OLA: Waking up in a City That Never Sleeps

Bill and Carol at a lovely dinner in Ai Fiori (among flowers) on Fifth Avenue, NYC

Progress! One World Center now at 100 floors
the Transportation Hub emerges!

That seems like a contradiction! But Bill and I wanted to go back to New York City to live it up! Joe and Dottie let us park our RV at their home in Middletown, New York, 45 minutes from the campground. That gave us the chance to revisit Lower, Middle, and Upper Manhattan one day at a time. Let me tell you what happened!

Lower Manhattan

work at left and throngs at right, view from our hotel room

the new 9/11 Memorial wall at the Visitors Center NYC

Our room at the World Center Hotel was spacious, clean, and well-equipped but it is the location that is enviable. It is right next to the 9/11 National Memorial and our room had a view of the site so we could see the work going on, the endless queues from 9 am to 6 pm, and the 100^thfloor, at 1,368 feet, of One World Trade Center which, with its spire, will tower to 1,776. Even now it is again the tallest building in Manhattan. The complex will be a multifaceted Transportation Hub, connecting the World Trade Center and the World Financial Center. What a successful renewal!

Bill at the grounds of the Chapel of St. Paul with its unwavering spirit

Alexander Hamilton's tomb at Trinity Church's burial grounds

Just across the southwest side (our hotel is at the northeast side) is the little Chapel of St Paul (Catholic) which survived the fire of 1776 and the terrorist attack on 9/11. An engraved bell at the burial grounds commemorates its unwavering spirit!. Inside this chapel built in 1772, one will see the very pew that George Washington used when the nearby Trinity Church (Episcopalian), where he regularly went for service, was destroyed by fire.  At the grounds of the restored Trinity Church we found the tomb of Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father, a framer of the US Constitution, and first Secretary of the Treasury of the US.

Bill in front of the New York Stock Exchange

Bill with the Bowling Green Bull, for bullish trading

Facing Trinity Church is Wall Street where we found the New York Stock Exchange across which a big George Washington stands in front of the Federal Reserve Building seeming to ensure that every financial transaction at that Financial District is above board. About a block towards Battery Park is the charming little Bowling Green Park and its Bull! Of course, at Battery Park we got a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, now doubly meaningful to me, a naturalized US citizen after migrating here 8 years ago!

Immigrants' Memorial in Battery Park with Ellis Island at the background

Upper Manhattan

Cathedral of St. John at Upper Manhattan, NYC

In Upper Manhattan, way up on 123^rd street is the Cathedral of St. John, largest handcrafted cathedral in the world! It is an exquisite work of art, inside and out. Several blocks from this cathedral is the Grant National Memorial, considered one of the top 10 mausoleums in the world. It was so cool inside, despite no air-conditioning. Three floors of marbled walls and floors surround the tombs of General and Mrs. Grant at the lower level. A huge dome tops the beautiful mausoleum, surrounded by tall elms.

the Grant National Memorial in upper Manhattan, NYC

Bethesda Fountain and lake at Central Park, NYC

Although it is considered central in Manhattan, hence the name Central Park, let me include it in this section. The few times I had been to New York I never got the opportunity to experience the Park. This time, Bill and I walked a small loop that included the Carousel, the Literary Walk, the Bethesda Fountain, boathouse and the lake. All along the Mall were artists: acrobats, jugglers, musicians, magicians, jokers, etc. competing for the public’s attention and dollars, performing under 150-year old elm trees.  

150-year old elms provide the natural canopy
for strollers at Central Park, NYC

Columbus Circle and the familiar Central Park horse-drawn carriage

At the end of the small loop we came upon a group that was singing some old familiar Beatles tunes and, of course, I stopped and sang with them! Little did we know that they were there because that was right across the John Lennon Memorial, a circular mosaic that had the word IMAGINE at the center. And about a hundred yards from the memorial, across the Park on Central Park West and 72^nd St, is the Dakota Apartments at whose gate John was gunned down by Chapman at 10:50 PM of Dec. 8, 1980.

the John Lennon Memorial at Strawberry Fields Forever, Central Park New York City

Middle Manhattan

Bill inside the Empire State Building

On Central Park’s southeast side is the Maine Monument and just across is the roundabout called Columbus Circle (a statue of Columbus stands at the center). The Circle is the actual center of Manhattan and every place is measured in distance from it. Middle Manhattan is where you will find the Rockefeller Center (although the skating rink has become a flurry of stores) and the Empire State Building (which still runs tours up to 10 PM). St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a few blocks from the Rockefeller Center and we were so lucky to have made it to the Sunday 10:15 AM mass when the choir sings.

Carol at Rockefeller Plaza in NYC on Memorial Day

Memorial Day Mass at St, Patrick's Cathedral in NYC
with representatives from the Navy

We were not able to get a glimpse of the Chrysler Building and the United Nations complex but we chanced upon the Flatiron Building near the birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt, a national historic site. It is his home in Long Island, however, that most people know. But the busiest part (besides the subways) is Times Square and the Theater District beside it. I (not Bill) had so much fun having my picture taken with the Marines, the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, NYPD, and, of course, The Naked Cowboy  who were all around the Square for Memorial Day celebrations.

Teddy Roosevelt National Historic Site in Middle Manhattan, NYC

nobody seems to care...with The Naked Cowboy
 at Times Square, NYC

Then Bill and I had the time of our lives at The Times Square Visitor center for a photo op with the New Year’s Eve Ball ($8M worth) and post our prayers at the Hopes and Dreams board. Then, just a couple of buildings away we went to the American Eagle Outfitters. It took me quite a while to find an item that is not too expensive but pretty enough. I finally found a $12 top (everything was 40% off) which gave us the chance to have our 15-seconds of fame on a giant Times Square screen in front of the store!

our 15 seconds of fame at Times square, NYC!

Hopes and Dreams at Times Square Visitors' Center, NYC

Finally it was time to see Lion King at the Minskoff Theatre on 45^th and Broadway.  I couldn’t help but sing Hakuna Matata and ‘Can’t you feel the love tonight’ with the cast.  I had been to several Broadway plays in New York before but this was indeed a spectacle! Next we dined at Ai Fiori (meaning among flowers) on Fifth Avenue, a gift from my daughters Trisha, Claudine and April. Never could I have spent this kind of money. But, they were right! Even if our meals at Europa Café, TGIF, and Koko’s were also good, this Ai Fiore dinner was truly the meal of a lifetime! Thank you, my girls!

Carol, before the Lion King performance
at the Minskoff Theatre off Broadway, NYC

riding a romantic tricycle in Times Square, NYC

The three Manhattans gave us everything…the best of food, theater, history, celebrations, architecture, churches, memorials, parks, and people!  Waking up to a city that never sleeps, although literally quite contradictory, is a shot of adrenalin for another eventful 24 hours each and every day!  And I was so tired i slumped on the floor of Grand Central Station, waiting for the train that would take us to Upstate New York again to get our RV and resume cruising! 

waiting for the Metro-North train at Grand Central

OLA: Being in the New York State of Mind

Joe, Dottie, Bill, me and at a campfire in Rondout Valley at New York's Cartskills

Carol on the grounds of the Vanderbilt Mansion

It is difficult to tell you stories about our trip to New York. It was a dichotomy of rural and urban, traditional and modern, agricultural and industrial. Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind prefers the former.

Yappy from MegaLink days!

                                       So this will be about the less known part of New York (the Big Apple will be the subject of  the next post) where we camped at the Rondout Valley Resort which is the home park of good friends Joe and Dottie whom we met early in 2010 in Florida. It is in a region of New York State called the Catskills along the Hudson River Valley: pretty, hilly, cool, green, rural, and serene.  Upstate New York, it’s called! And that’s where a friend of 12 years ago, Yappy, who now works in Manhattan preferred to visit with us.

Woodstock with 500,000 in 1969
 with Scott, Carl and Claire today!

And just 45 miles southwest was the site of the pivotal music festival of 1969, Woodstock in Bethel, New York, attended by almost 500,000, graced by about 30 well-known artists  like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Blood Sweat and /tears , Credence Clearwater, etc., and extended to 9 instead of 3 days! There, at the monument built by the owners of the dairy farm where the festival was held (it was an alternate site when at the last minute the city of Woodstock did not issue a license), we met three other enthusiasts: Scott, and Carl and Claire.

Bill at Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Springwood in Hyde Park

The place now houses a Woodstock Performing Arts Center, the Museum at Bethel Woods, and the hallowed grounds.  I identify with this flower power community, a rebellion in spirit. I was back in the Philippines, a sophomore in the University of the Philippines, seat of student power, at the time. We were rebelling against the establishment and, as a University Councilor of the Student Council, we had just laid the cornerstone of a piece of university land w called Freedom Park!

Eleanor Roosevelt's Val-Kill in Hyde Park
a couple of miles from Springwood

Martin van Buren's Lindelwald in Kinderhook

The Hudson River Valley is home to many mansions and estates. Martin van Buren’s (8^th president) estate called Lindenwald is in Kinderhook. The homes of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the only 4-time elected president of the USA, and his First Lady and UN Ambassador, Eleanor Roosevelt are in Hyde Park. The Roosevelt family estate is called Springwood and his retreat, the Top Cottage. Eleanor’s is called Val-kill (kill means river) and the Stone Cottage. As a matter of fact, the stately Vanderbilt Mansion also lies in the Park! All these are now under the care of the National Park Service.

Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park

Walkway on the Hudson
longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world, near Newburgh

Actually, also in Hyde Park is the sprawling, lovely, and unique campus of the Culinary Institute of America. It beckons with awesome residence halls, comfy classroom buildings, and aromatic restaurants and bakeshops. Just a day’s class costs $250 so I can only imagine how much a degree costs, especially if one lives on campus!  Nearby,  on the road back to our campground, we saw a long unusual bridge across the Hudson. We found out it is called the Walkway on the Hudson, the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world (12 miles)!

The Plains, West Point parade grounds, where the bleachers cry out: 'ARMY BEAT NAVY'

Bill and I in front of the West Point Museum

We did not have the time to visit the Rockefeller Estate in Tarrytown  or the Sunnyside Estate of Washington Irving, the famous American poet and author in Sleepy Hollow. We also could not find the chance to visit Albany, capital and at the northernmost part of the state, where the tulip festivals were happening.  But we spent a lot of time in that hallowed place where the officers’ corps of the US Army is developed. Joe, a retired National Guard captain, took us on a tour of the US Military Academy in West Point.

West Point from our Hudson Line train on the way to NYC

Douglas MacArthur among the great generals at West Point

West Point has influenced so much of Philippine History. One of our former Chiefs of staff graduated from there in 1950, became a hero in the EDSA Revolution of 1986 that overthrew the 20-year Marcos dictatorship and became the country’s 12th President after Cory Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos. Under him I answered the call to serve my country and served as Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. 

a view of the Hudson from West Point

We saw the statues of Patton, Eisenhower, and Washington, great American generals  but I was especially drawn to MacArthur who commanded the Pacific Fleet and returned, as he promised, to free the Philippines from Japanese occupation in WWII. They surrounded the parade grounds called The Plains where the graduation of the Class of 2012 will parade in review on Memorial Weekend as part of their graduation ceremonies.

the long gray line at West Point, cadets in review

the West Point Officers' Club

We were first registered at the Visitors’ Center where we viewed short clips of the history and significance of West Point, established in 1802 after the victorious American Revolution against the British. Then Joe gave us a tour of the galleries of the West Point Museum (one of the articles there was the Philippine Surrender Document by the Japanese in WWII). We also had the unique opportunity to dine with officers at the West Point Club, overlooking the Hudson. On Trophy Hill we walked where the American Soldier defended the fledgling country and a Monument in his honor towers over the Hudson.

the artillery at Trophy Hill in West Point

remnants of the chain that blocked the British
 from entering West Point placed at the narrowest portion of the Hudson 

I must admit, Billy Joel is right…the lesser known New York is every bit as amazing as New York City, although in quite a different way! For one, the towns always sleep as soon as it gets dark!