New York State of Mind!
In 2023, Amy and my niece, Glenda, got together and decided that we needed to make a trip to the City so Nice, They Named it Twice, the Empire City, Gotham, The Big Apple — New York, New York. So along with my sister-in-law, Delores, and my brother John and his Lady friend, Theresa, we took a long weekend to sample the City that Never Sleeps and here is the record of that trip.

Here we are crossing the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge on our ride from Laguardia Airport to our hotel. For most of us, this was our first experience in a New York taxi! Perhaps it’s best to just close your eyes. We are eating our first meal at the Maison Brasserie on the way to a night at the Theater. We decided to take in the <i>Jersey Boys</i>. Amy, Glenda, Delores and I enjoyed a little bubbly whilst awaiting our meal. Glenda and Amy stand just outside the August Wilson Theater where we enjoyed “Jersey Boys”. It brought back memories to me of nights double dating and weekend dances. (I must say it brought a tear to my eye more than once.) Just a warning, if you don’t like crude language, a barage of F–bombs, and even the occasional Mother F–bomb, perhaps you should opt for “The Lion King” instead On Friday, we took a boat tour around Manhattan Island. Adjacent to our pier lay the Aircraft Carrier USS Intrepid. The Intrepid served in the Pacific in WWII and later to retrieve astronauts in the Gemini program. She now houses a myriad of aircraft including an F–4, F–14, Apache and the fabled SR70 Blackbird. As we left NY, the Space Shuttle Enterprise was on it’s final journey to join the exhibit. I regret not taking the opportunity to explore this majestic ship while I had the chance. As we left our pier, we looked southeast past Hell’s Kitchen to the Empire State Building & north to Central Park – Midtown Manhattan. Looking to Lower Manhattan,the tall building under construction is the 1 World Trade Center, now the tallest building in NYC. It is the home of Wall Street and former home of the Twin Towers (World Trade Center). (We were just about on top of the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels when this picture was taken.) Across from Lower Manhattan sits Ellis Island and the Immigration Museum. In its 35 years of operation from 1892 to its closing in 1954, over 12,000,000 immigrants were admitted to our shores. It is said that 1/3 of all Americans can trace their ancestry to those who first arrived at Ellis Island! Nearly 2,000,000 tourists visit Ellis Island each year...almost twice as many as were processed in the peak year of 1907. At the head of the Lower Bay stands Lady Liberty, lighting the way for immigrants and visitors since 1886, a gift from the French people to the American people. She has since become a symbol of freedom throughout the world! Midtown Manhattan from the East River with The Empire State Building and the art deco Chrysler Building. World famous Time Square with the hustle and bustle of people seemingly wandering aimlessly. Oh, yeah, the Naked Cowboy was there! The Big Apple ain’t nothin’ if it ain’t food. So we had to go to Carmines for our Italian fix. Here’s just a little of what we had. The food is served family style and each dish will serve 4 to 6 people. We had the Carmines Salad, raviolis, egg plant parmesan, chicken ala romano and tiramisu. We had way more than we could eat so we had them box it up and gave it to a street person. (Oddly, there were not a lot of such on our visit.) I’ve been a fan of the Today Show for most of my adult life. So I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be part of the street crowd. I got Hoda and Lester rather than Ann and Matt. But at least Lenny was there. If you were watching at the 7:34 mark, you might have caught the weekend weatherman as he asked me (yes me) if I had escaped from the zoo. I had on a blue Indianapolis Zoo Staff shirt with a Jimmy hat (a tam with red hair coming out the sides and back). Looking from Central Park towards the Upper East Side. The windows and barrel ceiling of Grand Central Station. A dozen blue point oysters at the Central Station Oyster Bar. Along with a plate of fried clams and a local brewed beer, a fine repaste! Looking south to Lower Manhattan from the 86<sup>th</sup> floor observation deck of the Empire State Building. Looking north to Central Park from the 102<sup>nd</sup> floor of the Empire State Building. Time Square at night. Heading to the airport...in style