Our NYC Trip - Part Two

 Do you mind if I share just one more post from our trip to New York City?  I wanted to share the rest of our trip with you, and truthfully, I took so many pictures while we were there that it is hard to narrow it down to just one blog post!

 When we arrived in New York City, Country Living had so kindly arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport... the driver was holding a sign with my name on it, and as we got inside I wondered what he thought about us country-bumpkins.   

(I so badly wanted to get a picture of my husband carrying his hiking backpack with all our clothes inside... I get tickled just thinking about it!)    

   I know my eyes were huge as we drove through Queens and then Manhattan to our motel.  I didn't know which side of the road to look!  Our hotel (the first picture above) was a perfect location... we were within walking distance to so many attractions. We were on the 10th floor and we loved the amazing views out the windows. 

 We didn't waste any time getting started; after checking in, we were off, walking through Times Square and then up to Central Park.  The people... the architecture... the fast pace... it was incredible to take in. 

 I gasped when I first saw Central Park.  Here we had just walked through throngs of people and beside huge buildings and then there was this.  Central Park was beautiful (I think I said something to my husband about it looking like the movies)... I would have loved to have had time to walk the entire park. 

 The next morning we were up bright and early as we had reservations to visit the 9/11 memorial downtown.  Amazingly enough, I had made reservations almost immediately after finding out we would be traveling to NYC, and it was fortunate since after the hurricane hitting they were only honoring reservations already made.  

We also had our first subway experience!  Somehow we made it to our destination without getting lost (smile).  Walking to the memorial, we saw this beautiful old church in the midst of skyscrapers.

We were amazed when we saw the construction of the new towers.  Above is the tallest of the two towers, which will be the tallest building in the United States.  I love the description of the memorial in the brochure we picked up.  It says that the memorial "commemorates the lives lost, recognizes the thousands who survived, and allows visitors to come together again in the spirit of unity that emerged in the wake of 9/11". 

 The memorial was beautiful and yet sobering.  Two pools were placed where the original towers stood and waterfalls cascade into the pools, which then descend into a center empty space. 

 The names of the victims are engraved in bronze panels that surround the pools.  A sign was posted beside the panels inviting visitors to touch the names engraved.  As we walked along, I had a lump in my throat.  And when I saw the name of a woman with the words "and her unborn child" beside it, I was blinking back tears. 

The memorial was amazing.  We were thankful we had the opportunity to visit it and it's something we'll never forget. 

Afterwards, we walked down to the bay to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty.  I took this picture of a grocery store on a corner... the city has small grocery stores and delis everywhere.  I could hardly believe the variety of flowers available at this store.

We spent quite a bit of time walking Battery Park alongside the bay.  It was a beautiful day and the park was peaceful and quiet.  

Breathtaking...

 That evening, after navigating the subway system like professionals (smile) back to our hotel, we walked to 5th Avenue.  It's amazing that this picture doesn't show the vast amount of people... we were often rubbing shoulders with others.  Of course we had to visit F.A.O. Schwarz where we bought the girls their presents from the city (smile). 

 The next morning brought many butterflies with the anticipation of the awards ceremony.  I showed you in my last post the outside of the Hearst tower, but here is a picture of the inside.  We had just ridden up an escalator beside a waterfall and here we got on the elevator to take us up to Country Living.

 We were greeted so warmly and we got to tour the offices of the magazine and see things like a peek of the February issue and their prop closet.  

(They tried to get out of showing us the prop closet as it was "messy"... but then somebody had the nerve to raise their hand and say loudly, "Oh, PLEASE?".  Yes, somehow my shyness evaporated at the thought of not getting to see the prop closet!) 

After the tour, we met with Rust-Oleum and then headed up to the 44th floor for the beautiful award lunch, which you can read about here if you missed it. 

Our last stop of the day was the Good Housekeeping Research Institute tour, which was so fascinating.  

I wish I could share a photo of every room, but we saw everything being tested, from appliances to paper towels to beauty products.  We also got to see the test kitchen... can you say dream job?  I've noticed the Good Housekeeping seal many times, but I didn't realize that Good Housekeeping honors a 2-year warranty for every product in their magazine.  Neat!

And can you believe there was a room tucked beside the labs that looked like this?  The rooms here are replicas from the original Hearst Tower and the dining room pictured above is often used for entertaining. I loved looking at the antiques displayed... even the rug is original.

It was such an amazing trip! I never imagined I would have the opportunity to visit New York City and I'm not sure I'll ever have the chance to go back.  But if I did have another opportunity?  I would in a heartbeat.

I joked later that we saw many sights and all kinds of people while we were there, but we definitely only saw one John Deere hat (smile).  I'm thankful for my travel buddy... the trip would not have been what it was without him.

And I want to thank you again... I would not have been there without you.  Yes, I know I didn't win Reader's Choice, but your visits and comments are often what have kept me blogging!

Have a wonderful week!  

   P.S.  I also wanted to thank my friend Brenda at Cozy Little House... she asked me recently if I would answer some questions for her blog about blogging called Cozy Inspiration and she had so many kind things to say.  If you'd like to read about my thoughts on blogging and photography, you can check it out here.