It had been a couple of years since we had had a family vacation and what a vacation this was. We flew almost 6 hours to get to the Big Apple. We arrived in the late afternoon and before we knew it the airport taxi was taking us through Times Square. It was sensory overload (in a good way) of people, sights and lights. We just passed through the bustling area and got a taste of it, but the excitement left us wanting more. It was July 4th, 2008 and there would be no fireworks for us due to the low cloud cover and rainfall, but that did not put a damper on our excitement.
For the next few days we were typical tourists, fortunately we hooked up with a Gray Line 72 hours "Hop on Hop Off" tour. It was a perfect way to see this spectacular city as we could spend as much time in any one area as we liked and when ready to move on another bus would come along and take us to the next place of interest. Some of the places we saw were:
The Empire State building
Ground Zero (WTC)
The Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island
Times Square
Herald Square
The Theater District
China Town
The Plaza Hotel
Radio City
Lots of Yellow Taxis
Wall Street
Juniors
Yes, we packed a lot into those few days including seeing the Broadway play "Chicago", taking a stroll through Central Park and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Speaking of bridges, our tour guide told us an easy way to remember the name of the three bridges. He said to think BMW: Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg.
On the Monday, we rented a small SUV and headed south out of town. Our destination was Washington, DC however we had a stop over in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to check out the Liberty Bell and Liberty Square, where Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence.
Shortly after leaving Philly, we saw a road sign that read "Johns Hopkins" and with two lacrosse players in the car we decided that we could not pass up the opportunity to visit this famous lacrosse school, so we pulled in for the evening and headed to Johns Hopkins the next morning. Not only did we get to see a great school, but we also came upon the U.S. Lacrosse Association Head Quarters, which had an interesting lacrosse museum that we spent some time in.
Washington, DC was our next stop where we saw the White House, the Washington Monument, the Capital Building, the World War Two Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial was the most spectacular as we were able to stand on the exact spot as Martin Luther King did when he delivered his famous speech. Also from that exact spot you can see the fountain, War Memorial, Washington Memorial and the Capital Building. We drove completely around the Pentagon and managed to see the wall that was affected by 9-11 before heading out of town.
Dartmouth in Hanover, NH was our next destination, but we had a stop over in New Haven, Connecticut to tour Yale. The presentation at the historic university was so compelling that not only Alex, but all of us were ready to apply. We really were impressed with the organization and tradition offered here. Dartmouth was also impressive! Established in 1762, the town of Hanover is built around the college. We noticed that even a lot of the houses were painted in the school colors of white and green. Hanover reminded us a lot of Canada with its fresh air, greenery and we loved the quaintness of this small town.
Watching Alex play lacrosse was a big plus as the level of play at this Elite camp was above anything we had ever seen. We were impressed with how clean cut and tidy the boys were. There we no tats or piercings here. The fact that he got to stay in the college dorm was another plus as he got to have the college experience so to speak.
Boston was our next stop. Unfortunately, we did not make a connection with this city. Maybe by this stage of the trip we just had had enough, but things just did not click for us here. We drove around and saw the sights then unanimously decided to head back to NY.
Arriving back in NY we once again were drawn to Times Square. We really wanted to go to the Empire State Building as when we were in New York at the beginning of the trip, we had light rain and clouds, so we were unable to go to the top. The Empire State Building is once again the tallest building in NY after 9-11 destroyed the twin towers. Our timing was perfectthis time around as when we began the assent it was daylight, but the sunset while on the 86th floor, so we were able to see the spectacular sights of NY city at night. It was a sight to remember for the rest of our lives!
We had completed 10 days of exquisite family time and all too soon we were on our way home. We had made wonderful memories of a carefree time in our lives when we were blessed with health, happiness and a love of each other.
For the next few days we were typical tourists, fortunately we hooked up with a Gray Line 72 hours "Hop on Hop Off" tour. It was a perfect way to see this spectacular city as we could spend as much time in any one area as we liked and when ready to move on another bus would come along and take us to the next place of interest. Some of the places we saw were:
The Empire State building
Ground Zero (WTC)
The Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island
Times Square
Herald Square
The Theater District
China Town
The Plaza Hotel
Radio City
Lots of Yellow Taxis
Wall Street
Juniors
Yes, we packed a lot into those few days including seeing the Broadway play "Chicago", taking a stroll through Central Park and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Speaking of bridges, our tour guide told us an easy way to remember the name of the three bridges. He said to think BMW: Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg.
On the Monday, we rented a small SUV and headed south out of town. Our destination was Washington, DC however we had a stop over in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to check out the Liberty Bell and Liberty Square, where Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence.
Shortly after leaving Philly, we saw a road sign that read "Johns Hopkins" and with two lacrosse players in the car we decided that we could not pass up the opportunity to visit this famous lacrosse school, so we pulled in for the evening and headed to Johns Hopkins the next morning. Not only did we get to see a great school, but we also came upon the U.S. Lacrosse Association Head Quarters, which had an interesting lacrosse museum that we spent some time in.
Washington, DC was our next stop where we saw the White House, the Washington Monument, the Capital Building, the World War Two Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial was the most spectacular as we were able to stand on the exact spot as Martin Luther King did when he delivered his famous speech. Also from that exact spot you can see the fountain, War Memorial, Washington Memorial and the Capital Building. We drove completely around the Pentagon and managed to see the wall that was affected by 9-11 before heading out of town.
Dartmouth in Hanover, NH was our next destination, but we had a stop over in New Haven, Connecticut to tour Yale. The presentation at the historic university was so compelling that not only Alex, but all of us were ready to apply. We really were impressed with the organization and tradition offered here. Dartmouth was also impressive! Established in 1762, the town of Hanover is built around the college. We noticed that even a lot of the houses were painted in the school colors of white and green. Hanover reminded us a lot of Canada with its fresh air, greenery and we loved the quaintness of this small town.
Watching Alex play lacrosse was a big plus as the level of play at this Elite camp was above anything we had ever seen. We were impressed with how clean cut and tidy the boys were. There we no tats or piercings here. The fact that he got to stay in the college dorm was another plus as he got to have the college experience so to speak.
Boston was our next stop. Unfortunately, we did not make a connection with this city. Maybe by this stage of the trip we just had had enough, but things just did not click for us here. We drove around and saw the sights then unanimously decided to head back to NY.
Arriving back in NY we once again were drawn to Times Square. We really wanted to go to the Empire State Building as when we were in New York at the beginning of the trip, we had light rain and clouds, so we were unable to go to the top. The Empire State Building is once again the tallest building in NY after 9-11 destroyed the twin towers. Our timing was perfectthis time around as when we began the assent it was daylight, but the sunset while on the 86th floor, so we were able to see the spectacular sights of NY city at night. It was a sight to remember for the rest of our lives!
We had completed 10 days of exquisite family time and all too soon we were on our way home. We had made wonderful memories of a carefree time in our lives when we were blessed with health, happiness and a love of each other.
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