New
England and New York City
August
2022
To
celebrate our 20th anniversary, Becky and decided to take a trip out
to New England and New York City. Since Becky
would be volunteering at an exchange student orientation at the end of our trip,
her portion of the airfare was paid for!
We left all four kids at home by themselves, hoping that we would still
have a house to come home to!
After
a red-eye flight from Seattle, we arrived at JFK airport in New York City at
8am, picked up our rental car, and headed out of the city. Of course, we got
stuck in rush hour traffic in Queens, but it didn’t take us as long as we
thought it would to get out of New York.
During our driving through Connecticut, we decided to make an unexpected
stop in New Haven and visit Yale. The
Yale campus is very picturesque and full of history.
 |
| Yale University, New Haven Connecticut |
 |
| Yale Library |
We
then continued to drive north through Massachusetts and crossed into
Vermont. We had to stop at the “Welcome
to Vermont” sign and take our picture, since Vermont was the 50th state
we have visited! Vermont is beautiful,
with it’s rolling hills covered in trees.
Our next stop was Sharon, Vermont, which was the birthplace of Joseph
Smith. The Joseph Smith birthplace monument
was more isolated than I thought it would be.
We took a tour of the site with one of the senior missionaries that was
serving there.
 |
| Our 50th state to visit! |
 |
| Joseph Smith Birthplace Monument |
After
a short drive we arrived in Woodstock, Vermont, which is a small, typical
Vermont town, with many old historic buildings and homes. We walked around town, but by this time most
of the shops were closed. On our drive
out of town, we stopped at a large covered bridge, one of the largest in the
state. We continued our drive the
northeast, crossing over into New Hampshire and arrived at our friend’s family
cabin just outside of Franconia, New Hampshire, where we stayed for the night. They were very gracious and let us stay there for two nights!
 |
| Woodstock, Vermont |
 |
| Our friend's family cabin in Franconia, New Hampshire |
The
next morning we got up and drove over to Mt. Washington. Initially, we wanted to hike up Mt.
Washington. But since we only took backpacks
for our carry-on luggage, we didn’t have space to bring any of our hiking gear. Additionally, Mt. Washington is notorious for
having some the worst weather in the world that can roll in anytime of the
year. Instead, we took the easy way and
paid the toll to take the road to top.
The road ascended to a very surreal setting, where the vegetation was
stunted and most everything was rock. Fortunately,
the weather was somewhat mild. It was in
the mid 60’s with rolling fog and only about a 20 mph wind. Mt. Washington can experience hurricane forces
winds any time of the year. We walked around
the summit and went inside the building where the highest wind ever recorded in
the world was measured (231 mph)! The
building is held down by giant chains to keep it from blowing away! On the summit there are several buildings
that are used by scientists and meteorologists and a visitor center and museum. This is also where the cog train arrives and
departs from the summit. After taking
some pictures at the summit and eating lunch, we started our descent down the
mountain.
 |
| Sampling Cheese |
 |
| Building held down by chains on Mt. Washington |
 |
| Summit of Mt. Washington |
 |
| Cog Train that goes to the summit |
We then drove to North Conway for
some dinner and to look around. In the
evening we made our way back to the cabin for the evening. On our way back we stopped at the Old Man of
the Mountain overlook. The famous rock
formation sadly crumbled and fell several years ago, but the viewpoint has an
interesting sign where if you stand just right, recreates what you used to be
able to see.
 |
| Sunset at Franconia Notch |
 |
| Sign showing what the Old Man of the Mountain looked like |
Since
we were already in New England, the next morning we decided to get on the
around 5:45am and drive to Arcadia National Park over in Maine. The drive took us almost six hours, but it was
very scenic and worth it. Once we
arrived at the visitor center, we hopped on one of the free shuttle buses that
loop through the park. This was
definitely the way to go, since parking can be very limited. We decided to first to the Beehive Trail,
which was a short, but steep hike up a cliff face to an amazing point where you
could overlook a good portion of the park.
After we finished the hike, we spent some time walking along the ragged
shoreline. Since our time was running
short, we jumped back on the shuttle bus and saw other parts of the park during
the drive back to the visitors center.
We then hopped in the car and drove a few more hours south to Saco,
Maine, where we stayed in a very tiny cottage for the night.
 |
| Beehive Hike, Arcadia National Park, Maine |
 |
| Arcadia National Park |
The
next morning we tried to get a somewhat early start, since we knew we had at
least a six hour drive back to the airport to drop off the rental car. Well, we should have planned for more
time. Driving through the outskirts of
Boston, we got stuck in traffic multiple times.
Then, as we started approaching the New York City metro area (as in,
part way through Connecticut), traffic started getting backed up. We finally arrived in Queens around 4:30pm,
dropped off the rental car, and caught the Long Island Railroad to Penn Station
in Manhattan. We walked several blocks,
found our Airbnb apartment and dropped our bags. We were off to explore the city!
 |
| Our room in our shared Airbnb apartment in midtown Manhattan |
We
had reservations for a 6pm elevator ride to the top of the Empire State
Building. I had been there before as a
kid, but they have vastly improved the whole experience. There is a cool museum/ hands-on experience
you go through before you take the elevator ride to the top. Once we arrived at the top, the view is
amazing! We took lots of pictures from
all the different sides. Once we came
back down, we walked up 5th Avenue and over to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Since we were in New York, we had to get some
street food for dinner. We took our
dinner over to Rockefeller Center and ate next to the famous ice rink (which
was converted to roller skating for the summer).
 |
| Top of the Empire State Building |
 |
| Looking toward downtown Manahattan |
 |
| Empire State Building Lobby |
 |
| New York Public Library |
 |
| St. Patrick's Cathedral |
 |
| Dinner at Rockefeller Center |
 |
| Rockefeller Center |
 |
| Rockefeller Center |
After
our dinner, we continued north on 5th Avenue up to Trump Tower and went
inside, just to look around and see if anyone was home (he wasn’t). Since our Empire State Building ticket came
with an additional free night entrance, we walked back down 5th
Avenue and went up to the top again. The
view was beautiful with everything lit up.
To end the evening, we walked over to Times Square, where there never
seems to be a dull moment! Since it was
getting late, we decided we better head back to our apartment for the evening.
 |
| Trump Tower |
 |
| Looking toward Times Square from the Empire State Building |
 |
| Times Square |
Our first
stop the next morning was the 9/11 museum.
Before we entered the museum, we walked around the giant monuments where
the twin towers once stood. It is very
peaceful there. It is hard to imagine
the terror that took place at this spot over 20 years ago. With our timed entry tickets, we were some of
the first to enter the museum. As you
descend below the site and into the museum, you become overwhelmed by the
stories that are told there. We spent
several hours looking at the exhibits, which lead you through the events of
that day. Many of these exhibits are in
the very bottom of the foundation of the buildings.
 |
| Survivor Tree, 9/11 Memorial |
 |
| 9/11 Memorial |
 |
| One World Trade Center and Memorial |
 |
| 9/11 Museum |
 |
| 9/11 Museum |
 |
| Survivor Steps |
 |
| Remains of a firetruck |
After
leaving the museum, we grabbed a hot dog and pretzel and walked over to Battery
Park, where we caught the boat out to the Statue of Liberty. Just like I remembered it, they cram as many
people as possible onto the boats. I
guess it’s the park service’s way of recreating the phrase on the Statue “give
me your tired, huddled masses”. After a
short boat ride, we arrived on the crowded island. There is a neat museum there that walks you
through the history of the statue and some of the changes that have been
made. They even have the original torch there. We then did a short loop around the statue
and made our way back to the large line to get on the boat over to Ellis
Island. It might have been faster to
just jump in the water and swim there!
 |
| Statue of Liberty |
 |
| Mold for foot |
 |
| Original Torch |
Once
we arrived at Ellis Island, we entered the main hall and took a few hours
looking around at all of the great exhibits.
The park service is constantly renovating all of the buildings, so not all
of them are open. It was amazing to read
about all of the struggles people went through to come to the United
States. We then went out and waited a very
long time to catch one of the last boats going back to Manhattan.
 |
| Ellis Island |
 |
| Main Hall, Ellis Island |
 |
| Ellis Island |
After
getting off the boat at Battery Park, we started to walk north on Broadway. We stopped for a few minutes at Wall Street,
then continued north past City Hall and finally found our way to Little
Italy. We found a great Italian restaurant
and ate outside, enjoying the atmosphere.
After dinner we took the subway back down to Battery Park and tried to
take the free ferry over to Staten Island (we heard that it is a great, free
night trip to see the city lit up).
Unfortunately, they were down one ferry, so the next one wasn’t leaving
until 11:15pm. Since it was getting late
and some of New York’s finest were starting to come out, we decided to catch
the next subway to midtown before it got too late and crazy.
 |
| Wall Street |
 |
| Parking Lot |
 |
| Great Italian Food in Little Italy |
 |
| Little Italy with Empire State Building in background |
Sunday
morning we went to church in the chapel that is under the Manhattan Temple, which
is across the street from Lincoln Center.
After church we walked along Central Park, stopping at the Dakota
Apartments where John Lennon was shot.
Across the street in Central Park, we went over to Strawberry Fields, where
there is an “Imagine” mosaic as a tribute to John Lennon. We then went to the American Museum of Natural
History, which is an amazing museum! Our
first stop was the planetarium, which looks like a giant spaceship. Afterward, we wandered through various
exhibits on different lands, animals, and you name it! One of our favorite halls was the rock and
mineral hall. The minerals on display were
beautiful and some were gigantic!
 |
| Manhattan Temple |
 |
| Dakota Apartment Building |
 |
| Imagine Mosaic in Strawberry Fields, Central Park |
 |
| American Museum of Natural History |
In
the late afternoon we walked across Central Park and went to the Guggenheim
Museum. This world-famous museum is
actually smaller than I thought it would be (at least in my opinion). The building itself is fascinating. Most of the art exhibits were too modern for
us and several were too crude, in our
opinion. After walking up and down the
ramps and looking at the art, we started to get hungry. We walked south through Central Park and
stopped at the Bethesda Fountain for some people watching. There were people from all of the world
there. In just a few minutes, you could
hear countless languages. Now that we were somewhat rested, we decided to take
the subway to Chinatown, where were found an amazing, but busy Chinese restaurant. We ordered several items off the menu and
shared them. Wow, it was good food! We wandered around Chinatown a bit, and then
took the subway back to our apartment in midtown.
 |
| Central Park |
 |
| Central Park |
 |
| Guggenheim Museum |
 |
| Guggenheim Museum |
 |
| Chinatown |
Monday
Morning we went straight to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) and got
there right when it opened at 10am. Even
with our timed-entry tickets we had to wait to get in. The Met is huge! You could spend weeks there and not fully see
everything. We started in the Egyptian
wing and spent a little too much time there when we realized how much more
there was to see. We then went to lots
of different halls that had everything from historic fashion, to medieval knight
suits of armor, to musical instruments, art from various time periods, to you name
it. As our time was running out, we literally
ran from the Asian wing to the Greek and Roman wing. We definitely could have stayed longer, but
had to leave as the door were closing on us.
 |
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met)
|
 |
| Egyptian Temple (brought from Egypt) |
 |
Coat worn by Abraham Lincoln when he was assassinated
|
 |
| Mosaic and glass by Tiffany |
 |
| Washington Crossing the Delaware |
 |
| Silver items by Paul Revere |
 |
| Guitar owned by Les Paul |
 |
| Van Gogh |
 |
| Sultan's palace |
 |
| Asian Wing |
 |
| Japanese Garden |
 |
| Greek and Roman Wing |
After
walking almost all day through the Met, we went back and got some great pizza
and took a nap at our apartment. In the
evening, we went over to Broadway and saw “Phantom of the Opera”. It was an amazing production! The special effects were great and made everything
come to life. Once the show was over, we
walked over to Times Square again to see a bit more craziness. By then we were exhausted and slowly walked back
to our apartment.
 |
| Phantom of the Opera |
 |
| Times Square |
Since
this was our last day in New York together, we walked over and caught the Highline. The Highline is an old elevated train track
that has been converted to a beautiful walking path. We walked the entire length of the Highline,
stopping on the way at Chelsea Market. Once
we got off the Highline, we weaved through Greenwich Village and took some
pictures at the “Friends” apartment, before heading over to Washington Square. While there, we witnessed a short lady that
was on drugs try to steal money from a street musician. The police immediately got involved and tried
to be nice to the lady and calm her down.
Once she stared swinging and hit a police officer, it was all over. They took her to the ground and cuffed
her. Just a bit of excitement in the square.
 |
| The Vessel |
 |
| Hudson Yards |
 |
| The Highline |
 |
| The Highline |
We
then made our way up 5th Avenue with a few stops at a Goodwill, the
Harry Potter Store, and the Flatiron building.
Since it was already lunch time we decided to go to Sarge’s Deli. We got turkey pastrami sandwiches, which were
good and large, but way overpriced. After
lunch we walked up Park Avenue to look inside Grand Central Station. We then hurried back to the hotel where Becky
would be staying with the exchange students so I could get my bag. She walked me over to Penn Station where we
said goodbye and I caught the train back to JFK to catch my flight home. Becky stayed a few more days chaperoning exchange
students during their orientation meetings.
Overall, we walked 60 miles during
the trip!
 |
| Flatiron Building |
 |
| Grand Central Station |
