the show with the best seats available.

We then walked to the pier and sat out there for a while.

We then had lunch on the patio at Heartland Brewery at South Street Seaport. Next we hopped on the subway to go to the High Line. This used to be a train storage area (I don't know if it was for refurbishing of train cars, storing of train cars, etc.). Anyway, it is no longer used for that purpose, so the city has made it into a park. They have done some landscaping and put in chairs. This is something that recently opened, so we decided to take a look.

Dad took a nap on the High Line.

After the High Line, we walked back to the subway to go to Whole Foods in order to get food for our fireworks picnic the next day. We found a Pinkberry on the way to the train so we made a short pit stop for some yogurt.

And then we saw Mary Poppins on Friday night. My favorite act was Step in Time.

It was another great day with A LOT of walking! But I love walking around this City :)

Raspberry Pickin'

On our way to Southold, we saw numerous fields where you could pick your own strawberries. On the way back we stopped at one of the places to pick our own strawberries. I asked the girl if it was easy to pick strawberries, and she said that they were going to be a little difficult because they were at the end of the season. I learned that the season for strawberries was June, and July is raspberry season (blueberry season is August in case you are interested). She said that the raspberries would be easy to pick. We picked a basket of berries, but I think we probably ate just as many as we picked. They tasted so good right off the vine (if that is what you call it).

On our way home we made a stop at the Costco in Queens (since we had a car). When I lived in Arizona, I always bought cat litter at Costco. It is $13 for 40lbs of it. When I moved here, I have continued to get the cat litter at Costco. I could get it at the Petco a couple of blocks from my apartment, but it is about $20 for only 28lbs. The first time I bought a pail was when I bought my TV and we came home in the gypsy cab. I made another trip in February with my little cart, but it was quite difficult hauling that 40lbs up and down stairs and through the subway. When my dad was here in May, I made him go to Costco with me to get another pail. He hated it and could not believe I would even think to try to haul it home by myself. Since we had the car for the Southold trip, it was a perfect opportunity to stock up, so I now have 4 pails of cat litter sitting in my apartment. It should last me (I meant the cats) for a while. Only in NYC do you think about things that you have to get done while you have a car :)

Tracing our Heritage

Mom and Dad were here for a week (from July 1 - July 8) for the 4th of July. I had July 3rd as a holiday at work, and I also had firmwide mandatory personal time off (PTO) days on July 2nd and 6th. On my first day off, my dad rented a car and we drove to Southold, NY, which is on the North Fork of Long Island (about 2 hours east of NYC). This is where the Horton Point Lighthouse is located. We visited the Southold Historical Society and they opened up the museum at the lighthouse for us (it is normally open only on weekends and we were there on a Thursday). The lighthouse was built in the mid 1850s on the property originally owned by Barnabas Horton (my 9th great-grandfather). Barnabas came to America from England in the 1630s and was one of the original 13 settlers of Southold, arriving there sometime near 1640. Barnabas died in 1680 at age 80. (**My dad has done all of the above research.)

This is the Southold Historical Society. Southold is a small town with a population of about 21,000, and I heard that number increases by about 40% in the summer.

This home was built in 1640 and is the oldest home in New York that is still standing. Located 5 minutes from Southold in Cutchogue, this was the home of Jane Budd, my 8th great-grandmother, who married Barnabas Horton's son, Joseph.

These are some hydrangea's at the little restaurant where we ate lunch. This town was so pretty and it was a beautiful day.

Erik's for lunch. This is a tiny little restaurant and everything is fresh - while it was not actually on a farm, it reminded me of the Farm at South Mountain.

We all had tuna salad sandwiches on raisin-walnut bread.

On our way to the lighthouse.

This is the lighthouse - it is still active today.

We walked down to the water right by the lighthouse. This is Long Island Sound, and Connecticut is a couple of miles across the Sound.

Dad reading Barnabas Horton's grave. The inscription surrounds the border of the stone, and reads as follows: "Here lieth buried the body of MR. BARNABAS HORTON, who was born at Mousely, Leicestershire, Old England, and died at Southold, on the 13th day of July, 1680, aged 80 years."

In the center of the stone is the Epitaph, as follows: "Here lies my body tombed in dust, Till Christ shall come and raise it with the just; My soul ascended to the throne of God, Where with sweet Jesus now I make abode: Then hasten after me, my dearest wife, To be partaker of this blessed life; And you, dear children, all follow the Lord, Hear and obey His public sacred word; And in your houses call upon His name, For oft I have advised you to the same: Then God will bless you with your children all, And to this blessed place He will you call." Hebrews 11:4 - "He being dead, yet speaketh."

This is Hortons Lane, which goes through Barnabas Horton's property. While the original house no longer stands, the above sign was located on the Horton property.

It was a fun day to get out of the City and see something different. We stopped to pick raspberries on the way home so that will be my next post.